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doned Br
ral. Stella Hayes stood alone at the altar, the weight of her satin gown a sudden, suffocating armor. Her
as l
er late. Not on
m. The air, thick with the scent of lilies and old stone, was heavy in her lungs. She
ry eyes, leaned in. "Perhaps we shoul
re." The words were an assertion, not a prayer. She would no
r brother, his best man, stumbled in. His face was pale, his tie askew. He didn't look
es echoing on the marble. He stopped in fr
ed, his voice cracki
ained-glass windows blur
mered, forcing his eyes to meet hers. "He can't m
landed, and the air left her lung
he were underwater. Five years of her life, every sacrifice for Brandon's career, every late night of support
ighten. She would not faint.
number. Her hand was steady as she pulled it out.
it for hi
triumph, slithered through the line. "Brandon'
s of suspicion she had brushed aside-the late-ni
was audible. "He feels terrible, of course. But he said he just c
lculated incision. A wave o
hung
burned away everything else, lea
the tragic figu
rned to face the stunned crowd. Her voi
e will not be
p rippled throug
ut I came here to get married today." Her voice gained stre
and walked. She did not run. She walked down the aisle, head held hi
er vision cleared, she saw a cluster of men in sharp suits huddled around a black seda
ed when he saw her, a bride emerging from the cathedral alone. He looked less sho
across the sun-
d in the ashes of her life. It
s per
sen. From now on, she
d walking
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