Chapter 189 Too Late
Chapter 189 Too Late
Mia’s POV
“Don’t worry,” Josh said. “We can still make it.”
I stared at him through my tears. “How? You just said the wedding is starting now. It’ll take us at least two hours to get there.”
“We’re not driving. I came here by helicopter.”
I blinked. “You did?”
“It’s waiting at the helipad.” He glanced at his watch. “So unless you plan to stand here crying until Liam finishes his honeymoon, we should move.”
“Josh!”
“What? At least you stopped crying.”
Daniel shook his head while Leah tried to hide her smile. I glared at Josh, but a laugh escaped me anyway.
It felt strange to laugh when my heart was breaking, but somehow he had loosened the panic crushing my chest.
“You’re unbelievable.”
“And you love me. Now let’s go.”
We hurried out of the living room, only to find Aunt Vivian in the hallway. Her gaze moved over the four of us before settling on my tear-streaked face.
“Mia, where are you going?”
“I’m going back to Liam. He’s marrying Glydel today, and I have to stop the wedding.”
A soft smile touched her face as she came closer and took my hands.
“You’re making the right choice. Follow your heart.”
My throat tightened. “What if I’m already too late?”
“Then at least you’ll know you tried. Don’t waste another minute worrying about what might happen. Go to him.”
I hugged her tightly. “Thank you, Aunt Vivian.”
She held me for a moment before pulling away. “Go, Mia.”
Aunt Vivian walked with us to the helipad, where the helicopter was already waiting. As we approached it, the reality of what I was about to do finally settled over me.
I was going to stop Liam’s wedding.
I was the one who had returned his ring, repeatedly told him we couldn’t be together, and said no when he asked me one final time to marry him. Now I was about to fly across the city and ask him not to marry someone else.
It sounded insane, but I didn’t care anymore.
Josh climbed in beside me while Daniel and Leah sat across from us. Once everyone was secured, the helicopter lifted from the Vizondra estate, and the moment we were airborne, my anxiety returned.
“What time is it?”
Josh stared at me. “You have a phone.”
“I know. I’m asking you.”
He checked his watch anyway and told me.
My stomach tightened. “What if they started early?”
“They didn’t.”
“How do you know?”
“I don’t.”
I glared at him. “Could you try being comforting for five minutes?”
“I flew here in a helicopter to find you. I think I’ve exceeded the friendship requirement for today.”
Despite myself, my lips twitched. “Seriously, Josh.”
His expression softened. “Staring at the time every thirty seconds won’t make us get there faster. We’ll reach Liam as quickly as we can.”
“But what if it isn’t quick enough?”
“Then we’ll deal with that when we get there.”
I turned toward the window and watched the clouds drift past, wishing I could silence the thoughts racing through my head.
“I told him no,” I whispered. “He asked me one last time to marry him, and I told him no. Then I asked him to let me go.”
“You had your reasons,” Daniel said. “You thought you were protecting Liam and his father. You didn’t know what Leah just told you.”
“But I should have known him better.”
“Mia, Liam wanted you to believe he didn’t love you eight years ago,” Leah said gently. “He knew you would never let him leave otherwise. You can’t blame yourself for believing something he deliberately convinced you was true.”
My eyes burned.
For years, I had believed Liam abandoned me because I wasn’t enough. When he came back, I blamed him for everything and made him apologize for a betrayal that had never been real.
Now I knew the truth.
And when we finally had another chance, I had decided that losing me was better for Liam than risking his father’s health.
“I don’t want to do that anymore.”
Josh frowned. “Do what?”
“Decide what’s best for Liam without letting him choose.” I wiped beneath my eyes. “I told myself I was leaving because I loved him. His father was sick, his mother hated me, and everything seemed to get worse whenever he chose me. But Liam knew what choosing me could cost him, and he still wanted me.”
“Then give him the choice now,” Josh said. “Tell him what you want and let Liam decide what he wants to do with it.”
I nodded because that was exactly what I intended to do.
I wasn’t going there as Vivian Vizondra’s heir or because the Vizondra name might finally make Rafael and Lucinda consider me worthy of their son. If they suddenly accepted me because of my mother or Aunt Vivian’s fortune, it wouldn’t erase the way they had treated me when they believed I came from nothing.
I didn’t need their approval.
I was going there as Mia Villaruiz, the woman Liam had loved when I had nothing to offer him but myself. He had chosen me without wealth, status, or a powerful family name. If he still wanted me, I would finally stop running, choose him too, and fight for us.
For a few precious seconds, the fear inside me loosened.
I looked at the three of them and realized how lucky I was. Leah had given me the truth that changed everything I believed about my past. Daniel had stood beside me through some of the worst moments of my life, and Josh had been my best friend through everything, the good, the bad, and all the messes in between. He had come all this way because he knew how much I loved Liam and wanted me to have the happiness I had spent so long convincing myself I couldn’t have.
“You know I love you guys, right?”
Josh groaned. “She’s getting emotional again.”
“I take it back. I only love Leah and Daniel.”
“After I brought out the helicopter for you? That’s insulting.”
I smiled. “I’ll consider loving you again if you get me there before Liam gets married.”
Josh’s teasing expression softened. “You know I’d do anything to see you happy, Mia.”
My throat tightened. “I know.”
“Then save the tears for later. We still have a wedding to stop.”
My smile faded as I turned toward the window.
Somewhere ahead of us, Liam was standing beside Glydel.
The remaining flight seemed endless. I tried not to look at the time again, but my mind filled the silence with everything I was terrified might already be happening.
Then the Alcaraz estate finally appeared beneath us.
I immediately leaned toward the window as the helicopter began to descend. From above, I could see the garden on the other side of the estate, filled with rows of white chairs and guests gathered around the aisle.
My heart dropped.
“There.”
Josh followed my gaze.
At the front of the garden stood two figures. Even from this distance, there was no mistaking Liam in his dark suit or Glydel in her white wedding gown.
“They’re already at the altar.”
Josh leaned closer to the window. “That doesn’t mean it’s over.”
“But they’ve started.”
The helicopter continued toward the back helipad, and the garden disappeared behind the estate.
“We’re here,” Josh said.
The second we touched down, I reached for my seat belt.
“Mia, wait,” Daniel warned.
“I don’t have time.”
“You’ll have even less if you get yourself killed before reaching him,” Josh said.
I forced myself to wait until we were told it was safe, but the moment we were allowed out, I ran.
Leah called my name behind me, but I didn’t stop.
My shoes struck the stone path as I hurried around the estate, following the distant sound of voices until rows of white chairs appeared through the trees.
The garden.
I ran faster.
White flowers lined the aisle, and guests filled the chairs facing the front. Several people turned as I entered, but I barely noticed them because my gaze had already found the only person who mattered.
Liam stood at the front of the garden in a dark suit.
Glydel stood beside him in her wedding gown.
My breath caught painfully.
I had found him.
“Liam!”
His name tore from my throat, but I was still too far away for him to hear me.
I hurried into the garden as more guests turned in my direction. My heart pounded so violently that I could barely breathe, but I kept moving toward him.
Please let me be in time.
Before I could call his name again, the judge’s voice carried clearly across the garden.
“By the authority vested in me, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”