Chapter 14 - The Doors Closed Behind Them
Julian’s face hardened.
“Shut up, Stella.”
It was the first honest thing he had said to her all day.
She recoiled.
“Don’t talk to me like that.”
“You just made this worse.”
“I made it worse?”
Marcus stepped between them.
“We’re leaving now.”
Julian pulled away from the hand guiding him toward the aisle.
“I can walk.”
“Then walk.”
My mother looked at me one last time.
Without the performance, she seemed smaller.
Not harmless.
Just smaller.
“Where am I supposed to go?”
A year earlier, that question would have undone me.
I would have pictured her frightened, alone, sitting on a curb with a suitcase.
I would have opened another door.
This time, I said, “That is something you need to arrange.”
“I’m your family.”
“So was Grandma.”
Her expression flickered.
“You always use her against me.”
“No,” I said. “I use her to remember what love looked like.”
She looked away first.
They were escorted down the aisle.
Guests moved their knees aside.
Nobody reached for them.
At the entrance, two officers waited to speak with Evelyn and receive information from the people involved.
There were no instant handcuffs.
No judge waiting on the cathedral steps.
Just questions they could no longer charm their way around.
When the doors closed, my knees nearly gave out.
Lena caught my elbow.
“Breathe.”
I drew in one rough breath.
Then another.
The room was still watching.
I picked up the microphone.
“I’m sorry for the shock.”
Robert’s wife shook her head through her tears.
I swallowed.
“The reception is already paid for. So is the food.”
A nervous laugh came from the back.
“And right now, I could really use lunch with people who are happy I still own my life.”
Lena laughed first.
Then Beth.
Then applause started somewhere near the aisle and spread until I couldn’t hear my own uneven breathing.
It didn’t fix everything.
But it got me through the next minute.
At the reception, I changed into a simple white dress.
We covered the wedding cake topper with fresh flowers.
Robert and his wife came to say goodbye.
She held my hands.
“I hope someday today feels like the day you were saved.”
“I think it already does,” I said.
Later, while my friends danced, Evelyn sat beside me.
“We have one more thing to discuss.”
My stomach tightened.
“What now?”
“Your mother left a voicemail.”
I looked across the room at the people who had stayed.
“What does she want?”
May you like
Evelyn’s answer was quiet.
“She says Julian has money you don’t know about.”
