The Last Option

The next few days, Bernard and Rebecca were arranging the documents that the U.S. embassy in Dubai required for them to be able to celebrate the marriage. He did it through Phil, who gladly got them for him and sent them to the embassy. Rebecca also went through him, not suspecting that he was also arranging Bernard's behind his back. When everything was ready, they were married at the embassy, and two days later they were talking about celebrating the wedding in a church in New York, thinking about the people they would invite on each side. Bernard always argued he was alone, and that if he invited anyone it would be his lawyer, whom he considered as a father, hoping that he would not "pull his ears" for not having consulted him or asked his opinion about their marriage. For her part, Rebecca only had Louis Randall as a guest, as she was almost in the same position as Bernard, with no other close family to invite. "It's sad that we have almost no one to invite," said Bernard, "especially in the family."

"That's why we should make our own," Rebecca said, continuing her role as the good girl willing to give a home and a family to someone who deserves it.

But when Louis Randall heard about the marriage, he almost screamed his head off.

"Are you crazy?!" he said, a little annoyed with her, over a video call. "You married a guy you barely know? What's wrong with you? You don't look like the same old Rebecca Hicks."

"I'm still the same, cousin, and I guarantee you'll be in for a surprise once you meet him," she was in her suite, getting ready to leave, for that day she and Bernard would choose the rings for the wedding.

"The only thing I advise you, cousin, is to think very carefully about what you are doing. I never thought I'd hear that Rebecca Hicks got married. That's not you. What's really going on? Are you under threat or something? You should call the police."

"Who would have thought it," Rebecca let out a mocking chuckle, "my cousin is giving me advice. Don't worry, Louis, everything is going excellently, and before long, it will go much better. I guarantee it. I have to go now. I'll wait for you at the wedding. Don't miss it."

"I'll be there," Louis said with resignation. "Goodbye, crazy woman!"

Rebecca closed the communication with a satisfied chuckle, thinking she had everything under control. Later, Bernard bought the rings for the wedding at the "Gold Souk" in the Dubai Mall, choosing the ones Rebecca liked the most, of course, and not skimping on the cost. This time it was she who insisted on paying them, claiming not to let him pay for everything.

They decided to return the day before the church wedding. Rebecca gave that job to Phil as well, asking him to have everything ready for them when they arrived. She hoped to make a good impression on her social circle when they found out who she had married. She had invited old friends, whom she hadn't seen in a long time, hoping to show them off. That was her only intention. She had also invited Bernadette, even offering to pay for her entire trip to New York if she would accompany her, but she was very disappointed in her friend, and with a series of refined insults declined her offer and ended the fleeting friendship that had united them.

For his part, Bernard was thinking that all would be discovered when Louis Randall showed up at the wedding and saw who the groom was, but that didn't worry him. Somehow Rebecca would find out about everything sometime, and she would know who he really was, but it would be too late, he would already have at least half of her fortune in his hands, if she asked him for a divorce.

Already on the flight home, they were talking about where they would stay when they got to New York. She thought that her old bachelorette apartment would not be the right place to arrive with a husband, so she asked to stay at his house, thus taking the opportunity to see where he lived and how. He agreed, wondering how he was going to get Camila out of the apartment with little Nathan before they arrived, and what excuse he would give Rebecca when she saw the boy's stuff and the women's clothes in her closet.

He would think of something.

When the flight made its stopover in Istanbul, the solution came to his mind: as always, Phil would be his savior. He pretended to feel sick to his stomach and went to the airport restrooms, where he took advantage of the wifi to video call Phil and asked him to urgently rent him an apartment in the best and most exclusive area of New York. Phil replied that it would be a bit difficult to do that at the last minute, but he would talk to his friends to see if any of them had one vacant. He was lucky and got one in lower Manhattan, belonging to the unmarried son of one of his friends, which he prepared by removing all the photos the owner might have there. It was luxurious, spacious, and it was perfect for what Bernard wanted.

When he was done, Phil texted him the address, hoping he would see it when his cell phone had reception at JFK. And so it was. Bernard saw the message and memorized the address. Phil also spoke to the building's concierge and filled him in on Bernard's visit, asking for discretion and leaving the keys for him to hand over with no questions asked, as if he had left them himself before his trip. He also communicated that to Bernard, who, as he picked up the keys, saw the concierge gives him a look of almost comical complicity.

But now they were there, the apartment was spacious, luxurious and tasteful. Rebecca liked it from the moment she saw it, saying it was much better compared to hers. They already had everything ready for the wedding day, and Bernard felt the suspense about what might happen was stormy. He was impatient and agitated, but tried to hide it as best he could. Rebecca, on the other hand, looked happy and excited not suspecting what awaited her in two days. The next day she would get up very early and go shopping for her wedding dress, as she didn't have time to order it from her trusted dressmaker.

"Tomorrow I'm going to buy the wedding dress," said Rebecca, lying next to Bernard on the large bed in the room. It was already night and they were trying to rest from the hustle and bustle of the trip. "Yes, you already told me," Bernard was trying to watch some television on the huge screen in front of them. "Do you want me to go with you?"

"Of course not!" she exclaimed, giving him a nudge with her elbow. "Don't you know that the groom should not see the bride in her dress before the wedding?"

"Right, I didn't remember. Don't you have anyone to accompany you for that? In these cases it is necessary to have someone to help you choose the right dress."

"Yes, you're right. I would have liked Bernadette to be here and help me. She has good taste. Besides, she would have been my bridesmaid. I don't understand why she was mad at me."

Rebecca knew it, but she didn't say anything to Bernard so as not to ruin the wedding. It wasn't worth having the first argument with her new husband over a woman who was in love with him. Bernard, on the other hand, was silent when he heard the name of the girl with a broken heart. It was to be expected that she would send Rebecca to hell when she found out that she would marry the man she was in love with. He didn't want to talk to her; surely she would also send him to hell for what he did. He had told her that he didn't want anything with anyone and now he was about to marry what was her best friend.

"I am sure that you will choose the most beautiful one. You also have good taste, I can't deny that."

"Thank you for that. Hopefully I can choose the most beautiful of all. And you, what are you going to do tomorrow? Will you go to your company? You have to go to invite your employees. At least you have them to accompany you on your important day. And also invite your lawyer."

"He will go. Remember that he was the one who sent me the documents to Dubai."

"It's true. How clueless I am!"

"Anyway, I'll go see him tomorrow. I'll tell him to come with me to buy the suit."

"Perfect. Thank God everything is flowing in the best way. I am so happy!"

At that moment Rebecca remembered something else about the preparations.

"You agreed to tell your lawyer to prepare your company's club for the party after the wedding. How's that going?"

"Everything is ready. Don't worry."

"You haven't told me where it is."

"It's a surprise. You will see that you will like it."

"Well, I can't wait to see it. I hope it lives up to the event."

Bernard lied to Rebecca, there was no club or anything like that because he was sure that everything will end when Louis Randall sees him in the church and finds out that he was the one who married his cousin.