"Give me your hand," Brian said, out of the blue. Molly, who was enjoying her special birthday night in
her own world, stretched out one of her hands without putting much thought into it.
He placed a velvet box on the palm of her hand. Looking into her eyes, he said slowly, "Open it..."
As she opened the box, her irises expanded. A blue diamond ring lay quietly in the box. She was
stunned for a while and then slowly raised her eyes to look at Brian. Brian's usual hard face was
softened, while his eyebrows and eyes did not look indifferent as always. In the light reflected by the
moon, his eyes shone bright.
Molly bit her lips, looked again at the diamond ring and said, "Bri..."
Brian looked at her with his deep eyes; he wanted to absorb every part of her, completely into his eyes.
He swiftly bent to kiss her ear, and said in a low voice, "Mol, you're going to be my wife. This is the
promise I give you." When he felt her body shiver, he added, "the diamond on the ring was honored as
"the Soul of K". Once you wear it, you will belong to no one other than me."
Like a curse, his words sounded in her ears. She was so flustered that she did not know how to react.
She did not know what "the Soul of K" was either, but she figured that it must be a unique promise.
She slowly raised her eyes to look at Brian, who was standing up straight now. When she saw his
sculpted handsome face, she felt that this birthday of hers was perfect with no regrets. Even if this was
a dream from which she might wake up any time, she still chose to sink into this moment. However,
there was no way for her to know if this was a dream or not. She wouldn't know it until she woke up
from this beautiful dream later, to be drenched in sadness that could kill her. Painful despair would tell
her that love and hatred competed with each other, forming a never ending cycle.
As Molly stood inside a holy church, she felt the dream had changed into something fancy. She looked
at the cross in front of her and then glanced around at the quiet place. Her sight finally fell on Brian.
She wondered what was happening.
The priest, who was dragged into the church by Tony, answered her doubt. Since he was forced to get
up in the middle of the night, he was quite dissatisfied and looked at Brian and Molly with disdain.
However, when his eyes met Brian's cold and deep look, he cowered and stayed silent.
Tony had already told the priest about what was going on. He cleared his throat. Since it was nighttime,
there were no flower children, no nuns who could sing, nobody attending the wedding. As a result, the
whole ceremony was quite odd. He looked at the two people in front of him, waiting for the testimony of
God. The priest was afraid as he gazed into Brian's cold eyes. He felt like he was initiating Satan's
wedding. The king of the world of darkness was marrying his bride, who would go to hell together with
him. They would be taking a bloody black road, which was covered with thistles and thorns. Their love
was a double-edged sword, which would not only stab and wound both of them, but also bring disaster
to others who were involved.
"Brian Long, do you take Molly Xia for your lawfully wedded wife? Will you live together with her for as
long as you both shall live, no matter whether you go to prosperous heaven or to thorny hell?" As he
read the wedding vows Tony had given him, the priest frowned secretly.
While Molly was wondering about the strange wedding vows, Brian opened his mouth slowly with
serious eyes, "As God is my witness, I, Brian Long, take thee, Molly Xia, to be my wedded wife, to have
and to hold from this day forward, in prosperous heaven, or thorny and dark hell, till death do us part,
according to God's holy ordinance and thereto I pledge thee my faith."
Molly slightly opened her mouth and turned her head to look at Brian, but she heard the voice of the
priest. He asked, "Molly Xia, do you take Brian Long for your lawfully wedded husband, to live together
after God's ordinance, in the holy estate of matrimony? Will you stay with him from this day forward to
the unknown future, no matter what would happen, forsaking all others, keeping only unto him for as
long as you both shall live?"
Molly did not respond. She looked at Brian, and suddenly felt so odd to be there. She did not move until
the priest gave a slight cough and stated the wedding vows once again. Looking at the priest, after a
very short pause, she said, "I, Molly Xia, take Brian Long to be my wedded husband, to have and to
hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love
and to cherish, till death do us part."
She thought, 'Brian Long, I will never leave you as long as you don't discard me. And if one day I leave
you, then my heart must have stopped beating.'
The moonlight shone into the church through the high window. Brian gently felt Molly's face with his big
hands, and then his thin lips covered hers. The kiss was like a seal, it was his promise to her. As he
had put Shirley's Firefly Stone around her neck and had given "the Soul of K" to her personally, he had
decided in his mind that this woman would never be allowed to leave him. Even if she dies, she must
die in his hand.
*
At Black Addiction Bar in A City
The high decibel rock 'n' roll pierced into people's ears, while the overwhelming smoke created an
illusion of a fairyland. However, this fairyland was listless. Many passionate men and women were
putting on erotic plays despite the public nature of the place.
Instead of dressing nobly like a lady as she usually did, Hannah now looked hot in her tight fitting
clothes, drawing the attention of every man passing her by. She leaned slightly against the mixed drink
table, with a bottle of beer in her hand. She looked at the door of the bar every now and then, as if she
was waiting for somebody.
Time passed by. Hannah was nearly out of her patience when a waiter came to her and said in her ear,
"Lady Hannah, she is here."
Hannah's eyes lit up with an attractive smile at the corner of her lips. As soon as she saw the person
entering the bar, an expression of cruelty flashed across her eyes. But soon, it was replaced by a smile
—harmless, yet cold.
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