Chapter 180 Chapter 180 His Vows
Constantine takes off after the flower girls the second the doors open, completely abandoning all ring bearer responsibilities.
My father offers me his elbow.
He still hasn’t stopped crying.
The only time he paused was earlier when he looked over my shoulder at my phone and muttered that he was going to kill Sergey for that text. I made him promise he was joking while Illia Sr. nearly choked laughing beside him.
The music starts.
“Deep breath,” he says quietly, surprising me. “You belong.”
The wedding coordinator rushes behind us, fluffing my cathedral-length train one final time before practically shoving us forward.
“Go!”
Every step feels heavy.
Too heavy.
The gardens stretch endlessly ahead of me, lined with white roses, towering arrangements of pink peonies, and candles flickering beneath the twilight sky. Hundreds of people turn to stare as I start down the aisle, and suddenly I can feel every heartbeat inside my chest.
I hesitate.
My pace slows.
The question hits me.
Can I really do this?
Halfway down the aisle, my father glances over at me.
“Are you having second thoughts?” he whispers. “Because you’re being very obvious right now.”
I almost laugh from pure nerves.
The aisle feels impossibly long, but then my eyes finally find Ivan’s.
Everything else disappears.
His eyes are red already, filled with tears he isn’t even trying to hide. Stanislav stands beside him as best man, one hand resting firmly on Ivan’s shoulder like he’s holding him together physically.
Ivan presses his free hand over his heart when he sees me.
Something inside me breaks open.
“Walk toward him,” I whisper to myself under my breath.
Beside me, my father grins.
“If we’re going to run, now would be the time,” he teases.
“Father,” I hiss, squeezing his arm hard enough to make him laugh quietly.
But I can’t look away from Ivan.
I don’t notice the guests anymore. Not my bridesmaids in their black gowns. Not the flower girls tossing petals everywhere except where they’re supposed to. Not the fountains or the candles or the string quartet.
Just him. In all black.
The white altar rises ahead beneath climbing roses and ivy. Christina desperately wanted a church wedding, but that was the one thing I absolutely refused.
Stepping inside a church would probably set me on fire.
Three steps away.
Two.
One.
Ivan moves down immediately, reaching for me before my father can even fully place my hand in his.
“Hold onto her,” my father laughs. “She might bolt.”
But Ivan doesn’t laugh. He looks genuinely terrified. His fingers tighten around mine like he thinks I might disappear.
“He’s kidding,” I whisper quickly, trying to reassure both him and myself at the same time.
Ivan exhales shakily. Then he guides me up the white steps beside him.
Tiana takes my bouquet when I hand it to her. Her eyes are glassy with tears already, her mascara hanging on by a miracle.
The officiant starts speaking, but the words blur together almost immediately.
I’m too focused on Ivan.
On the warmth of his hands.
On the way his thumb keeps brushing against my skin.
On the fact that after everything we somehow ended up here.
Marrying each other.
The officiant finally turns toward Ivan.
“Your vows.”
Ivan swallows hard.
For a second he says nothing, just staring at me with those dark onyx eyes that ruined me more than once.
Then he starts speaking.
And the entire world goes silent.
“From the moment I met you, nothing before you mattered the same way again. It was like my whole life had been noise, and then suddenly there was you—clear, bright, impossible to ignore.”
His voice carries across the gardens, deep and steady despite the emotion threatening to wreck him.
“You move through this world like light. Untouchable and warm at the same time. Every room bends toward you. Every person feels you before they even understand why. And me?” His lips twitch softly. “I never stood a chance.”
A few quiet laughs ripple through the crowd.
I can’t breathe.
“You look at me and I forget who I was before your love.”
His grip on my hands tightens.
“There were years where I thought desire was simple. Physical. Temporary. Then I met you and learned what it means to ache for someone beyond reason. To crave not just your body, but your laughter, your silence, your anger, your softness.”
His voice roughens slightly.
“I learned what it means to love someone so deeply that even standing beside them feels holy.”
Tears blur my vision instantly.
“You are the only woman who has ever made me want to become better instead of just wanting more.”
Across the aisle I see Christina openly sobbing into Illia Sr.’s shoulder.
Even my father looks emotional again.
Ivan never takes his eyes off me.
“I would walk through fire for you. I would burn willingly if it meant keeping you warm. I would tear apart every broken piece of myself if it meant building a life worthy of you and our family.”
His voice cracks on family.
“And I know loving me has not always been easy.”
That one hits hard. Real hard.
“You saw me at my worst. You carried pain I caused. There were moments I didn’t deserve your patience, your loyalty, or the way you continued to love me even when you were trying not to.”
A tear finally slips down my cheek.
Ivan notices immediately.
“I will spend the rest of my life earning what you gave me so freely,” he says softly.
“I vow to protect your heart with the same intensity I once shattered it.”
Now people are openly crying.
Even some of the men.
“I vow to love you loudly, honestly, and without fear. I vow to kiss you in kitchens, hold your hand under tables, dance with you in empty rooms, and remind you every single day that you are wanted—not just for your beauty, but for your soul, your strength, your wildness, and the way you make this world feel alive.”
His thumb brushes over my engagement ring.
“You are the mother of my child. The peace inside my chaos. The home I searched for without realizing it.”
His eyes shine brighter with tears.
“You are my flame, and I will gladly spend the rest of my life burning beside you.”
I’m crying openly now.
So is half the wedding.
“And when this life is over,” he continues quietly, “when we are old and exhausted and wrinkled and surrounded by the family we built together, I hope you still look at me the same way you do now.”
His voice finally breaks completely.
“Like I’m worth loving.”
Silence swallows the gardens.
“Because loving you,” he whispers, “will always be the easiest thing I’ve ever done.”
Not a single dry eye remains.
Not one.
He’s breathtaking.
Raw. Honest. Completely exposed in front of everyone.
I’ve never heard Ivan talk that much in my life.
The officiant smiles gently before turning toward me.
“Elena,” he says softly, “your vows?”
Oh God.
How the fuck am I supposed to follow that?