Andrea had arrived long before the ceremony began. She had been waiting for this day for what felt like an eternity.
She had smiled so much from greeting people that her cheeks looked
ready to cramp.
Joanna didn’t acknowledge her. She kept her eyes fixed on her phone,
detached from the whirlwind around her.
She knew what disrupting this wedding would mean for George. It
was cruel and unfair to him. But she had no other choice.
The ceremony proceeded step by step, just as planned. Through it all,
George held her hand tightly, not letting go for even a second.
Joanna’s palm was slick with sweat under his grip. Yet she didn’t pull
away.
One of George’s friends approached them during the cocktail break, smiling as he raised his glass toward Joanna. “Congratulations to you both. And thank you, Ms. Malone, for finally letting George marry the woman he’s worshiped for years. You’re the muse he’s waited his
whole life for.”
Everyone around them broke into laughter and applause. George just grinned and took it in stride.
Joanna slowly looked up at him. His features were almost
unnaturally perfect, like they had been sculpted by an artist’s hand.
Every glance he gave her was filled with quiet affection.
She never would have imagined that the man she had once rescued by chance in Eldorra would turn out to be the future heir of the
Schuman family in Andarre.
Back then, she would have walked through fire for Rowan. There was nothing she wouldn’t do for him.
She even barged into a drug lord’s territory to rescue someone who mattered to Rowan. Saving George had just been incidental.
But he had repaid her with absolute sincerity.
Joanna’s fingers tightened in his. George instinctively looked down,
only to find her smiling at him.
The ceremony was about to begin.
The wedding theme swelled through the speakers. Joanna, dressed in a flowing white gown, stepped through the rows of guests and made her way to the altar where George stood.
She had pictured her wedding in countless dreams, but never imagined it would unfold like this.
The man standing at the altar wasn’t Rowan–it was George.
George looked at her with awe in his eyes, completely captivated by
her beauty.
He had finally married the woman he had dreamed of for years, and in
that moment, he felt like the luckiest man alive.
Chapter 20
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Unable to help himself, he leaned forward, ready to kiss her.
Cheers and applause burst through the room.
But then, the grand doors slammed open.
A wave of men in black suits stormed into the hall. Within seconds,
they secured every exit and froze the entire venue.
No one was allowed to move.
At the front, Xavier stood rigid, his gaze locked on Joanna with a
mixture of disbelief and fury.
He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Joanna was actually
marrying another man.
Everyone had known how deeply she once loved Rowan. He couldn’t
believe she had betrayed him like that.
Someone murmured, “Who’s that?”
“Crashing a wedding on a day like this? Really?”
“Look at that getup. He doesn’t look like he’s on the guest list.”
The crowd buzzed with confusion and growing unease.
Everyone in that room held weight in Andarre’s elite social circles.
Andrea turned her head and caught sight of the man in the wheelchair. Her breath caught in her throat.
That was the so–called son–in–law who had once lured her daughter
Chapter 20
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away. Joanna had told her before–there had never been a real marriage. Rowan had faked the certificate and used it to deceive her.
Now, seeing him storm in to ruin the wedding, Andrea’s anger flared.
But before she could step forward, a woman, Cynthia Russel, suddenly burst out from the crowd, jabbing a finger in Rowan’s face as she shouted, “You’re a murderer! How dare you show your face.
here?”
Her voice rang out, unhinged and wild, sending ripples of confusion. through the crowd.
She was trembling with rage, and just as she was about to lunge at him, Xavier stepped forward and shoved her to the ground.
A middle–aged man, Ralph Swanson, rushed over to help her up.
The moment his gaze met Rowan’s, his face contorted with the same
bitter hatred. “You bastard. You got your own brother killed–how do
you even have the nerve to come back here?”
“Call the police, now! He’s a wanted criminal, get him arrested!” The moment Cynthia laid eyes on Rowan, something in her snapped. She looked completely unhinged.
But Rowan didn’t even flinch. He didn’t look at them once.
His eyes had been locked on Joanna since the second he rolled into
the room.
Joanna stood just a few steps away. She was the woman Rowan had chased through dreams and across countless sleepless nights.
Chaplet 20
After she vanished, he had feared the worst. He had believed one of
his old enemies had taken her. The fear of never seeing her again had nearly broken him.
Rowan had never believed in anything higher than himself. But after
she disappeared, he prayed–morning and night–desperate and
hollow.
He didn’t spare a glance for the man who happened to be his
biological father. His gaze remained cold as he motioned for Xavier
to drag them aside.
With effort, Rowan pushed himself up from the wheelchair. Leaning
hard on his cane, he took one step at a time toward Joanna.
Then, he extended his right hand to her. His voice cracked, thick with
emotion. “I’m sorry, Anna. I came too late.”
Every eye in the room shifted instantly to Joanna.
She glanced at the man in front of her with barely a flicker of emotion.
Then, slowly, the corners of her lips curled into a smile. “No. You’re
right on time,” she whispered.
