CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 6 — THE WEDDING IS OVER
The foyer remained silent after Adrian spoke.
Victoria looked as if she had been slapped without anyone touching her.
For a woman like her, public rejection was worse than private guilt.
She could survive cruelty.
She could survive lies.
She could survive hurting people.
But she could not survive witnesses.
Adrian turned to me.
His voice lowered.
“Do you want to continue this wedding?”
The question was gentle.
That almost made me cry.
Not because I knew the answer.
Because he had asked.
All day, people had decided things for me.
Victoria decided which flowers were acceptable.
Victoria decided which guests mattered.
Victoria decided where my mother should sit.
Victoria decided what kind of bride I was allowed to be.
Victoria even decided I should be thrown through a door rather than welcomed through one.
And now, for the first time that night, someone gave me my own choice back.
I looked down at my dress.
The lace was still beautiful.
The skirt was full and bright under the chandelier.
But the hem was dusted with glittering fragments. My veil hung unevenly. One of the flower pins had fallen from my hair. My hands were still shaking.
This wedding had been planned to look perfect.
But perfection had become the cage.
I looked at Adrian.
“I love you,” I said.
His face tightened with hope and fear.
“But I can’t begin my marriage by pretending your mother didn’t try to break me.”
He nodded slowly.
Tears filled his eyes.
“I understand.”
Victoria seized on that moment.
“Good,” she said quickly. “Then everyone can calm down. We’ll reschedule privately once emotions settle.”
I laughed once.
Small.
Disbelieving.
Even now, she thought the problem was timing.
Not cruelty.
Not violence.
Not humiliation.
Timing.
I turned toward her.
“The wedding is over.”
Her expression stiffened.
“So is your control.”
The guests heard every word.
Adrian did too.
I slipped the ring from my finger.
His breath caught.
I took his hand and placed the ring in his palm.
“This is not me leaving you,” I said quietly. “This is me refusing to be married inside her lie.”
He closed his fingers around the ring.
A tear ran down his face.
“What do we do now?”
I looked at the broken glass door.
Then at the guests who had watched me fall and were now watching me stand.
“We tell everyone to go home.”
Adrian nodded.
Then he turned to the room.
His voice carried clearly beneath the chandeliers.
“Thank you for coming. The reception is over.”
No one argued.
No one asked for cake.
No one clapped.
Guests began moving slowly, awkwardly, careful not to step on glass or truth.
Victoria stood rigid near the staircase.
Her empire of appearances was walking out the front door one tuxedo at a time.
My mother pushed through the crowd then, crying, her hands reaching for me.
“Bella.”
I went to her.
The moment she wrapped her arms around me, I stopped holding myself upright.
I shook so hard she had to steady me.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered into my hair.
I shook my head.
“No. I’m sorry I let them make me feel ashamed of us.”
Across the foyer, Adrian heard me.
His face broke again.
May you like
Maybe because he knew I was not only talking about Victoria.
I was talking about him too.
