Chapter 9 - The Wedding Photographer Finally Became the Woman at the Center of the Wedding
Claire planned her own wedding.
She refused a giant ceremony.
Instead, she wanted the people who had truly stayed.
Her mother.
Lily.
Ethan and Lauren.
Cole's trusted employees.
And a handful of people from the community center.
The ceremony took place in the restored garden beside the old house.
Cole waited under an arch of white flowers.
When Claire walked toward him, he smiled.
“You're late.”
“By two minutes.”
“I noticed.”
She laughed.
“You're obsessed with time.”
“I was obsessed with losing it.”
She reached him.
“What changed?”
“You.”
They exchanged vows.
Claire promised to never run from the truth.
Cole promised never to protect her by lying again.
Then they kissed.
That night, Claire returned to the mansion.
The same mansion she had once entered as a desperate photographer.
Now she walked through the front door as its owner.
Not because of money.
Because it was home.
Cole stood beside her.
“You okay?”
She smiled.
“I am.”
He looked at her.
“Happy?”
“Yes.”
“Good.”
Then he handed her an envelope.
She opened it.
Inside was one final letter from her mother.
Claire read it.
You spent your childhood believing you lost everything.
You didn't.
You found your way back.
Claire cried.
Cole wrapped his arms around her.
And for the first time, the past was no longer painful.
May you like
It was simply part of the story.
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