I had honestly never felt better. It had been four days since the beach. Every fibre of my being was alive and crackling, nervous energy flooding every vein known to mankind. The dull throbbing in my arms and chest had significantly reduced.

Olivia and I were supposed to be working directly with the caterers, planners, and suppliers today. Madison and Joshua would be chairing the meeting, as the bride liked to term it. From what I had seen about Madison, she could be extremely hard to get along with.

But around Joshua, her ice cracked faster than someone could say 'Winter is coming'. I silently chuckled at my clever wordplay, tying the laces of my shoes together.

I gave myself a once over before I left. I had opted for a snug navy t-shirt with faded blue jeans and white sneakers. I winked at my reflection and ruffled my hair a bit. I had to admit it, I had a come a long way from the hospital bed look.

The horrid memory made me wince but I brushed it off. I had to be on my best behaviour for three more weeks. Then I could go back to sulking and being an absolute pain in the ass of my sponsors. I grabbed my phone off the bed and cursed at the messages flooding my inbox.

Josh: Where are you? Please be at the florist's.
+2 new messages

Olivet: I will kill you, I am not kidding. . .
+5 new messages

Bridezilla: Josh says you're at the florist's? Why did you go alone? Olivia knows the exact arrangement I want and she's here!!! Did you forget her or something? FIX THIS.
+8 new messages

"Fuck," I sighed, pocketing my room key. Thundering down the stairs, I could feel my heart in my mouth. I made sure to take the back one so I looked like I'd just entered if Madison was lurking somewhere.

I grabbed a bunch of yellow flowers off of a vase on a corridor table and burst through the ballroom doors. Two accusing, three confused, and one sympathetic set of eyes turned to look at me. I was huffing, out of breath and words, so I simply rotated my hand in front of my face, stalling.

Olivia was the first one to get off her chair and gripped me by the arm. "Where the fuck were you? I texted you last night with the time and points of discussion," she hissed through clenched teeth.

Her sugary smile never dropped as she led me to the chair next to hers. She looked apologetically at the three strangers I had barely registered. "I'm so sorry about him, he's usually easier to work with."

I extended my hand to them, wiping the sweat on my shirt first. Olivia was visibly annoyed but I went on with my introduction. "Hi, good morning. I am Daniel, Josh's Best man." A lady and two men smiled awkwardly before shaking my hand in turn.

Winking at the soon to be married couple, I handed the crushed flowers to Madison. "Joshua asked me to surprise you."

To her credit, Madison accepted the flowers graciously, although the corners of her mouth twitched. With anger or laughter, it was impossible to know. Josh glared daggers and I thanked God for not granting that ability to humans.

The lady piped up. She seemed to be in her mid thirties, with her blonde hair and blue eyes. "I am Nina, the head planner. And this is Felix and Lin, the head caterer and supplier," she said, gesturing at a brown haired man with hazel eyes and then a black haired guy with deep raven eyes.

"Wonderful to meet you, Nina, Felix and Lin. What have you discussed so far?" I could sense Olivia's approval at my subtle shift to decent conversation. Soon, Madison and Josh had joined in and it almost felt like we were never strangers.

Madison was surprisingly calm and it made me wonder how she was back in university. I noticed Olivia sneaking glances at Josh and Madison, a mix of wistful and sadness spreading across her face. It struck me then that Madison and Olivia had once been the best of friends.

What exactly had gone wrong?

I placed a hand tentatively over Olivia's, fearing she might push me away. She didn't and I accepted that miracles did exist in the world. "Olivet, you doing good?"

Before she could answer, the doors to the ballroom burst open and it annoyed me no end. Bursting through doors was my thing and no way in hell was I letting anyone else steal my thunder.

I had just got off my seat when my feet froze. Standing in front of us, in all her evil glory, was Madison and Olivia's grandmother, the mother of Satan, Evelyn. She wore a dark navy blue gown today, cinched at the waist with a silver band. Her graying hair was in a neat ponytail and her face had thin worry lines.

She sweeped into the room, making Madison scramble out of her chair. The planners stood up too, even though I was sure they did not even know her. I guessed it was just her presence, the way she carried herself, that demanded attention.

Joshua and Olivia remained seated and I joined them. Evelyn was not going to have a shard of my respect after what she had done to Olivia. She could rot in hell for all I cared. Satan's mother glared at Olivia who just shrugged.

Damn, she was one feisty son of a gun.

Evelyn seemed to recover soon, like she always did. She waved at the others to sit down and Madison visibly gulped, fear setting in her usually airy face. Walking over to a chair, she sat herself comfortably and smiled.

I wasn't fooled. She was a piranha in an old lady's clothing. "I see the planning is going well," she said, to which Madison nodded eagerly, though it looked forced. "I come bearing good news."

"I doubt it," Olivia snapped, crossing her arms over her chest. She leaned back in her chair, throwing a direct challenge to her grandmother. The tension was palpable in the air and I caught Madison turn a pleading gaze at Olivia.

Evelyn ignored her. "We will have guests, mostly business associates, from all over the world. The Kingsmiths must show a strong and united front."

Olivia scoffed. "Yeah, where are my mother and my father? You ready to acknowledge them yet?" I gripped her hand tightly, begging her to stop. The sooner we got over this the better.

This time Evelyn did not hold her tongue. "Having you here is enough of an acknowledgement to your mother. If Madison hadn't begged that I accept your mother's request to have you here, you wouldn't have the cheek to talk to me."

The table stilled and no one talked for what felt like an eternity. It was Olivia's turn to grasp my hand in a vice-like hold. It pressed into the pain in my right arm but I shut my mouth; she needed me.

"What?" She whispered and slowly turned her disbelieving eyes toward Madison, who looked down at her feet. "You did what? You wanted. . . what?"

But Evelyn was back to her normal, horrible self, like she hadn't just revealed something extremely personal in front of a group of strangers. "Anyway, you can have your breakdown later. Like I said, it is important we maintain the impression of a strong family.

"And we have a few people who decided to turn up without dates." She cast a pointed glare at Olivia and me and I almost cowered in fear. I coughed and straightened myself but there was no interrupting her.

"I took the liberty of sorting that out for them since they clearly did not read the plus one compulsory clause." Evelyn grinned like a sadistic Cheshire cat. At that moment, I wanted to strangle her more than that loser, Harvey Baltimore.

"They are our special guests. I personally sent Olivia's tickets and picked up Daniel. They did not receive those requirements," Josh said, tightly. He seemed to have had enough of Evelyn's digs; I was proud.

"But like you said, my dear Joshua, they are still guests." Her eyes glittered like diamonds. "Your dates will be arriving in a few minutes. Please receive them at the gates. It's the least you can do."

Evelyn got up then and stalked out of the room without a backward glance. Madison had put her face in her hands. "Oh God, what has she done?" She looked close to tears and it almost broke my heart. The planners excused themselves, having had enough of unwanted drama.

"Did you know about this?" Olivia asked, her voice as quiet as a leaf in the wind.

For the first time, I saw regret and anger in Madison's eyes. "Of course not! I would never do that to you." She looked down again, fiddling with her dress. "Trust me, I wanted you here. Evelyn would. . . she told me if I dared inviting your family, she would make sure this wedding never happened.

"But your mom heard about it anyway and asked me to at least have you over. I did not need to be asked twice and I just. . . I coddled Evelyn into listening to me."

I saw Joshua's fists clenching at his sides. "I am sorry,' Madison went on. "I should never have listened to her nonsense and got you here on my own. Now she's going to ruin my wedding, anyway," she said, sobbing into her hands.

Joshua rubbed her back and whispered comfortingly in her ear. Olivia's shoulder slumped but some of the misery had gone out of her eyes. I knew it was because she finally saw her best friend but there was something else we needed to take care of.

"Come on," I said after a few minutes. "She said they'd be arriving any minute."

Everyone nodded their assent and we filed out of the ballroom, our moods completely soured. We made our way to the gates in silence, just in time to see two cars roll up in front of us. The ushers ran to open the doors and trunks.

Olivia stood close to me and I could hear her heart beat wildly. I wasn't worried, we could get easily through this. If we just explained to these people, they would surely leave. And if Evelyn wanted pairings, I could ask Olivia; she would agree.

It was only a matter of a few weeks, anyway.

But when the doors opened and the two newcomers stepped out, I almost passed out. I could not believe my eyes. I was facing my worst nightmare and from the looks of it, Olivia was, too. I held on to her for support just as I saw Joshua and Madison stiffen beside us.