The aisle looked longer than i remembered.
Or maybe time was just stretching itself on purpose, asking me to feel everything. The nerves.
The joy.
The ache of something ending and beginning at once.
The doors behind me closed gently.
The music swelled, strings, soft and sweeping, like the kind you only hear in scenes people replay in their heads for years.
My fingers tightened around the bouquet, but my legs kept moving.
Slowly. Surely.
And then i saw him.
Sebastian.
Standing at the far end of the aisle in a perfectly cut black suit, hair slightly tousled, hands clasped in front of him, jaw tight like he was either holding back a smile or trying not to cry.
Probably both.
He didn't blink.
He just watched me like he had waited for this moment his whole life.
And maybe he had.
The crowd stood.
I walked past family friends, a few relatives, and front-row seats filled with people who shaped us. Raphael. Claudia. My mother and father.
And to the right — the members of SOLSTICE.
Dressed in black and cream.
Heads turning as i walked past.
But the moment i reached him, nothing else mattered.
Sebastian stepped forward before the priest could speak.
He took my hand, slowly, like he needed to convince himself i was real.
"You're here," he whispered.
"I'm yours," I whispered back.
And just like that, the air settled.
The noise faded.
This was it.
The ceremony was quiet.
Intentional.
No fluff.
No press.
Just a garden chapel in Batangas, sunlight streaming through the stained glass, and the two of us finally facing each other.
"Do you, Sebastian Blair Gutierrez, take Margaux Serene Imperial—"
"I do," he said, before the priest could even finish.
Laughter fluttered through the crowd.
I felt my heart catch.
"And do you, Margaux Serene Imperial, take Sebastian Blair Gutierrez—"
"I do," I said, steady and clear.
And when the priest gave his blessing, and told us we could kiss, Sebastian didn't wait.
He pulled me gently, one hand cupping my jaw, the other on my waist, and kissed me like we were finally free.
Not because we were perfect.
But because we made it anyway.
Applause filled the chapel.
A mix of claps, laughter, soft sniffles.
My mother was crying openly.
My father stood up to fix his tie, but his eyes betrayed him — glistening.
Claudia smiled the proud, elegant kind of smile only a mother can give.
Raphael gave Sebastian a firm nod, eyes soft.
SOLSTICE went wild.
They even shouted, "Yah! Finally!"
And i for the first time in years felt safe.
-
The reception was held under the stars.
Our family's ancestral garden lit up with fairy lights, candles floating in glass bowls, and white petals scattered across the grass.
No reporters.
No photographers.
Just soul food and people who mattered.
Solstice ended up doing an impromptu performance — an acoustic version of one of SOLSTICE's early love songs.
Sebastian and I didn't dance a grand waltz.
We just swayed.
Arms around each other.
Barefoot on the grass.
His jacket wrapped over my shoulders.
"Does this mean i get to bother you every day now?" he teased.
I laughed. "You've been doing that since Seoul."
"I've been in love with you since Seoul."
I looked up. "I know."
And then came the part that felt like something out of a movie, but wasn't. Because it was real.
Sebastian took a small box from his coat pocket.
Not a ring.
A necklace.
Thin gold chain.
One oval pendant.
He opened it for me.
Engraved were two sets of initials:
M.G.
S.B.G.
"This is for when the world gets loud again," he said. "For when you start doubting who you are."
My throat tightened. "What if i forget?"
He fastened it gently around my neck.
"Then i'll remind you," he said. "Every single day."
-
Much later, after the food was gone, and the champagne was warm, and the guests began slipping into the night with tired smiles.
Sebastian and I walked back toward the edge of the garden.
Just the two of us.
I kicked off my heels.
My hair was falling out of its pins.
He looked at me like i was everything.
"I never thought i'd get married," I admitted, watching the stars blink above us.
"Why not?"
I shrugged. "Because i didn't think anyone would see past all the noise. The wealth. The mess. The headlines."
He turned to face me fully.
"I didn't see any of that," he said. "I just saw you."
My voice cracked. "Even when i didn't know who that was?"
"Especially then."
He kissed my forehead.
Held me tighter.
"I'm not scared anymore," I said quietly. "Of being known."
"Good," he said. "Because from this day forward… you're not alone."
I closed my eyes.
Let the wind wrap around us.
Let the silence sit.
And in that stillness, I realized something.
This wasn't the end of my story.
Not really.
It was the part where i stopped running.
The part where i stopped trying to prove anything.
The part where i chose myself… and love, in equal measure.
So no, I wasn't the girl who needed saving anymore.
I was the girl who saved herself.
And when i did, love didn't just find me, it waited.
Right there.
At the end of the aisle.
In a black suit.
With his heart wide open.