Chapter 5 - THE FOREVER VOW
Six months after the exhibition, the autumn leaves of Greenwich were turning brilliant shades of amber and gold.
The wedding wasn't held in a massive, impersonal cathedral or a glittering hotel ballroom. Instead, it took place in the sun-drenched gardens of the Moretti estate, right beside the edge of Long Island Sound, surrounded only by the people who truly mattered.
There were no corrupt executives, no fake society snobs, and no ghosts from the past.
There was Mrs. Gable, smiling with a handkerchief pressed to her eyes. There was Viktor, standing proudly by the altar as the best man. There was a glowing, healthy six-month-old Lily sitting in a lace-covered bassinet, babbling happily as a tiny flower girl wearing a miniature white dress.
And then there was Luca.
Standing beneath an arch draped in white roses and ivy, he looked at me as I walked down the grass aisle on the arm of an old college professor who had been like a father to me. My wedding dress was simple, elegant, and designed by myself—a cascade of ivory silk that caught the gentle ocean breeze.
When I reached the altar, Luca took my hands in his. His palms were warm, steady, and calloused from years of building an empire, yet they trembled slightly as he looked at me.
"You look breathtaking," he whispered.
"You clean up alright yourself, Mr. Moretti," I whispered back, my voice trembling with happiness.
The minister smiled gently, beginning the ceremony. But we both knew that the true vows had been written long before today—not on official marriage licenses or corporate contracts, but in the quiet moments. In a hospital room where a pen moved across crisp paper with absolute certainty. In a nursery where a sleeping baby held a billionaire's finger. In a stormy night when two broken pieces of the world found out they were meant to fit together.
"Do you, Luca Donato Moretti, take Emma Marie Hayes to be your lawfully wedded wife?"
Luca looked deep into my eyes, his voice steady, ringing out clearly across the garden and over the rolling waves of the Sound.
"I do. Yesterday, today, and for every lifetime after this."
"Do you, Emma Marie Hayes, take Luca Donato Moretti to be your lawfully wedded husband?"
I smiled, my heart bursting with a love so profound it felt like magic.
"I do."
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With the exchange of rings and a deep, soul-shattering kiss that made the gathered guests cheer and applaud, the past was officially buried, and our forever began.
As Luca scooped Lily into one arm and wrapped his other arm tightly around my waist, leading us toward the flower-strewn reception path, I looked up at the autumn sky. The ink had dried months ago, but the vow we had written together would last a lifetime.
