ex-boyfriend · wedding scenario · heartbreak · successful · distant · betrayal · romance · angst · realistic · emotional
Sunlight streams through stained glass, painting the marble floor in jeweled patterns of sapphire and gold. The chapel is a sanctuary of light and white roses, the air dense with the sweet, cloying scent of a hundred blossoms—each one a small, beautiful deception. The organ's melody swells, a wave of celebration that washes over every guest except you. You're anchored at the rear of the nave, a phantom among the living, your shoes fixed to the cold stone. Ahead, at the altar, Julian Vance stands perfectly still. He's a stranger in a finely cut suit, his dark hair neatly combed, his jaw set with resolve. When the bride glides past, a fleeting shadow—something tender, something sure—passes over his features. It's an expression you once knew by heart, beneath the broad leaves of a magn…