Chapter 10 - The Right Way
Spring came to Wisconsin, melting the snow and turning the overgrown fields around the yellow house into a sea of wildflowers.
There were no caterers. No security men in dark suits. No three hundred guests or politicians.
Elena wore a simple, beautiful sundress that she had bought from a local boutique. No pearls, no Milan silk, no heavy cathedral train. She walked barefoot across the grass toward the old oak tree in her backyard.
Lorenzo stood waiting for her. He looked healthier, the heavy burden of the mafia completely erased from his posture. He wore a simple linen shirt and trousers, his dark eyes shining with tears as he watched her approach. Beside him stood Evelyn, smiling warmly, and Marco, who had driven up just to witness the ceremony.
There was no press, no optics, no tradition to uphold.
When Elena reached him, Lorenzo took both her hands in his. He didn’t care that her hands were slightly calloused from working at the diner. To him, they were the most precious things in the world.
“I promise to protect you,” Lorenzo vowed, his voice carrying over the quiet breeze. “Not just from the world, but from my own pride. I promise to see you, to hear you, and to never let anyone make you feel small again.”
Elena smiled, slipping a plain gold band onto his finger. “I promise to love the man you are now. To build a life with you in the light, where no one else’s shadows can reach us.”
May you like
The local justice of the peace pronounced them husband and wife. Lorenzo pulled her into his arms, kissing her with a desperate, beautiful kind of reverence. When they broke apart, Elena laughed, the sound ringing free and clear across her property.
She had walked away from a gilded cage, vanished into the dark, and forced a king to leave his throne. But standing there in the sunlight, wrapped in Lorenzo’s arms, Elena knew she hadn't just survived the fire. She had rewritten the fairy tale entirely.
