Chapter 5 A Final Goodbye

Lyla Rose

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His father approaches him, clapping him on the back proudly.

"Granny..." I whisper, my voice barely above a breath. My body quivers with the weight of my sorrow. "Why didn't you stop this? Why didn't you see what he was doing?"

His grandmother looks at me, her face full of pity, before glancing at Vincent with disappointment in her eyes. But she doesn't speak. She doesn't protest. She keeps quiet, unwilling to ruin the ceremony. She moves toward me, her hands gentle as she wraps an arm around my trembling body, trying to support me, to hold me together. "Rose, sweetheart..." Her voice is soft, regretful. "He made his choice."

I shake my head, my sobs only growing louder, more desperate. "No, Granny... No, no, no..." The word feels like a curse as I whisper it again and again, unable to comprehend what's happening.

Vincent's mother and friends watch, varying degrees of discomfort or understanding on their faces. His sister, Sophia, looks at me with pity, then quickly looks away, unable to watch me fall apart. His mother, busy complimenting Maria on her wedding dress, only serves to deepen the wound in my chest. Vincent's father, however, turns to him, his expression serious and determined. "It's time," he says firmly, like he's permitting Vincent to proceed with something that was never meant to be stopped.

I wipe my face, still trembling. I can barely breathe, but I manage to force myself to stand. Somehow, I find the strength to move toward Maria. I walk as if on broken glass, my legs unsteady, my mind fighting against the drug still clouding my thoughts. I reach her, hoping she'll back off, hoping she'll understand.

"Please, don't... Please don't..." I plead, my voice breaking with desperation. "He's my husband. Please don't be with him... don't take him from me." I know, deep down, that the divorce is final, that the papers are signed. But I can't let go of the tiny spark of hope that maybe, just maybe, she'll back away.

Maria looks at me with guilt and determination battling in her eyes.

"I'm sorry, Rose," she whispers, her voice soft but resolute. "He's my husband now."

"No..." I shake my head, tears streaming down my face, my chest heaving with the agony of it all. "Please, Maria, please... don't..."

Maria's gaze flicks to Vincent, who stands beside his father, his face hard, his eyes cold. She sees the finality in him, the indifference that sears through her, and she knows. He's made his decision, and if Vincent Ricci makes a decision, no one can change it, not even God.

She reaches out, gently, almost hesitantly, and takes my hands in hers. "Rose..." she whispers. "He doesn't love you anymore."

I shake my head, unable to process it.

The man who once claimed I was everything, the man who told me I was enough despite being an orphan with no family, no status, has become a stranger. He left me for an illness, for my inability to give him children. And seeing him with another woman, the one who will carry his child, the one who takes the place I was promised feels like someone is stabbing my chest over and over, each blow stealing what little is left of me.

Vincent's father steps forward. "Enough!" His voice cuts through the heavy air, snapping everyone to attention. "The marriage is official. The documents are signed. Vincent is now married to Maria. This ends here."

I wipe my face, my trembling hand pressing against the pain in my chest. I drop to my knees before Vincent. "Please, Vincent, don't do this to me..." I beg, clutching his leg with all the strength I have left, my body shaking with sobs. "Please, Vincent, please don't leave me." "You promised... you promised you'd love me forever. You promised I was the only one for you..." My voice cracks, raw and desperate, every word a knife twisting in my chest. "How can you just... how can you just erase me like this?"

He looks down at me, his eyes flickering for the briefest moment. I see it, a flash of something. Pain? Regret? But then it's gone, and he hardens again. He pulls his leg away from my desperate grasp. "Get up, Rose," he says coldly, his voice unwavering, his command final. "This is over."

"I'm an orphan," I whisper brokenly, my voice a mere rasp. "I have no one except you, and yet you divorced me." My words barely reach him, but I can't stop myself from saying them, from letting him hear the raw pain I've carried for so long.

He looks at his father, who nods in approval. Granny moves toward me, trying to pull me away from him with such tenderness that it feels like a betrayal. "Rose, my dear..." She whispers, pulling me into her arms. "Let him go."

"Granny... I love him..." I sob, looking up at her, my heart shattering under the weight of everything I've lost.

Granny's eyes are full of sorrow, disappointment, and regret as she looks at Vincent, then back at me. She pulls me close, rocking me gently. "I know, darling... I know, but he is no longer yours. He never was," she murmurs, her voice heavy with sorrow. My sobs grow louder, my heart aching at her words. No... it's not true. He was mine, all mine.

Vincent's father clears his throat sharply. "The wedding ceremony will continue. Remove her from the room. Take her to the basement and lock her up. Make sure she never sees the light of day again."

Two security guards step forward, their eyes cold and unyielding, fixed on me like predators closing in. And I realize this is it. I'll be locked away like an animal and there's nothing I can do to stop it.

This world is a cruel place, made for those who take, never for those who love and lose with nothing left to give.