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*October 25, 2003*
The tears had come so hard and regularly earlier in the day that she felt physically drained. And wasn't *that* an understatement. Even if she hadn't cried at all, she would still feel weary, as though all the life had been sucked cleanly out of her - exactly as she felt right now.
Stephanie bit her lip as she willed herself not to shed anymore tears. She was in the small back room in the church, just moments before her wedding would begin. She couldn't believe this was her life. How in the world could she be forced into marrying a man she didn't love? Paul Levesque was nothing but an abusive, horrible tyrant. He didn't love her or even care for her in the slightest. Yet, here she was. Her father didn't give two shits about her feelings, and her mother couldn't really do anything to help her. Oh, sure, Linda had tried speaking to Vince, but he'd merely given her a stern look and silenced her with a wave of his hand. After all, in the McMahon family, what he said went.
'Sean... Oh, God, Sean... Where *are* you?!' Stephanie wondered as she glimpsed herself in the mirror across the room. She was wearing a gorgeous wedding gown made of silk, satin and lace, adorned with exquisitely delicate beads. Her veil was covered with silk flowers that matched those on her dress. Her long chestnut hair had been curled and styled to perfection, and her makeup was flawless. Amazingly, her eyes no longer held traces of red after her crying fest earlier in the day. She had to admit, she looked beautiful... But she sure as hell didn't *feel* that way. She felt cold, empty and hollow... Alone.
The brunette kept her head down, thoughts of her evidently lost love consuming her. She just didn't understand. Had she been wrong about O'Haire? Had he *used* her? She couldn't bring herself to believe that, *wouldn't* make herself believe it. There had to be *some* reason, some *logical* explanation for Sean's inability to contact her.
She looked up as, suddenly, the door opened without even a knock of warning. No matter, however, as she was fully dressed. It was Vince.
"Where the devil is your mother?"
Stephanie blinked with incomprehension. Linda hadn't said a word to her earlier when she'd slipped from the room. She honestly hadn't thought about her mother's whereabouts due to her mind's overcomsumption of those of Sean O'Haire.
"I don't know, Daddy," she answered weakly. She looked down, her head spinning. She felt sick. The idea of walking down that aisle to stand beside such a hateful man - a *rapist* - was enough to make her feel faint.
"Well, she better get back here ASAP, damn it," the man muttered. "Everyone is out there, waiting."
The brunette looked up into her father's face, searching desperately for some sign of compassion. Surely he wouldn't allow this horrible action to take place! But she could see nothing but determination in his dark eyes, a stern gleam within. As usual, he only cared about business - and finances. Whatever he deemed good for business was what he most concerned himself with, and to hell with all else, even if that included his family.
Then, as though almost on cue with her husband's words, Linda suddenly returned. Stephanie instantly met her mother's blue eyes, so very much like her own... She cocked her head to one side questioningly, as she thought she could detect *something* in them. Linda looked as though she was excited about something, pensive.
Vince didn't seem to notice a thing, however, other than his wife's return.
"Come on, it's time," he said seriously. "Our little girl's wedding is about to start." A smug smirk-smile spread across his lips.
Stephanie stared at her mother wordlessly, wishing there was some way they could telepathically communicate. She really had no clue of what Linda had gone, or what she'd been doing, but there was just something about the look in the woman's eyes. Damn it... With her father here, there was no way of communicating it verbally. Her stomach began to churn again as she stepped outside of the room with her parents. This was it. She felt as though she were about to walk the last mile.
Linda walked out ahead of them, as she wasn't walking the brunette down the aisle - that was Vince's responsibility alone and he'd seen to it that it would stay that way. The blonde made her way down the aisle to sit at the front of the altar, where Stephanie's brother Shane already sat.
"You're going to be a good little girl and get up there and take your vows," Vince said, his dark eyes stern as he fixed them on her blue.
Stephanie managed to not flinch despite the horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. Her father was such a tyrant. And he'd proven more in the last few days that he really didn't care about her. It took all she had not to break down and cry. Her father was an unfeeling bastard, she'd lost her true love, and now she was literally being forced into marrying a man she hated.
"You're not going to embarrass me out there," the man ordered, his tone hard. He raised a finger and wagged it in his daughter's face as he spoke. "Do we understand each other, Stephanie Marie?"
The brunette blinked rapidly, fighting back tears. She couldn't speak a single word but then nodded half-heartedly. Oh, God... It was shaping up to be the single worst day of her life. She would rather die than go through with this horror, this madness.
The organ music suddenly began to play, and people began filing up the aisles. Stephanie didn't even have any bridesmaids. *Nothing* about this wedding was her idea, anyway. She closed her eyes tightly as she inwardly prayed. She wasn't a religious person by any means, but help her, she needed *something*. And then, the next thing she knew, her father was grabbing hold of her arm, tugging on it. 'Here Comes the Bride' was now playing on the organ.
"It's time," Vince said firmly. He nodded sharply as she reluctantly linked her arm into his, and then he led her out and down the aisle.
The brunette felt like vomiting. She could see Paul at the altar, that smug look on his disgusting face. God, she hated him. In fact, if he was to drop dead right now, she wouldn't even bat an eyelash.
She could barely concentrate a moment later, as the priest began speaking. Mentally, she wasn't even there. She felt as though she were somewhere else, apart from her body, just a witness to this travesty. Maybe if she pretended, drew further into herself, she could actually make herself believe she wasn't really here and that this really wasn't happening.
"Paul, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do."
Those two words snapped Stephanie back to reality. She stared into Levesque's beady amber eyes with horror, her breathing quickening along with her pulse and heart rate. Oh, God... She felt faint.
"Stephanie, do you take Paul to be your lawfully wedded husband?" the priest inquired.
The brunette glanced from her fiance to the priest, her eyes widened. She couldn't do it. She *couldn't*. And then, as she hesitated further, she suddenly felt a pinch on the arm - her father. He was going to torment her if she didn't do it.
"I... I do." She felt sicker than ever.
Levesque smiled, and somehow refrained from outwardly laughing.
"Well, then... If no one here has just cause to believe these two should not be wedded in holy matrimony-"
"Oh, I have just cause. I object!"
Stephanie's head whipped to her right as she looked over her shoulder. That voice... God, could it be...?
"What?!" Paul shouted, his face growing red with fury.
"I think you heard me," Sean O'Haire said, his voice steady and strong. He shifted his gaze to Stephanie and winked,
pleased when she smiled at him in response.