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One

“We are gathered here today”

The priest’s perfectly ht filtered through the stained-glass s, bathing the hallowed space with jeweled tones The heady scent of the gardenias in Shanal’s bridal bouquet, imported specifically at Burton’s request, wafted up to fill her senses—and left her feeling slightly suffocated

“to join together Burton and Shanal in matrimony”

Was this what she really wanted above all things? She looked across to her grooent, so successful So rich He was a good guy, no, a great guy And she liked him, she really did

Like Such an insipid expression, really

“which is an honorable and solemn estate and therefore is not to be entered into unadvisedly or lightly, but reverently and soberly”

Words she’d spoken to her best friend, Ethan Masters, only a year ago, echoed in her mind You have the chance to have the kind of forever love that many people can only dream of I envy you that because that’s the kind of love I want from the man I marry, if I ever marry And you can be certain I’m not prepared to settle for less than that, ever

They’d been brave words, spoken before her world had begun to crumble around her Before she’d chosen to sacrifice the chance to find true love Before she’d latched onto the opportunity to give her parents a secure retirement after their lives had been torn apart

Was Burton her forever love? No Was she settling for less? Most definitely

Everyone in the lab at the viticulture research center had said it had been a lucky day for her when she’d caught Burton’s attention They’d teased her about finding love in their clinical environs, they had a point As her boss, Burton had a reputation for expecting excellence in everything around hiory And on the face of it, she’d agreed about how fortunate she was—faking joy ae and offered to solve her problems She’d convinced everyone around her until she’d nearly believed herself that her engagement had made her the luckiest woman in the world

Everyone gathered here in the cathedral believed this to be the happiest day of her life Everyone except the one person who’d tried to talk her out of it She flicked a glance sideways, but she couldn’t spot Raif Masters, Ethan’s cousin, in the crowd of two hundred guests jah From the moment she’d walked down the aisle, accompanied by both her parents—her father in his wheelchair, on a rare appearance in public—she’d felt the si awareness that she felt only in Raif’s presence