The Clarence Valley Gazette 23/9/07

The wedding of all weddings, the wedding of the season. As Clarissa Mavers, and Derrick Pierce, join hands in matrimony. The wedding is set for the fall, in which it is costing the prospective families, roughly around 2.5 million. The pairing will bring the two billion dollar businesses together. The family could not be happier, with Mrs Mavers stating "it is beyond belief, I mean to find a match so perfect. We could not be happier". We hope to be at the wedding, it would be an honour, to see two such young and beautiful people, joined in matrimony.

6 months to the wedding

Clarissa read the paper over and over again. Her heart aching with each word, not knowing how to react. She knew that she should be pleased, after all this was her 'wedding'. But for some reason, she was not. Throwing the paper onto the table, she let out a frustrated sigh. There was nothing she hated more, then the way the media hyped up the event. They made it sound like it was a love match, but it was far from this. The match was, strictly business related. Even though they had officially been dating, for two years. Clarissa had never found herself as attracted him, in the way that she should.

Now they were getting married, but there was nothing that she could do. Her family honour, was more important then anything else. She did not want to be extradited, from the family. Like Jensen had from the Pierce family. That would be the worst thing that could ever happen. More than saying, how she really felt.

4 months to the wedding

The day was getting closer, and there was still no more desire, towards getting married. She still felt like it was the wrong thing to do, the whole arrangement was a lie. And she hated it; she didn't want any part of it. But that she couldn't help, saying how she felt was not required of her. No one cared about her emotions, or her wants and needs. The only thing that mattered is the wedding, and the publicity coming form the 'happy' event.

She walked down the path, escaping the older women. Making the decisions towards HER future. The sound of a motorbike stopped her. As she looked on with anticipation, such things always fascinated her. Getting a better look, she turned the corner. Only to realise the person on it, was Derricks brother Jensen. This unintentionally made her freeze; she knew that he was bad news.

She had been tole, not to ever associate with him. But she didn't listen to the voices, what they didn't know would not hurt them.

2 months to the wedding

Clarissa slightly stumbled on the steps, making her frown and curse. She couldn't draw any noise to herself. That would be disastrous, and not to mention stupid. After all she was sneaking out, to meet Jensen. If her parents knew, she would then in turn be extradited. Or worse, locked in a tower somewhere, until the wedding day. Yet again confirming another reason, for Clarissa to not tell the truth.

It wasn't a big deal, not really. It's not like she was doing anything wrong. There was nothing going on between them, but still she knew that if it got out, it would be taken the wrong way. Even worse the media, would turn into something that it wasn't. And that could not happen, which probably meant she shouldn't be going to see him. But his friendship was worth more than that to her, she would just have to lie, and risk it.

Sneaking out of the house finally, she put her hand over her heart. Willing for it to slow down. This was one of those moments, when she was hoping she wouldn't be nervous.

2 weeks to the wedding

The hall was quiet; no one would be there for hours. And she merely just sat there in the dark. Hoping that she would be left in peace, there was a need to think. And so much to think about.

It was two weeks to the wedding, and with everyday she dreaded it more. And Clarissa was not sure, if living a lie was worth it. If pretending to be in love, and letting go of her own hopes and dreams, was worth it.

The wedding day

Silence filled the church, as all the guests waited impatiently for the bride, to make her way down the aisle. But the bride was not coming; she seemed to be taking a long time. The adults began to panic, they could not contemplate why?

Outside the big doors, she sat there thinking. In a daze of her thoughts, unsure of what to do. She had discovered she was in love, just not with the groom.

She was, however, in love with his brother. But now she had to make her big decision, whether to go down the aisle and live a lie, or tell the truth.

Clarissa got up from the floor, and began to head through the doors. Every person in the room, had their eyes on her. This was now or never, the final stage. To admit the truth, or live in the doom of her lie, to herself, and the world.

The Clarence Valley Gazette 25/03/08

The so-called wedding of the century, ended in disaster. With the bride, running out of the room, with the grooms brother. Apparently, she had been having an affair with him for months, and is carrying his child. We are both shocked, and appalled at her behaviour.

Having been at the wedding, we were able to obtain exclusive photos. Which will be featured, in next week's paper.