"Don’t worry too much," Cherry said. "Second ti’s the charm, right?"
"Third," Alia corrected. "Third ti’s the charm."
"Oh right, sorry," Cherry said sheepishly. "I forgot that you were once married to that bitch ass."
Alia laughed, shifting her feet. She was grateful that she had the foresight to switch out her original heels for sothing less taxing. "I try to forget it daily, but it’s difficult."
And wasn’t that the truth? Caleb’s second attempt at kidnapping had scared her enough that she had woken up in a cold sweat more than once.
Sotis, she dreamt that Matteo did not arrive in ti, and she was successfully kidnapped to another land. Sotis, she dreamt that she had been tossed into the ocean with her father, the both of them drowning in excruciating slowness.
Sotis, she dreamt that she was still married to Caleb, and he drowned her in a fish tank. The dreams didn’t make much sense, but all of them featured Caleb hurting her in so shape or form.
The doctors all said that it would take ti for her to get over it. Even with Caleb’s arrest and imprisonnt, and the downfall of the Walton family, it would take her mind to work through the trauma.
Thankfully, Matteo was never far from her to soothe her fears. She initially felt guilty for disturbing his sleep, but Matteo hadn’t cared about it at all. No matter how tired he was, he always made sure to care for her, wiping away her tears and cuddling her to sleep.
But now, she could feel herself healing. It was ti for her to take the next step in her life with Matteo. She stroked the tiny bump on her belly through the fabric of her wedding dress, which Jenna had helpfully altered to fit her new asurents.
A smile blood on her face. After all the hassles and difficulties she had to face with Matteo, they were finally going to get married.
Again.
And this ti, Emline wasn’t going to interrupt the ceremony with another bomb of misinformation. Her delightful cousin was now in Serafield, trying to convince the bartender that Aiden t to do a blood test.
"Don’t worry, my cousin will make it so that you can’t think about anything else but him for the rest of your life," Cherry said mischievously. "So, are you ready? Do you need to use the toilet? Any last-minute requests?"
"Nope," Alia shook her head, a wellspring of excitent blooming inside her.
A quick knock at the door distracted them, and Aiden popped his face through.
"Are you ready?" Aiden asked. He wasn’t the best man― that honor had gone to Ronan, who had sat through too much of Matteo’s Alia-related nonsense to be deprived of such an honor.
Instead, Aiden was now everything short of the priest. If Lillie wasn’t the flower girl, Aiden would be wearing a flower crown and tossing petals down the aisle.
He wanted to do sothing to make up for the hurt he had caused. Alia saw no harm in Aiden’s attempts. It was nice for Matteo to have more support from his family since his stepmother had all but eloped with Benjamin Hawthorne, and his father...
Well, Matteo didn’t want to invite soone who had no qualms about shooting people when they got angry, so who could bla him?
Just in case he tried anything, Matteo had also packed the venue with security personnel.
"It’s ti already?" Cherry asked, before taking a quick look at her watch. "Wow, it is. Tell Matteo to hang on for just a little longer. Ti to cue to the violins."
"Got it," Aiden said with a thumbs-up. He then gazed at Alia and added, with the faintest hint of wistfulness in his voice. "You look amazing. Matteo is going to die when he sees you."
"Hopefully not literally," Alia couldn’t help but jibe. "I’ve had enough of death to last a lifeti."
Aiden saluted playfully. "Touché." Then he turned away to let the orchestra know it was ti to change their tunes.
Yes, there was a mini-orchestra at her wedding, simply because Horace Hawthorne wanted nothing but the best for Alia, especially after her first two weddings had turned into hot sses.
Alia had to put her foot down when her grandfather offered to import a thousand white doves and set them loose in the wedding hall. She also said no to the butterflies. Compared to birds and insects, the human orchestra was a much better compromise.
Cherry quickly grabbed the veil and fastened it over her head. A white gauzy curtain fell over Alia’s eyes, blanketing her world in soft silk. "It’s ti."
Alia sucked in a deep breath. Yes.
Finally, it was ti.
With Cherry holding the end of her dress, the assistant opened the door for her to thunderous applause. The swell of violins filled the air as the traditional wedding march played, and the scent of flowers entered her nose. Spots of color filled her vision; the entire venue had been decked to the nines with extravagant floral arrangents.
However, Alia only had eyes for the one man that was waiting for her at the end of the aisle. If she could, she would have picked up her skirts and ran all the way to the end. But there was a certain joy in walking slowly too, step by step, towards a brighter, happier future, towards a man that loved her more than life itself.
Matteo’s eyes caught hers, and she was surprised at the faint glimr of tears in his eyes. Imdiately, her own eyes grew wet.
They had gone through so much to get to this point.
When she finally arrived at the end of the aisle, the officiant cleared his throat and began to speak.
"Do you, Mattoe Montgory, take Alia Kentwood to be your lawful wedded wife, promise to love, honor, cherish, and be faithful to her through sickness and adversity, as well as health and prosperity, forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live?"
"I do." There was no hesitation in Matteo’s words, and his voice rang loud and clear through the hall.
"Then do you, Alia Kentwood, take Matteo Montgory to be your lawful wedded husband, promise to love, honor, cherish, and be faithful to her through sickness and adversity, as well as health and prosperity, forsaking all others, so long as you both shall live?"
"I do," Alia said, her eyes brimming with tears.
"You may kiss the bride."
They didn’t need any more prodding. Matteo all but ripped off the veil covering Alia’s face, and the both of them fell into each other’s arms as though they’d not seen each other in decades, kissing with the fervor of long-lost lovers. The guests broke out into catcalls and screams of delight.
"I love you," Matteo murmured feverishly as he kissed her again and again.
"I love you too," Alia whispered back, just as intensely.
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