Chapter 7 - Unbroken and Forever HomeOne year after the rainy afternoon at The Aurum, the grand oceanfront lawn of our new estate in Lake Forest was bathed in golden autumn sunlight.
A private, beautiful gathering of fifty close friends, family, and trusted team members sat at long white-linen tables set up along the stone terrace overlooking Lake Michigan.
Maya and Leo—now six years old—ran through the green grass wearing matching ivory outfits, holding flower baskets, their bright hazel-gray eyes shining with weightless joy.
Standing near the marble arbor overlooking the water, wearing an immaculate black tuxedo, his gray eyes fixed entirely on the stone path, was Luca.
The heavy double glass doors of the estate opened.
Walking down the rose-covered aisle, wearing a breathtaking, floor-length silk gown that caught the afternoon sunlight like liquid gold, holding a bouquet of white peonies, was me.
When Luca saw me approach, tears of pure, unadulterated happiness welled in his gray eyes. He took three fast steps forward, taking my hands in his broad, warm grip, pulling me close against his beating heart.
The priest stood before us under the open sky, his voice carrying smooth and clear across the water:
"Do you, Luca Moretti, take Nia Carter to be your wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, for richer or poorer, as long as you both shall live?"
Luca looked deep into my eyes, his grip on my hands tight, unshakeable, and absolute.
"I do," Luca swore, his baritone ringing clean and unbroken across the terrace. "With every breath in my body, forever."
"And do you, Nia Carter, take Luca Moretti to be your wedded husband?"
"I do," I smiled through tears of pure, weightless joy.
"I now pronounce you husband and wife!"
Luca didn't hesitate. He pulled me into his broad arms, lifting me slightly off my feet as his lips met mine in a deep, passionate kiss that sealed our promise under the warm autumn sun.
Maya and Leo ran up the stone steps, wrapping their small arms around our legs, giggling happily as Luca picked both of them up in his arms, holding all three of us tight against his chest.
I looked out over the vast, clear blue waters of Lake Michigan stretching before us into the unbroken horizon.
There were no fake medical reports hidden in dark clinics. There were no lonely nights in empty penthouses. There were no tears swallowed in quiet rooms.
May you like
The broken past was buried forever. The sovereign family had claimed its kingdom.
And standing under the vast, unbroken sky, wrapped in the arms of the man who loved me, holding our children tight, I knew that our life, our peace, and our future were finally, beautifully, and forever home.
