The church was silent except for the soft rustle of dresses and the pounding of my own heart.
Everyone waited.
Leo stood at the altar, his eyes shining with love and happy tears. My father’s arm was steady under mine. The bouquet trembled in my hands.
And at the back of the church, John Larry stood like a storm cloud. tall, dark, and devastating in his suit, his piercing eyes locked on mine with raw desperation.
I took one step forward. Then another.
Leo smiled brighter.
But with every step down that aisle, memories flooded me: John’s hands gripping my hips as he thrust deep inside me, his whispered “I love you” against my skin, the way he made my entire body come alive. The safety Leo offered suddenly felt like a cage.
I stopped halfway down the aisle.
A collective gasp rippled th
