Chapter 7 - A New DanceOne Year Later.
The grand ballroom of White Oak Manor was illuminated by a thousand floating candles. The string quartet was playing a soft, sweeping waltz, and the room was filled with laughter, the clinking of glasses, and the scent of expensive champagne.
Maddie stood near the grand oak doors, wearing a sleek, emerald-green evening gown that caught the candlelight. She watched as her father, Frank, laughed heartily with a group of investors at table four. His retirement account was untouched, his furnace repair business had expanded, and he looked younger than he had in a decade.
“You’re staring again.”
Maddie turned as Elias slipped his arms around her waist from behind, pressing a soft kiss to her bare shoulder. He wore a perfectly tailored midnight-blue tuxedo, looking every bit the billionaire CEO he had stepped up to become over the past year.
“I’m just taking it in,” Maddie smiled, leaning back against his chest. “It’s hard to believe this is the same room where my life fell apart twelve months ago.”
“Your life didn't fall apart here, Maddie,” Elias murmured, turning her around to face him. “It finally started.”
Tonight wasn't a wedding. It was the annual Sterling Hospitality Charity Gala, and Maddie was attending not as a guest, but as the Director of Operations for their newly launched philanthropic wing—a job Elias had insisted she apply for after seeing her ruthlessly organize the fallout of her own disaster. She had excelled at it, turning the viral fame of her abandoned wedding into a massive fundraising platform for victims of financial fraud.
Tyler was currently serving an eight-year sentence in a minimum-security federal facility, bankrupt and forgotten.
Elias took Maddie’s hand, his thumb gently tracing the knuckles. “I recall making a promise to you in this exact room a year ago.”
Maddie raised an eyebrow, a playful smile on her lips. “Oh? And what was that?”
“The bride ate alone. But I told myself that she should never have to dance alone.”
Elias stepped back, offering his hand with a theatrical, handsome bow. “Miss Price, would you do me the honor?”
Maddie placed her hand in his.
He led her to the center of the ballroom floor. The crowd of wealthy elites and socialites naturally parted for them, their eyes drawn to the undeniable, electric chemistry between the CEO and the woman who had stolen his heart while eating steak in a ruined wedding dress.
As Elias pulled her close, his hand resting firmly on the small of her back, they began to move to the music. There was no hesitation, no fear, and no secrets between them.
Maddie looked up into the dark, observant eyes of the man who had seen her at her absolute lowest and had helped her burn the ashes to forge a crown.
“I love you,” Maddie whispered over the music.
Elias smiled, pulling her closer until the rest of the room faded away completely.
May you like
“I loved you by the second course,” he replied.
And under the glittering chandeliers of White Oak Manor, the bride who had been left behind finally got her perfect dance.
