Chapter 15 - THE WEDDING WHERE EVERYTHING BEGAN
One year after the night Giovanni asked me to pretend to be his wife for one dance, he asked me to become his wife for real.
We were standing in the Grand Marquis Ballroom.
The same ballroom where Tyler had humiliated me.
The same ballroom where I'd sat alone at table twelve.
The same ballroom where Giovanni had held out his hand.
This time, the room was empty.
No guests.
No chandeliers blazing above two hundred judgmental faces.
Just soft music.
And the man I loved.
Giovanni stood before me.
“Do you remember this place?”
I smiled.
“How could I forget?”
He took my hand.
“May I have this dance?”
I laughed.
“You're doing this again?”
He smiled.
“Apparently.”
We moved slowly across the floor.
I rested my head against his chest.
For several minutes, neither spoke.
Then Giovanni stopped.
He looked down at me.
“Jessica.”
I raised my head.
“Yes?”
He reached into his pocket.
My breath caught.
He opened a small velvet box.
Inside was a diamond ring.
Simple.
Beautiful.
Perfect.
“Jessica Reed,” he whispered, “the first time I saw you, you were sitting alone while people who should have loved you made you feel small.”
Tears filled my eyes.
He continued.
“I asked you for one dance.”
I smiled through my tears.
“And you gave me something I never expected.”
His voice broke.
“Hope.”
I covered my mouth.
“You showed me that love isn't about power.”
He took my hand.
“It's about showing up.”
A tear slipped down his cheek.
“For you.”
He swallowed.
“And for Lily.”
I began crying.
Giovanni smiled.
“I don't want you to pretend to be my wife anymore.”
He lowered himself onto one knee.
“I want you to be my wife.”
My heart pounded.
“Will you marry me?”
I nodded.
“Yes.”
He smiled.
“Yes?”
I laughed through my tears.
“Yes, Giovanni.”
He slipped the ring onto my finger.
Then stood and kissed me.
A small voice suddenly shouted from the doorway.
“DADDY!”
We turned.
Lily stood beside Camilla, wearing a purple dress.
She ran across the ballroom.
Giovanni crouched and caught her.
“Did Mommy say yes?”
He laughed.
“She did.”
Lily squealed.
Then wrapped both arms around his neck.
“Now we're a real family!”
Giovanni closed his eyes.
I knelt beside them.
“We already were, sweetheart.”
Lily smiled.
“Then now we get cake!”
We laughed.
And for the first time in years, I didn't feel like the woman who had been abandoned.
I felt like a woman who had been chosen.
Not because I needed saving.
Not because I was beautiful enough.
Not because I had money or status.
But because someone finally saw me.
All of me.
The exhausted mother.
The pediatric nurse.
The woman with student loans.
The woman who had once cried alone at table twelve.
And loved me anyway.
One year earlier, Giovanni Fioraldi had asked me to pretend to be his wife for one dance.
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Now he was asking me to be his wife for the rest of our lives.
And this time, I didn't hesitate.
