After 18 Wedding Escapes, I Married the Mafia King Chapter 06
Riccardo leaned down and asked quietly, “Ready to go in?”
I gave a small nod.
The doors to our ballroom opened.
Inside, there were no playful arrangements of pink and white roses.
Instead, the space was filled with elegant white lisianthus and champagne roses.
Once, I’d casually mentioned that I didn’t like overly extravagant weddings.
I wanted something clean. Something quiet.
Riccardo had remembered.
At the end of the long aisle stood the elders of the Vercetti family and the guests from the Morello
family.
After my grandmother passed, I thought no one would ever truly care to see me married off.
But the moment I stepped into the ballroom, I saw my grandmother’s closest friend sitting in the
front row.
Her eyes were red-rimmed as she beckoned me over.
“Lillian, come here, sweetheart.”
My eyes burned.
Riccardo gently steadied my hand and lowered his voice.
“I had someone take a photo to her grave. So she can see.”
My steps faltered. Tears almost slipped out.
Something Stefano had never done. Riccardo had.
The officiant’s voice echoed through the ballroom.
“Please welcome the bride and groom.”
I walked down the aisle with my arm linked through Riccardo’s.
Then, from behind us, a voice rang out.
“Lillian! You can’t marry him!”
Every head turned.
Stefano had come charging in, looking utterly unhinged.
Standing in the doorway, he looked like the one who’d been abandoned.
He was still wearing his groom’s tuxedo.
The boutonniere from Juliana’s wedding remained pinned to his chest.
Yet the way he looked at me was as if he’d finally realized what he’d lost.
“Lillian, I was wrong. I was really wrong.”
“I’m calling off that wedding.”
“Let’s go get married. Right now.”
“Isn’t this what you’ve always wanted? I’ll marry you.”
I looked at him. And suddenly I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all.
He thought I’d been waiting for a marriage license.
But that had never been what I wanted.
What I’d waited for was to be chosen without hesitation.
I’d waited for the version of him who wouldn’t have pried my fingers loose at the hospital.
The one who wouldn’t have walked away with Juliana.
The one who wouldn’t have made me step aside every single time it was her against me.
But he’d never been that man. Not once.
And now he was finally offering to marry me. It was too late.
I pulled a single white lisianthus from my bouquet and walked toward him.
Hope immediately flared in his eyes.
“Lillian…”
I slipped the flower into his breast pocket.
It covered the boutonniere from Juliana’s wedding.
“Stefano. Consider this my wedding gift.”
“May you and Juliana be stuck together forever.”
All color drained from his face.
I turned around and walked back to Riccardo’s side.
Riccardo looked at me. A faint smile touched his eyes.
“Done? Then it’s my turn.”
He took my hand and faced the guests.
His voice was calm and clear.
“Thank you all for being here to celebrate our wedding.”
“I know this wedding came together quickly. But my feelings toward Lillian were never rushed.”
“From today onward, she won’t have to wait for anyone.”
“I’ll be by her side. Every single time.”
My eyes suddenly burned.
Applause erupted throughout the ballroom.
It was warm and thunderous, as if slowly burying all the shame of the last seven years.
The officiant turned toward me.
“Miss Vercetti, do you take Mr. Riccardo Morello to be your husband?”
I looked up at Riccardo.
He didn’t push. He just waited.
Just like he had during those three minutes at the marriage registration office.
He hadn’t asked why. He hadn’t asked whether I would regret it.
He had simply handed over his ID and said, “We’re here to get married.”
A smile curved my lips. “I do.”
As the ring slid onto my finger, Stefano finally broke.
He lunged forward as if to stop the ceremony, only to be blocked by Morello security.
Juliana came running after him, tears streaming down her face.
“Stefano, don’t leave me. It’s our wedding day too.”
Stefano shoved her away. “Get away from me.”
“If it weren’t for you, Lillian never would’ve married someone else.”
Juliana froze. Tears still clung to her cheeks.
Listening to this, I almost laughed.
Even now, he still didn’t understand.
Juliana hadn’t stolen him from me.
He was the one who had pushed me away with his own hands.
