CHAPTER 1: THE WALK TOWARD THE DOORS
CHAPTER 1: THE WALK TOWARD THE DOORS
The ballroom remained frozen, as if time had forgotten how to move.
The groom’s hand stayed wrapped around his mother’s frail fingers as he guided her down the shattered aisle of petals. Each step echoed like a final judgment against the silence of the room.
The bride still stood in the center, her veil slightly tilted, eyes trembling between rage, confusion, and something closer to fear.
“I didn’t mean to—” she started again, but her voice broke before the sentence could survive.
No one answered her.
The guests who had once cheered were now just witnesses, shrinking into their chairs, suddenly aware that they had been part of something they no longer understood.
The old woman stumbled slightly. The groom tightened his grip.
“I’m okay,” she whispered again, but weaker this time.
“You don’t have to be okay alone anymore,” he replied softly.
Behind them, the bride’s breathing turned uneven.
And then, for the first time, she moved.
Not forward.
But backward.
One step.
Then another.
Away from the aisle.
May you like
Away from him.
As if the realization had finally started to sink in that no words now could pull him back.
