PAIGE
The soft, soaring notes of the string quartet began to play. My heart was a wild drum against my ribs, but my hands were steady where they rested on Yamada's arm. He looked dignified and calm, a pillar of strength where my own father should have been.
But as I looked at my uncle's kind, proud face, I felt no loss, only a deep, swelling gratitude. Shunsuke was in a prison cell, and even if he were free, he would never have been the man to walk me toward this future.
"Ready, Paige-san?" Yamada murmured, his voice low and steady.
I just nodded, my throat too tight with emotion to speak.
The massive wooden doors at the back of the ceremony space swung open. The light flooded in, and for a moment, everything was a blur of white flowers and expectant faces. Then, my vision sharpened, and my breath caught.
It was all so surreal. It felt like a beautiful, impossible dream.
