My Fiancé's Brother's Secret Obsession With Me

Ariel's POV

My hands grew clammier every passing second as I stood in front of the altar waiting for my fiancé who was running late. I nervously wiped my palms down the curve of my silk white wedding dress and tried to calm myself. 

"Everything will be fine. Everything will be fine." I assured myself repeatedly. 

I looked up at the congregation, the church was completely packed, I saw my cousins, uncles and aunties, business partners, some of our employees, and the press with their cameras pointed at me, anxiously waiting for what would happen.

Diezel was thirty minutes late for our wedding, so the priest had advised me to stand and wait for him because the reporters were starting to murmur and assume things. I put on a smile and acted like I was okay when my heart was seconds away from bursting from how fast it was beating.

My marriage might just be a business arrangement, but I didn't want it to flop. A lot of things were at stake here, especially Briggs Inc., my father's company. If God forbid this wedding didn't push through, the company would go bankrupt and hundreds of employees would lose their jobs.

Diezel Smith, the investor my father had approached for help, insisted on marrying me in exchange for helping our company. 

I couldn't say no to agreement, Briggs Inc. mattered to me more than words could say as I would do anything to save it from dying. 

As minutes ticked by, the whispers in the crowd grew louder. I flinched as Grace, my best friend and maid of honour, gently tapped me from behind. I turned around to see that color had completely drained from her face, and her eyes were wide in horror.

Panic rose in my chest. "What's going on?" I asked her, my voice shaking with fear.

"You need to see this." She handed me my phone. 

A loud gasp escaped my lips as I saw the text Diezel had sent some minutes ago. 

'I can't go through with this, the arrangement is off. I'm sorry.' 

The bouquet of white roses I was holding slipped from my fingers, scattering across the marble floor. The murmur around me became louder, cameras started to go off and I could feel the reporters moving closer to the altar to get a clear shot. 

No, no, no, he wouldn't do this. This text better be a joke. Everything was at risk and he was still choosing to play with us. 

I stare at the text, reading and re-reading until they blur into grey smudges. Tears began to cloud my eyes, I wiped them away roughly as I dialed his number, the phone almost falling from my hand as I pressed the phone to my ear. 

His number was unreachable, I dialed it again and again until Grace pulled the phone out of my grasp, rubbing my back gently. 

"No, this can't be happening." I muttered. "This can't be happening." 

I turned to look at my father whose face had turned red in anger. He stood up and pulled my mother with me and started to walk out of the church.

Tears slipped down my face as I looked at the congregation again, I had failed everyone. I wobbled backwards, my heel catching on the hem of my long dress. I gasped as I lost my balance, but Grace caught me and steadied me before I could hit the ground.

"Is the wedding cancelled?" 

"Ms Briggs, can you tell us what is happening?" 

"What is the future of Briggs Inc. now that there is no merger with Diezel Smith?" 

"Is the company going to shut down for good? I heard Diezel was your last hope." 

My throat tightened in my chest as the reporters shoved their cameras and mics in my face. Grace and Natalie, my other best friend, tried to push them away but there were too many of them. 

I shook my head, unable to breathe, tears blurred my vision as I gathered the heavy skirts of my dress, pushing through them and running out of the church, ignoring the shouts behind me. I rushed back into the waiting room, and slammed the door shut, twisting the lock. 

I collapsed onto the floor, leaning heavily against the door. I let out a broken sob, covering my face as the humiliation completely crushed me.

I could hear Grace and Natalie calling my name and knocking on the door, but I couldn't bring myself to answer. I pulled my phone out and dialed Diezel's number again, but it still wasn't reachable. 

I let out a bitter laugh before I screamed my lungs out. "No, you jerk! You can't do this to us!" I cried out. I stood up and made my way to the dressing table, swiping every make up off the table and onto the ground. I pulled my veil out of my hair, throwing it to the ground and stepping on it. 

I looked up at the mirror and froze when I saw that I wasn't alone. There was a reflection of someone else in it. I quickly turned back to see him sitting in the armchair at the far dark corner of the room. He was dressed in a dark suit, his grey eyes watching me intensely. I gasped the instant I recognised who he was. Noah Hoover, the richest man in Seattle. The cold billionaire who was feared by almost everyone.

Why was he in my waiting room? I certainly didn't invite him to my wedding. 

I stumbled back and held onto the table for support, not trusting my feet to stand on their own. I wiped the tears from my cheek, trying to hold onto the little dignity I had left. 

"Wh- what are you doing in here? Why didn't you make a sound when I came in?" I demanded, my voice cracking under the intensity of his gaze.

"What are you doing here?" He asked in a deep baritone voice that sent a shiver down my spine.  

My face pulled into a frown. "This is my waiting room, I should be asking you that." 

I watched as he stood and walked towards me, my hand gripped the table tighter with every stride he took. His frame towered over me like the shadow of death. He stood close enough that I had to tilt my head backwards to meet his eyes. God, he was very tall. 

His brows arched as he looked down at me. "So, this is the best place you think you can hide?" 

"I'm not hiding from anyone!" I blurted almost too quickly. I wrapped my arms around my chest defensively. "How do you even know why I'm here?" 

He gave me a look as if to say 'really?' Then he took out his phone and showed me the live video of my humility. Those reporters captured every single moment, and right now they were waiting for me to come out of this room.

"Sh*t!" I muttered, looking towards the door. I wiped my suddenly sweaty forehead and tried to pull myself together. "Oh God, those people won't leave until they squeeze answers out of me." I bit my nails as I thought of what to do. 

I heard him scoff. "You should have thought about that before running back here." 

I resisted the urge to glare at him, he was making me look like I was stupid. Well, coming back to this room was a pretty stupid move. I should have ran straight to my car and gotten out of here when I had the chance to, but I wasn't thinking straight. 

Who would be in their right mind after their wedding just got ruined? Absolutely no one. I shouldn't be blamed for making stupid moves.

A thought crossed my mind and I was almost too scared to say it out loud. I looked up at him, my lips trembling a little as I asked, “Could you please help me out of here?”

He met my eyes with a dark gaze and I almost jerked back, his look daring me to repeat myself. "What?"

"Help me out of here, please." I repeated, my voice dropping low with every word. 

"And why should I do that?" He asked, losing the first two buttons of his shirt.

I swallowed, struggling to find the right words to say to him. "I won't make it if I walk out of here with those people outside." 

He didn't seem moved by my answer, it only made his frown deepen. He had every right not to help me if he didn't want to, I was just a stranger to him but I really needed this.

"Please..."

He shook his head, looking conflicted for a moment, then he walked to the door and opened it without a word. 

I heard gasps from people outside before he shut the door. I could hear voices outside the door but I couldn't figure out what they were saying. Eventually, the noises died down, but Noah Hoover didn't return. 

I was starting to wonder if he had decided not to help me when the door opened and I saw him by the doorway, glowering at me.   

I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. “You came back!" I exclaimed, pushing away from the table. 

He grunted, adjusting his tie as he looked away from me. I got the feeling he didn't like that he was doing this. 

He shut his eyes for a few seconds and opened them back to glare at me. “Just follow me.”

The hallway was totally empty and I couldn't help but wonder how he did that. He guided me through the back exit of the church where I sighted my personal driver already waiting for me in the car. Relief washed over me as we got out of the building without anyone attacking me with questions.

Harry, my driver, looked up at me in pity as I approached him with my makeup ruined by tears, but then his mouth hung open when he saw Noah beside me. He recovered from his shock and immediately got out of the car, opened the passenger's door for me. 

I gave Noah a grateful smile. “Thank you so much.” I told him after hopping into the car.

He was the rudest man I had ever met, he spoke to me like I was an inconvenience and yet he helped me. I wonder if people were wrong about him.

"Try not to embarrass yourself again. I won't help you next time.”

Ariel's POV

Harry called my parents on the drive home to let them know that I was with him. I could hear my mother sobbing underneath while my father told him that he would also be home soon.

When the car finally pulled up to our estate, I pushed the door open and got down from the car and walked into the house dejectedly. I paused at the sight of two large suitcases in the living room.

I looked up and saw Alice and Kate looking at me with profound sadness. I looked back at the suitcases, the realisation of what was happening dawning on me.

"Ariel, we saw what happened on the news. Are you okay, dear?" Alice asked, her voice laced with worry but she didn't even try to hug me like she used to before.

"You are... You are leaving too?" I asked them, my voice shaking as I held back my tears. Over the few months that the company had been running down, we had lost most of our workers in the estate because we couldn