Chapter 8 - The Wedding She Finally Chose For Herself
The first wedding without an audience happened at a small courthouse on a rainy morning.
No chandeliers.
No million-dollar flower arrangements.
No family negotiations.
No business contracts.
No one waiting for Natalie to collapse.
Gianna wore a simple cream dress.
Rafael wore a dark suit.
Bianca stood beside her.
Kara was the flower girl.
Daniel gave Gianna away.
But just before they entered the room, Rafael stopped her.
“Wait.”
She frowned.
“What?”
He looked nervous.
“I need to ask you something.”
“What?”
“You don't have to marry me.”
She stared.
“I know.”
“I mean it.”
“I know.”
“If you walk away, I'll let you.”
Gianna smiled.
“That is the first wedding you've ever made easier.”
He laughed.
She took his hand.
“Let's go.”
They married with twelve people present.
No empire.
No political alliance.
No legal requirement.
Just two people who had survived the worst version of their story.
Afterward, they went home.
Not to the Rosetti estate.
Not to the Holloway mansion.
To a new house they had purchased together.
A smaller place on the coast.
It had a garden.
A library.
A kitchen.
And a room they painted blue for their son.
Rafael refused to let anyone hire an interior designer.
Gianna objected.
He painted one wall.
It was terrible.
She laughed for ten minutes.
“I regret marrying you.”
“You're stuck now.”
“Am I?”
“Yes.”
She kissed him.
“No.”
He smiled.
“Fair.”
Their son was born three months later.
They named him Leo.
Rafael cried when he held him.
Gianna pretended not to notice.
“You're crying.”
“No.”
“You are.”
“It's allergies.”
“Inside a hospital?”
“Yes.”
She laughed.
Their families began rebuilding.
Not perfectly.
Nothing in their history could ever be perfect.
But honestly.
Rafael cut all remaining criminal ties.
Gianna turned the Rosetti empire into a legitimate international logistics company.
They donated millions toward trafficking survivors and families harmed by organized crime.
Bianca became chief operating officer.
Daniel became trust counsel.
Natalie testified against Victor.
And for the first time, Natalie stopped being a shadow hanging over their marriage.
She rebuilt her life quietly.
Gianna never became her friend.
But she forgave her.
That was enough.
One evening, six months after Leo's birth, Gianna found Rafael sitting on the porch with their son asleep against his chest.
She watched him.
“You look happy.”
He looked at her.
“I am.”
She sat beside him.
“Do you ever think about the chapel?”
“Every day.”
“Seventeen times?”
He smiled.
“Especially the seventeenth.”
“Why?”
“Because that was the day I almost lost you forever.”
Gianna rested her head against his shoulder.
“You did lose me.”
“I know.”
“And then?”
“I had to become someone who deserved to find you again.”
She closed her eyes.
“You did.”
He kissed her forehead.
Inside the house, Leo cried.
Rafael stood instantly.
“I've got him.”
Gianna laughed.
“You're getting good at this.”
“I have excellent training.”
“From where?”
May you like
He smiled.
“You.”
