[What is it?]
[I saw Gwen.] A photo was sent alongside Caleb’s message. [I was visiting a friend in a small town down south, and I ran into her in an alleyway. I recognized her, but she didn’t seem to remember me. We passed by each other in the streets, but I didn’t stop her either. All I did was take this picture of her.]
Rachel froze when she saw this, then clicked on the photo. It was indeed Gwen. She was wearing a beige floral dress, her hair spilling across her back as she made her way down a cobblestone street, holding a blue umbrella. She was just as slender and elegant as Rachel remembered her.
Rachel’s eyebrows furrowed as she scrutinized the photo.
It was clear that Gwen seemed much more carefree without her stresses and burdens. When Bethan and Brettley left Saigen City, Gwen had chosen to stay to help settle the Millers and the Hughes’ court case.
Even after Bethan got arrested, Brettley specifically requested that Sean keep this news from Gwen.
Three months ago, after she was done handling the court case, Gwen chose to leave the city with only a letter left behind, explaining that she wanted to be alone for a while and explore the world.
Ever since then, she had lost touch with everyone around her, and no one knew where she had gone.
None of them ever thought that they would receive news of Gwen’s whereabouts on the day of Bethan’s release, three months after she left.
[Hey.] Caleb was a little nervous when he did not receive an answer from Rachel.
[Aren’t you going to say anything, considering I managed to obtain the whereabouts of such an important person? Why don’t you show Bethan this photo as a wedding present from me? How does that sound?]
[That’s not a good idea.] Rachel frowned as she saved the photo into her phone’s album. [Since she’s chosen to leave without telling anyone, we should respect her wishes and not intrude on her life. This is the last thing we can do for her.]
Bethan was a loyal friend. She almost committed murder when she found out about
Anne’s death, and she would no doubt attempt to track Gwen down once she knew of her whereabouts.
Therefore, not telling Bethan this news would, in fact, be the best thing they could do.
Bethan and Bonnie were glued to their chairs for a little over an hour while their makeup artists and hairstylists worked their magic.
When the clock struck ten, the two brides were escorted to the end of the stage by Rachel and Shannon.
Charles and Rosalyn flanked the end of the stage, with Rosalyn clinging onto her walking stick.
“Bethan.”
Charles reached out and stared at Bethan.
“I’ll give you away to Brettley.”
Bethan nodded and grabbed hold of his arm.
Rosalyn, on the other hand, offered her arm to Bonnie.
“Even though you don’t have any family, you’re Bethan’s best friend, and I have always treated you as my own daughter, so let me take the place of your parents and give you away to Jim.”
Bonnie froze, then nodded as tears welled up in her eyes.
“Okay.”
She used to wonder who would give her away at her wedding, considering none of her parents would be there.
Would she have to walk all the way down the red carpet herself? It was not until this final moment that she realized the Landry family had already solved this problem for her.She no longer needed to feel sad over the fact that she did not have any family to give her away to her groom.
The groom’s mother, the mother of her best friend, was willing to step forward and give her away as her daughter.
What was most astounding was the fact that Rosalyn, who had been wheelchair-bound for so long, had finally begun to walk with a stick.
Rosalyn had been practicing for a long time just for this occasion– just so she could give her away.
At the thought of this, Bonnie sniffed and whispered, “Thank you, Aunty Rosalyn.”
Rosalyn smiled as she wiped Bonnie’s tears away.
“My dear child, why are you still calling me that?”
Bonnie lifted her head to grin at Rosalyn.
“Okay, Mother.”
“Let’s go.”
Rosalyn took Bonnie’s hand in hers, smiling, and glanced at Charles.
The clock struck ten.
Charles and Rosalyn emerged from backstage with both brides in hand.
Brettley and Jim were standing at the end of the red carpet with a bouquet of red roses each, smiling as they awaited their beautiful brides.
The two gorgeous ladies slowly made their way down the hall with the two elders escorting them and arrived at the altar.
Brettley reached out to grasp Bethan’s hand.
Jim, too, grabbed hold of Bonnie’s.
“Bastard,”
Bonnie murmured as she furrowed her brow.
“How can you not tell me you’ve been planning this?”
She could not believe that just a minute ago, she had been teasing Bethan, and the next moment, she was held down in her chair by the makeup artist as Bethan had.
“Well, it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore, would it?”
Jim chuckled as he squeezed her hand.
“I couldn’t let you watch while Bethan received a surprise of her own.”
Bonnie rolled her eyes at him, but despite this, she was grinning from ear to ear.
The priest began to recite their vows.
After the customary “I do’s”, the two couples exchanged their rings.
All of their rings were products of Nellie’s award-winning designs, and Bethan could not help feeling a surge of warmth creep through her as she lay against Brettley’s shoulder, wearing her daughter’s ring.
Then came the bouquet-tossing.
The rich socialites of Banyan City gathered at the altar, waiting to catch the bouquets.
Everyone wanted to find husbands as devoted as Brettley and Jim, but by some chance, the bouquet landed in Rachel’s hands.
Rachel stared in disbelief at the bouquet in her lap, unsure of how to feel about this.
“Does anyone want this?”
She did not want to get married at all.
“Ido,”
A male voice rang out as Theo’s hand reached out to take the bouquet from her.
“I want to get married.”
Rachel raised her brows and handed him the bouquet. “Alright, you can have it.”
Theo paused, and the expression on his face became a little more twisted. “Aren’t you going to ask me who I’m getting married to?”
“You can get married to anyone you want.”
Rachel curled her lips into a smile. “As long as it’s not me.”
With that, she pushed him away and turned to leave.
She had just taken two steps when Theo grabbed hold of her arm. He furrowed his brows and fixated his intense stare on her. “Rachel, are you… are you really okay with the idea of me marrying someone else?”
Rachel raised her brows in amusement and turned to meet his gaze. “Well, I wasn’t okay when you insisted on marrying Roanne, but what did that get me in the end?What difference does it make whether I’m okay with it or not?”
Theo fell silent upon hearing this. Then, he took a small step back, his eyes still fixated on her. “I know what I did wrong now, and I’ve been trying my best to make amends to you in hopes that you’ll forgive me, but…”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.