Your Love Came Late, I Chose Another

Chapter 4

The groomsmen followed Stella into the room one after another.

They had known her and Aaron since childhood. It was only natural that they stood firmly on her side.

"Yvonne, you know how much Aaron and Stella loved each other."

"Some people are meant to be together. Why not let them have their second chance?"

But Stella had been the one who chose to leave.

Yet somewhere along the way, I had become the villain in everyone else's story, the other woman who came between two lovers destined for each other.

No matter how carefully I carried myself around them, they had never once accepted me as one of their own.

From the ballroom outside, our wedding montage continued to play across the massive screen.

Aaron's singing drifted through the speakers.

The soundtrack was a song he had written for me years ago. It was the first song he had written. I used to think that it was the best present for me.

The room gradually fell silent.

The smile on Stella's face stiffened.

Looping her arm through Aaron's, she said softly, "Aaron, we're going to miss our flight. We should leave."

But Aaron's gaze lingered on me, unreadable and conflicted.

Then Stella suddenly removed the ring from her finger and crossed the room.

"You can have the ring back. So, can you give Aaron back to me?"

As she spoke, she pushed the ring firmly into my palm, her voice trembling with a desperate kind of sincerity. "Without him, I don't know how to keep going."

Just then, the wedding video reached its final scene. A photograph filled the screen.

In it, Aaron was crouched in front of me, carefully swapping my heels for a pair of flats.

The picture had been taken during our wedding photoshoot.

I had spent hours standing in 3-inch heels that day.

By the end of the session, my feet hurt so badly that every step felt like walking on glass.

Aaron had noticed my sore feet that day. Halfway through the photoshoot, he had slipped away and come back carrying a pair of flats. Even the photographer had laughed and said any woman would be lucky to have a husband who cared that much.

I looked at Aaron now, a dull ache spreading through my chest.

Whether that care had ever been love, only he knew.

Without warning, he caught my arm and steered me toward the hallway. "We need a private conversation."

The second we reached an empty corner, I shook off his hand.

"What exactly is there left to say?"

Aaron pressed two fingers against his brow, irritation surfacing beneath his forced patience.

"Yvonne, having Samuel stand in was the only option I had. When the time is right, I'll tell you everything."

The time? What future timing was there left between us?

I studied him quietly before placing the gold ring into his hand.

"There was a time when this ring meant everything to me."

Because it represented a place in the Lynch family. It meant becoming his wife. But somewhere along the way, that dream had lost all its meaning.

My calmness finally snapped the last thread of his restraint.

He shouted at me, "So you still don't trust me?"

Before I could answer, he grabbed my wrist again and closed the distance between us.

"Yvonne, you're the one who promised to love me forever. If you really love me, you should trust me! I asked Samuel to stand in for a ceremony. That's all. It's not like I asked him to replace me as your husband. Why are you making such a big deal out of this?"

It was ridiculous. He had walked away from his own wedding for another woman.

He had let his twin brother play groom in his place. Yet somehow I was the one being unreasonable?

I met his gaze without blinking. "If you stay any longer, you'll miss the flight you're planning to catch with Stella."

Aaron's expression faltered. The anger that had been simmering beneath the surface drained away in an instant.

After a brief silence, he exhaled and softened his tone. "Yvonne, didn't you always say you wanted to see the Northern Lights in Frostheim? When I come back, I'll take you. We'll stay as long as you like."

Aaron had always remembered things. He remembered my every small wish. However, he rarely made them happen.

This time, in order to get me to give in, he even took the initiative to suggest accompanying me on a trip — something he had never done before.

"Yvonne, I promise you, from now on I'll help you fulfill every wish."

"There won't be a 'from now on.' I'm about to—"

Before I could finish, one of the groomsmen suddenly rushed over:

"Aaron, Stella has fainted!"

Aaron's expression changed: "Wait for me to come back and marry you, okay?"

Then, he hurriedly left.

For the first time all day, I felt strangely at peace. A small smile touched my lips.

Perhaps that was how it was always meant to end.

*****

Aaron had rushed Stella to the hospital, carrying her in his arms the entire way.

Outside the emergency department, his phone wouldn't stop buzzing.

First came a call from Samuel. Then his parents.

Aaron finally snapped and switched his phone off.

He thought Samuel's role as his stand-in groom had probably been exposed.

And if that was the case, there was only one explanation.

I must still be angry, making a scene, refusing to cooperate and let Samuel finish the wedding in his place.

Dismissing the calls, Aaron turned his attention back to Stella's admission paperwork.

Then, a news report caught his eye.

"Walter Norman, Heir to the Norman Family, Exchanged Vows with His Wife, Yvonne Stewart, in a Stunning Riverside Wedding Earlier Today"

On the screen, Walter gently slid a wedding band onto my finger.

The folder in Aaron's hands slipped free and hit the floor with a loud smack, documents scattering in every direction.