THE WEDDING
861 Words
EPISODE 7: THE WEDDING
Three months later.
The Moretti estate looked different.
White flowers everywhere. Fairy lights in the trees.
No press. No cameras. Just family and close friends.
Elena stood in front of the mirror in her room.
Simple white dress. No diamonds. No designer label.
Just her. Hair down. Milo’s drawing pinned to her bouquet.
“Ready, Mommy?” Milo knocked, wearing a tiny suit.
Elena turned. “You look so handsome.”
“You look pretty too.” He held up the rings. “Daddy said I should carry these.”
There was a knock. Mrs. Hale. “Miss. He’s waiting.”
Downstairs, Luca was pacing.
Navy suit. No tie. Hands in pockets. Looking more nervous than he did during his IPO.
When he saw her, he stopped breathing.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered.
Elena smiled. “You clean up nice too, CEO.”
Luca laughed. Took her hand. “I was so scared you wouldn’t say yes.”
“I almost didn’t.” Elena squeezed his hand. “But then I remembered. You chose us. Every day.”
The music started. Pachelbel.
Milo walked down first, throwing flower petals everywhere and grinning at everyone.
Then Elena.
Luca was waiting under a white arch in the garden.
No priest. His best friend. Because Luca said “I want someone who knows me to do this.”
50 people. All of them crying.
“Luca Moretti,” his friend started. “Do you take Elena Rose to be your wife?”
Luca didn’t even wait. “Yes. I do. I have for 5 years.”
“Elena Rose, do you take Luca Moretti?”
Elena looked at Milo, then at Luca. “Yes. For real this time.”
Milo handed them the rings. “Here!”
Luca slipped the ring on her finger. Simple band.
Elena did the same.
“By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride.”
Luca kissed her. Not soft. Not shy.
Like a man who’d waited 5 years and almost lost her twice.
Everyone clapped. Milo yelled “THEY’RE MARRIED!”
---
Reception was in the garden.
String lights. Long tables. No speeches about money.
Just stories.
Luca’s best friend: “He was a disaster before her. Now he makes pancakes.”
Elena’s sister: “She waited tables for 5 years and never gave up on her kid. And on him.”
At one point, Luca pulled Elena away from the crowd. To the beach.
No one around. Just waves.
He pulled her into his arms. “Mrs. Moretti.”
Elena grinned. “Mr. Moretti.”
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
They kissed. Slow. Like they had all the time in the world.
Because now they did.
Back at the party, Milo was asleep on a lounge chair, suit jacket off, holding both their hands.
Luca picked him up. “Let’s go home.”
Their home.
Not the contract house.
Their home.
The honeymoon was one week on the same island from before.
But this time was different.
No hiding. No fear.
Just Elena, Luca, and Milo building sandcastles.
Luca burning the BBQ. Elena teaching him how to dance badly.
Movie nights in bed. All three of them.
On the last night, Luca took Elena to the beach.
“I have something for you,” he said.
He handed her a folder.
“What is this?”
“The company.” Luca shrugged. “50%. It’s yours now. Not because of a contract. Because you’re my wife. And my partner.”
Elena stared. “Luca, I can’t—”
“You can.” He kissed her forehead. “You saved me. You saved us. This is yours.”
Elena cried. “I don’t want your money. I want you.”
“You have both.” He wiped her tears. “And you deserve both.”
---
Six months later.
Elena was in Luca’s office. Barefoot. Going over company reports.
Because she was now COO.
Milo’s drawings were on the fridge in the CEO office.
The press called it “The Moretti Miracle.”
From scandal to fairy tale.
Victoria was still in Europe. Ignored. Powerless.
One morning, Elena found Luca in the kitchen at 6am. Making pancakes.
Again.
“Old habit?” she asked.
“New habit.” He turned, kissed her. “Being a husband. Being a dad.”
Milo ran in. “Pancakes!”
And just like that, it was normal.
Messy. Loud. Real.
That night, after Milo was asleep, Luca found Elena on the balcony.
“What are you thinking about?”
Elena smiled. “About 5 years ago. When I ran.”
“Don’t.”
“I’m glad I did.” She leaned into him. “Because it led me back to you.”
Luca wrapped his arms around her. “No more running.”
“No more.”
Below them, the lights of the city.
Above them, stars.
A family.
A home.
A choice.
The end.
[END OF EPISODE 7]
#StrayWritingMarathon #ContractMarriage #BillionaireRomance #Episode7 #Wedding #CEOxNanny #Family #HappilyEverAfter #RomanceNovel #BookTok #MorettiSeries #Finale
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