Chapter 22 The Wedding
Lara's pov
I woke up on my wedding day and couldn't breathe.
Not because I was nervous.
Because I was happy, Actually, I was genuinely happy.
"Mama! Mama, wake up! It's wedding day!"
Ethan burst into my room, already dressed in his little suit.
Well, half dressed. His shirt was on backward and his tie was... somewhere.
"Good morning, baby."
"I'm the ring bear!" he announced proudly.
"Ring bearer," I corrected, smiling.
"That's what I said! Can I have pancakes?"
"Go ask Mrs. Chen. She's making breakfast."
He ran off yelling about pancakes.
I lay there for another minute. Just breathing. Taking it all in.
Today I was marrying Damien.
Today I was becoming Lara Otto.
Today I was starting over. For real.
My phone buzzed.
Damien: Good morning, future wife. Can't wait to see you.
I smiled and typed back.
Me: Good morning, future husband. Same.
Damien: How's Ethan doing?
Me: Excited. Hyper. His tie is missing.
Damien: I'll bring a backup. See you at 4. Love you.
Me: Love you too.
I got out of bed and looked at my wedding dress hanging on the door.
Simple and honestly elegant. The fashion designer did justice to it .
Nothing like the dress I wore when I married Lucas.
That dress was huge. Expensive. Covered in crystals and lace.
This one was just... me.
And I loved it.
The car arrived at 3pm.
Mrs. Chen had done my hair and makeup. Nothing so dramatic. Just natural and pretty.
Ethan was finally dressed properly. Tie and all.
"You look like a princess, Mama," he said seriously.
"Thank you, baby. You look very handsome."
"I know." He grinned.
The driver took us across town.
To an address I didn't recognize.
"Where are we going?" I asked Mrs. Chen.
She just smiled. "You'll see."
We pulled up to a gate. A big iron gate I knew.
My chest got tight.
No.
It couldn't be.
The gate opened and we drove through.
And there it was.
My childhood home.
The house where I grew up. Where my father raised me. Where I learned to ride a bike and baked cookies and spent lazy Sunday mornings.
The house Lucas sold without asking me.
But it looked... different.
The gardens were blooming. The paint was fresh. The windows sparkled.
It looked exactly like it had when my father was alive.
"What..." I couldn't even finish the sentence.
The car stopped. Mrs. Chen helped me out.
I stood there staring.
"Damien bought it back," Mrs. Chen said softly. "Been working on it for a year. Wanted to surprise you."
My eyes filled with tears.
"He... he bought my father's house?"
"And restored it. Everything's exactly how you remember."
I couldn't speak. Could barely breathe.
Ethan tugged my hand. "Mama? Are you sad?"
"No, baby. I'm happy. So, so happy."
The ceremony was in the garden.
Fifty chairs were set up in neat rows. Flowers everywhere. A white arch at the front.
And people. Friends from work. Damien's business partners. Dr. Chen. Our neighbors. People who'd become family over the past three years.
They all turned when I appeared.
But I only saw one person.
Damien.
Standing at the altar in a perfect black suit. Looking at me like I was the only person in the world.
His eyes went wide. Then filled with tears.
I walked down the aisle. Ethan holding my hand on one side. Mrs. Chen on the other hand
.
When I moved closer to Damien, he whispered, "You're so beautiful."
"You're not so bad yourself."
Ethan ran to stand beside Damien. The ring bearer took his job very seriously.
The officiant smiled at us.
"We're gathered here today to witness the union of Lara Montgomery and Damien Otto."
I barely heard the words. Just kept staring at Damien.
At the man who saved my life. Who raised my son. Who gave me back everything I thought I'd lost.
"Lara and Damien have written their own vows," the officiant said. "Damien, would you like to go first?"
Damien cleared his throat. And pulled out a piece of paper.
His hands were shaking.
"Lara," he started. "Three years ago, I found you on the worst night of your life. Broken. Lost. Convinced you had nothing left. But I knew different. I knew you were strong. That you would survive. That you'd become exactly who you were meant to be."
His voice cracked.
"You've exceeded every expectation I had.
You've built an empire. Raised an incredible son. And somehow, impossibly, you chose me. I promise to protect you. To cherish you. To love Ethan as my own. To be your partner in everything. To never let you forget how strong you are. I love you. Forever.”
I was crying. Full-on ugly crying.
"Lara?" the officiant prompted gently.
I didn't have a paper. I didn't need one.
"Damien, I came to you with nothing. No home. No money. No hope. And you gave me everything. Not just a place to stay. But a reason to keep going. You showed me what real love looks like. What a real partner does. You never asked for anything in return. You just loved me when I couldn't love myself."
I took his hands.
"I promise to trust you. To love you. To build a life with you. To never take for granted the gift you've given me. You and Ethan are my family. My real fammily. And I'm going to spend the rest of my life proving that I'm worthy of this."
"You're already worthy," Damien whispered.
The officiant smiled.
"Do you, Damien Otto, take Lara Montgomery to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
"I do."
"And do you, Lara Montgomery, take Damien Otto to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
"I do."
"The rings?"
Ethan stepped forward very seriously.
Holding the pillow with both rings.
Damien took mine. He slid it on my finger.
I took his. Did the same.
"By the power vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Damien cupped my face and kissed me.
A soft,sweet and perfect kiss .
And then Ethan yelled, "MAMA AND DADA ARE MARRIED!"
Everyone burst out laughing.
Damien broke the kiss, grinning.
"Yeah, buddy. We're married."
Ethan jumped up and down. "MARRIED! MARRIED! MARRIED!"
We walked back down the aisle together. Damien's arm around me. Ethan ran ahead announcing to everyone that his parents were married now.
I was laughing and crying at the same time.
This was my wedding day.
And it was perfect.
The reception was in the backyard.
String lights everywhere. A small dance floor. Dinner tables set up under the trees.
It was beautiful. Intimate. Exactly what I wanted.
We ate. We talked. We laughed.
Ethan ran around with the other kids, showing off his ring bearer status.
Then it was time for the first dance.
Damien led me to the dance floor.
The music started. Something slow and romantic.
He pulled me close. One hand on my waist. The other holding mine.
We swayed together.
"I can't believe this is my life," I whispered against his shoulder.
"Believe it."
"Three years ago I had nothing."
"And now?"
"Now I have everything."
He kissed the top of my head.
"You deserve all of this and more."
We kept dancing. Just holding each other.
I looked around. At the house. The garden. The people celebrating with us.
This was real.
This was mine.
Lucas couldn't touch this.
Nobody could.
Later, Damien danced with Ethan.
Ethan stood on Damien's feet, holding his hands.
They spun around the dance floor. Ethan giggling. Damien laughed.
I watched them and my heart felt so full it might burst.
This was my family.
My real family.
Not bound by blood or obligation or guilt.
But by choice. By love. By everything that actually mattered.
"They're adorable," Dr. Chen said beside me.
"They really are."
"You've done well, Lara. Your father would be so proud."
My throat got tight. "You think so?"
"I know so."
,
The party wound down around 10pm.
Guests left with hugs and congratulations.
Mrs. Chen took Ethan home. He was asleep before they even got to the car.
Then it was just me and Damien.
Standing in the garden of my childhood home.
Married.
"Come inside," Damien said. "I want to show you something."
He led me through the house.
Everything was exactly how I remembered. The photos on the walls.
The furniture. Even the smell was right.
"How did you..." I couldn't finish.
"I hired people. Got photos from your father's estate. Had everything recreated. It took a year but... I wanted you to have this back."
We went upstairs. To my old room.
It was perfect. My old bed. My bookshelf. Everything.
"Damien, this is too much."
"It's not enough. It'll never be enough for what you've been through."
I turned to face him.
"I have something to tell you," he said.
My stomach dropped. "What?"
Please don't ruin this. Please don't tell me something terrible on my wedding day.
"It's good news," he said quickly, reading my face.
"Okay..."
"I bought back all your father's properties."
I blinked. "What?"
"Everything Lucas sold. The apartments. The vacation house. The office building.
All of it. I've been buying them back over the past three years through shell companies."
"Damien..."
"It's all in a trust. Ethan is the beneficiary.
You're the trustee. It's yours, Lara. Your father's legacy. I gave it back."
I couldn't speak. Could barely process what he was saying.
"You gave me back my father's legacy," I finally whispered.
"You rebuilt it yourself," Damien corrected.
"Montgomery Tech is all you. I just returned what was stolen."
The tears came then. Hard and fast.
Damien pulled me close. Let me cry into his chest.
"Thank you," I sobbed. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
"Always."
We stood there for a long time. Just holding each other.
Finally, I pulled back.
"Make love to me," I said.
"Here?"
"In my childhood home. On my wedding night. Yes. Here."
He kissed me. Deep and slow.
And then we were moving to the bed.
Undressing each other. Taking our time.
This wasn't rushed or desperate.
This was a celebration. This was joy. This was two people choosing each other completely.
When we finally came together, I felt whole and complete.
Like every broken piece of me had finally healed.
Afterward, we lay tangled in the sheets.
Damien's arm around me. My head on his chest.
"I love you," I whispered.
"I love you too. My wife."
My wife.
I smiled.
Yeah. I was his wife now.
And he was my husband.
And we had a son who called him Dada.
And a company worth three hundred million.
And my father's properties back.
And a future that looked nothing like my past.
I closed my eyes.
I'm finally free of Lucas, I thought.
Finally, completely free.
I fell asleep smiling.
Not knowing that across town, Lucas had just found Montgomery Tech's address.
Not knowing he was planning to show up.
Not knowing the past was about to come crashing back.
But that night?
That night I was just happy.And that was enough.