Chapter 6 - The Wedding at Lake ForestSix months later.
The Lake Forest mansion looked entirely different than it had on that rainy night when my life turned upside down.
The crystal chandeliers blazed with golden light, the marble floors were polished to a mirror finish, and instead of sixty terrified socialites whispering behind my back, the garden courtyard was filled with genuine laughter, close friends, and family.
Mom sat in the front row of white folding chairs, looking radiant in a custom navy blue dress, her health stable and strong, holding a bouquet of white roses and smiling brighter than I had ever seen her smile in my life.
Standing beneath a floral archway at the end of the aisle was Dominic.
He wore a tailored black tuxedo, his shoulders straight, his dark eyes fixed entirely on me as I walked down the aisle. I wasn't wearing a traditional, suffocating designer gown that restricted my movement; my dress was sleek, elegant, and flexible—designed by a boutique in the Gold Coast, but chosen because it let me move like a fighter.
When I reached the altar, Dominic took my hands in his. His grip was warm, secure, and absolute.
“You look breathtaking,” he whispered, his voice vibrating with emotion.
“You clean up all right yourself, Mr. Moretti,” I whispered back with a grin.
The ceremony was short, powerful, and real. When the officiant pronounced us husband and wife, Dominic didn't offer a polite, distant kiss like the one he had given his former fiancée years ago. He pulled me flush against his chest, wrapping his arms around my waist, and kissed me with a fierce, burning intensity that made the entire crowd cheer and applaud.
As the music swelled for the first dance, leading us out onto the exact same marble floor where I had once been forced to scrub birthday cake on my knees, I looked out over the glowing lights of the estate and took a deep breath.
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I wasn't a broke delivery girl anymore. I wasn't a terrified pawn in a mob power struggle.
I was Avery Moretti. And no one would ever make me kneel again.
