I made the same promises.
When the ceremony ended, we walked outside together.
The sky was clear.
The air smelled of spring flowers.
And I felt something I had not experienced on my first wedding day.
Peace.
I am thirty-one now.
James and I have been married for almost two years.
We live in a comfortable house with a small garden and a kitchen that always seems to contain too many coffee mugs.
Oliver still believes he owns the furniture.
Claire lives fifteen minutes away.
My parents visit on Sundays.
And I continue working in finance, a profession I love despite everything that happened.
Sometimes people ask whether I regret marrying Adrian.
I wish I had known the truth before the wedding.
I wish I had read the documents more carefully.
And I wish I had listened to the doubts I dismissed because I was afraid of appearing suspicious.
But I no longer blame myself for another person’s deliberate deception.
