The Wedding Bet: You Changed The Venue I Changed The Groom Chapter 07
The Real Groom
It is midsummer in Ireland, and the sunlight is beautiful.
Standing at the altar, the pastor opens his Bible with a warm smile.
“Ethan, do you take Aria to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold, to love, honor, and protect her, for as long as you both shall live?”
The man standing across from me wears a perfectly tailored suit. He looks at me and smiles.
“I do.”
The pastor turns to me.
“Aria, do you take Ethan to be your lawfully wedded husband?”
I look back at him and smile.
“I do.”
In the front row, my mother watches me, tears of joy streaming down her face.
Ethan and I exchange rings.
“Don’t worry. Take all the time you need,” Ethan whispers as he pulls me into a gentle hug.
I hug him back.
Ethan is the boy next door, my childhood hero.
He taught me how to study hard, how to face the world without being afraid, and how to love and protect myself.
But during my senior year of high school, his entire family moved abroad. Before he left, he confessed his feelings and promised to wait for me.
Back then, I didn’t think I could handle a long-distance relationship, so I turned him down.
Eventually, we lost touch.
I never expected him to find me years later through a wedding blogger I follow online and bring up the promise he made all those years ago.
Seeing him again, he is still as warm and thoughtful as I remember.
He doesn’t ask what I have been through. He just quietly finds a better care facility for my mother and arranges the wedding exactly the way I always dreamed it would be.
He just wants me to know that he’s always been here.
The day after the wedding, we head to the local civil registration office to officially register our marriage.
Standing outside the office is Julian. His hair is a mess, and dark stubble covers his jaw.
He is waiting by the entrance, clearly looking for someone.
The moment he sees me, his eyes widen and he charges toward me.
“Aria, are you actually serious?!”