Chapter 21

"I do." Drew annoyedly replies. It's the only way to protect May's happiness. It's the only way to protect the orphanage. He's come to terms with that already.

Since Drew is looking at Brianna's eyes, they light up from his words. The crowd applauds, but they soon quiet down as the officiator asks, ""If there is anyone here today who believes these two should not be wed, speak now or forever hold your peace."

Drew looks away from Brianna now because he hates that victorious grin on her face. Please, someone save him! Please let his parents call this off already! They must care about him as their son, right? They must see how miserable he is. They must have a heart.

"I object!"

The familiar voice makes Drew stifle a chuckle. Of course it'd be her objecting. She's the only one left on his side in this room. Looking over at the shocked audience, he spots his bluenette friend standing amongst the sea of people sitting. On the side by the wall, Drew can see Paul scowling fiercely. He's probably thinking about how troublesome Dawn is. This makes Drew break out in a small smile because he'll at least still have them in this world. Unless Brianna takes them away from him too.

After gasps from the crowd, the officiator questions, "Why do you believe these two should not be wed today?"

"They don't love each other! Marriage is for love!" Dawn exclaims as more murmurs break out. Of course, everyone here is from the wealthy world, so they know marriage is strictly political. Many chuckle and giggle at the naive young girl, but Dawn's resolve is unwavering. She has no idea why Drew agreed to marry Brianna. Hadn't May and Solidad made it to him? Where is Solidad? Did they get caught?

Whatever the case may be, Dawn can't idly sit by and watch her friend commit himself to a lifetime of unhappiness. He doesn't deserve this. This is exactly what she is hoping will never happen to her, so how can she just let this happen to Drew? She will fight for him if he won't fight for himself, even if Brianna is glaring intensely at her right now.

"Remove her!" Brianna commands the guards who quickly head towards the standing bluenette.

Despite being annoyed by the continuously troublesome woman, Paul cares about her too. Since he's closer to Dawn, he's on her before any of the guards are. Standing behind her protectively, Paul wraps an arm around her waist, making her blush. "Don't touch her." His low growl makes the guards flinch.

Drew can't help but smile warmly at seeing Paul's affection towards Dawn. So the bodyguard does feel for her. However, Drew knows they're going to be kicked out soon. He appreciates Dawn's effort, though this is it for him. This is the only secure way to protect the children, and he hopes Dawn understands.

When Dawn's angry blue eyes meet Drew's apologetic green ones, she knows it's over. That look he's giving her is telling her that he's given up. That this is what he wants now. She doesn't understand, but she knows she can't argue against that look. Letting out a breath, she exclaims, "I can walk myself out!" She will leave here with dignity and her head held high.

Paul, surprised by her strong outburst, gives Drew an annoyed look before following Dawn who is storming down the aisle and out of the building. This woman is constantly troubling him, but Paul finds himself wanting to protect her, even if it wasn't his job. Once they're outside, the reporters try to bombard Dawn with questions on the ceremony as well as why she objected. Some are asking if she loves Drew, however Paul manages to help Dawn clear all the reporters and enter her family's limo.

Once in the limo, Dawn frowns and leans her head on Paul's arm. "This sucks." She mutters while fighting back her tears. Her tears for May. For Drew. For the forbidden love that she and Paul are also suffering from. It all sucks.

Sighing, the man wraps an arm around her while burying his nose in her hair. "I'll never leave you." Those quiet gentle words make Dawn hold him closer as she cries into his shirt. Gosh, she just wants to be with him already.

Back in the wedding hall, the talking has died down, Drew and Brianna kiss (Drew makes it quick and plain), and the couple is soon starting to walk down the aisle. They're going to the courtyard for the reception where there are also more reporters. Drew wonders if this day can get any worse. He doesn't have to be here anymore, right? He's already married Brianna like he said he would.

However, the guards, Wakanas, and his parents won't let him leave that early. It'll look bad to the public. All these people ever care about is money, power, fame, and the public eye. Drew is tired of it. None of this has ever made him happy, and it never will. There was a time he thought he'd be happy with it, but he was just accustomed to the world of the wealthy. He's since learned that true happiness doesn't involve any of this superficial stuff.

"Now for the couple's first dance as husband and wife!" the DJ announces, which makes everyone cheer.

Brianna gleefully grabs Drew from his seat, and he begrudgingly follows. It's not like he has a choice. Of course, the man lazily dances with Brianna while his gaze is absent minded. He makes a mental note that this is the wrost torture he's going to get, so he just needs to get through it. After the wedding, he'll be able to ignore Brianna in private again.

Since the Wakanas and Hayden parents are scared of what Drew may say to the media, they prevent reporters from approaching him. Drew has noticed that none of his supporters are at the reception. Solidad is still gone. Dawn and Paul were kicked out. And she hates him.

He chuckles to himself. It's better this way. He doesn't deserve someone as vibrant and hopeful as her. She's better than him, but he's glad he at least got to spend some wonderful times with her before they were rudely separated. He's glad to know that she at least cared about him enough to risk seeing him today. Drew fights back his tears as Brianna twirls herself beneath his arm. Gosh, he misses dancing with her.

Orphanage

When May storms into the orphanage alone, Betty and Tyler can instantly tell that rescuing Drew did not go as planned. They have also been watching the news about Drew's wedding where they saw Solidad leaving early. They also herald about Dawn Berlitz objection failing before she was kicked out too. Therefore, Tyler and Betty already had an idea that a heartbroken May would be arriving back at the orphanage.

They don't know what to say to her, but they doubt she wants anyone to speak with ehr right now. Instead, they watch her begrudgingly walk down the hall towards the bedrooms. The teenagers have already planned to run the orphanage by themselves today, so they don't need May's guidance tonight. They'll just leave her alone, and Betty will check on her later.

Once May is gone, Betty worriedly looks at the boy. "What should we do?"

Sighing, Tyler is at a loss for ideas. He and Betty have been brainstorming since Dawn Berlitz got kicked out of the wedding for objecting, and they also know Drew is now married to Brianna Wakana. "We need to make sure she eats." is all the boy can say. They can't allow her heartbreak to destroy her because everyone at the orphanage is a family.

Betty nods sadly. "I wonder why Drew agreed to marry her."

Tyler clenches his fist in anger. He let Drew into their lives and Tyler even started relying on the man. However, Drew went ahead and betrayed them all, especially May. It reminds Tyler of why he quit going to foster homes as well as the other children. Everyone who comes into their lives always breaks their promises and leave. Tyler hates himself for believing Drew was different.

When Betty's warm hand is on his arm, Tyler relaxes as he curiously looks at her. "You're hurting yourself again."

The boy turns his gaze to his still clenched hand where he opens it to see his nails have broken the skin. "Thanks, Betty." There was a time when Tyler was younger where he would hurt himself. Fortunately, May helped him cope with it, especially after Brenden left. That's why May holds such a special place in Tyler's heart.

Gazing down the hall where May had disappeared, Tyler says, "We're a family."

Nodding, Betty adds, "And family sticks together." It pains the girl to know that Drew just left them all for good. There's no way he's ever going to come back now that he's married to that evil woman. Betty really saw Drew as an older brother, so it breaks her heart that he's gone. That he hurt May and betrayed them. That he was another adult who made a false promise only to leave them in the end.

Seeing the girl fight back her tears makes Tyler put an arm around her shoulders. He hates Drew even more because everyone at the orphanage, not just May, relied on Drew. Everyone trusted him and loved him! THey welcomed him into their family, and he just left them! "We don't need him." Tyler tells the sniffling girl. They were fine before Drew and they will continue to be fine without him and his drama.

Drew's Wedding

"C'mon, Drewy! Dance with me!" Brianna pleads with her husband. Besides the mandatory first dance, Drew hasn't gotten up from his seat. He hasn't even eaten the wedding dinner provided to him. The man has no appetite because he is heartbroken and he despises his new wife. He has, however, been drinking lots of champagne to drown out the night.

Roughly pulling his arm away from her grasp, he coldly replies, "Leave me alone."

"You need to be my husband!" she snaps at him. "Else that orphans-"

"I am!" He glares at her. "And you're supposed to leave the orphanage alone." It was part of the deal for them being married, so she needs to stop hanging it over his head, else he'll just leave.

That glare of his makes Brianna flinch. She had allowed Drew to keep drinking in hopes of him getting drunk enough to make out with her, but it just seems to be making him more angry. Because she's scared of his behavior and tired of just waiting for him to dance with her, which she knows he won't now that he's so drunk, she gets up in search of her in-laws. Maybe they can talk some sense into her husband.

Once Brianna leaves, Drew lets out a long drunk breath. His teal tie has since been loosened. When a waiter walks by, Drew grabs two more champagne flutes to quickly down. Everyone else seems to be enjoying the wedding festivities, making him chuckle since he's the only one hating it, and it's his wedding!

Drunkenly standing up, one of the guards grabs Drew. "Stop, Mr. Drew!"

Drew forcefully pulls himself away in frustration. These guards have been on his ass for weeks now. It's annoying and unneeded when Brianna and him are already married, and he's already lost the woman he loves. "I'm going to the bathroom! Unless you wanna hold that too?" His furious green eyes challenge the guard's nervous brown ones. Scoffing in his face, Drew walks away. "I thought so."

When Drew walks down the hall, he pulls the tie completely off, dropping it to the ground. People curiously look at the angry groom, but no one stops him. Fortunately, his parents and the Wakanas are too preoccupied with using this wedding as a networking opportunity for them to notice his disappearance.

Walking outside, a guard stops him. "Where are you going, Mr. Drew?"

Drew glares at him. "You dare question the heir to Hayden Corporation and the husband of the heir to the Wakana Establishment?" The green haired man normally wouldn't threaten someone like this, but since he's back into this cruel world, he may as well act like a member of it, right? All the lying, cheating, backstabbing. He's back into this.

Flinching, the guard releases Drew. Even though the guard would normally run things like this by the higher ups, he fears that Drew may get him fired. "My apologies, sir."

Giving the guard one final glare, Drew wobbles off into the parking lot. He walks far enough where he's confident no eyes are on him. When he reaches a car near the parking lot exits, he smashes the driver side window with his elbow. This, of course, sets off the car's alarm, alerting everyone of his whereabouts. However, Drew is used to this from his young thieving ways.

He quickly unlocks the car from the inside, sits inside, and hotwires the car. Since he's done this many times before, he's able to effortlessly do it out of habit despite his drunken state. All of this started when he was driving drunk. All of this pain started from that moment when he almost hit that child. If that never happened, he would've never been put in community service. He would've never met her. He would've never fallen in love with her. He would not be this heartbroken and pained over her.

Speeding off past the many guards, and crashing through the wooden exit posts, Drew drives down the busy street. He wished he was marrying her instead. She's the only one he wants, but he can't ever see her again. Without her, he isn't happy. Without her, his life is worthless. He wishes he never met her. Maybe his death will finally teach his parents how to be parents, though they'll have no one left to parent.

The drunk man laughs hysterically as painful tears drip down his face. This is not fair at all. How is it that he has everything in the world he could ever want except for her? Except for happiness? He doesn't want to live in a world where he's unhappy and alone. With the combination of his blurry tears and the alcohol in his system, Drew's quick driving is becoming more reckless.

He runs a red light and sees the high beams of a small sedan too late, causing him to roughly swerve his car. His car skids away from the other vehicle, but Drew loses control of it. The last thing Drew thinks about before the impact of the tree in front of him is her. With his last breath before accepting the brutal fate ahead of him, he breathes out, "May."

May was originally supposed to crash the wedding and speak an objection, which makes Drew realize he loves her. Makes the Hayden parents love her tenacity and accept her into their family. Something like that and more influencing factors, but my 1 month hiatus caused my imagination to change up the whole story lol. Now, it's longer.

Also, the orphans weren't supposed to have this much of a role in the story lol. Else I would've used some characters from Pokemon instead of OCs. Whoops!