After 18 Wedding Escapes, I Married the Mafia King Chapter 07
After the ceremony, Riccardo took my hand and led me down the other end of the aisle.
As we passed Stefano, he suddenly spoke in a hoarse voice.
“Lillian. You really don’t want me anymore?”
I stopped. But I didn’t turn around.
“I was done after the eighteenth time.’
“You just never noticed.”
With that, I looped my arm through Riccardo’s and walked toward the brightest lights.
Behind us, there was Juliana’s crying, Stefano’s shouting, the low hum of whispered gossip.
But none of it had anything to do with me anymore.
I was wearing the wedding dress I loved.
I had married a man who was willing to wait for me and willing to choose me without hesitation.
And Stefano’s wedding, the one he’d planned as a day of indulgence for Juliana, had finally become
the most humiliating moment of his life.
Stefano didn’t leave that night.
At least, that’s what Raven told me later.
She said he’d stood outside the ballroom alone for a very long time.
Juliana had cried as she pulled at him.
“Stefano, the guests are still waiting for us. It’s our wedding day too.”
But Stefano seemed not to hear her.
He kept staring in the direction where Riccardo and I had disappeared.
His eyes were so red they looked frightening.
Then Juliana reached toward the white lisianthus in his breast pocket.
“Lillian only gave you that to humiliate us. Why are you still keeping it?”
Stefano seized her wrist so hard her face went white.
“Don’t touch it.” His voice was raw. “That’s the last thing she ever gave me.”
Juliana went still.
The looks among the guests turned knowing.
Someone snickered. “I thought he said he was only indulging Juliana for one day.”
“Now that Lillian actually got married, he’s the one losing his mind.”
“Serves him right. He abandoned her eighteen times and really expected her to wait forever.”
Every word hit him like a hard.
Finally, he turned to Juliana.
There was no trace of the indulgence he’d always shown her. Only cold disgust remained.
“Happy now? Didn’t you always want a wedding?”
“Now the entire city knows I abandoned you. On your wedding day.”
The color drained from Juliana’s face.
“I didn’t force you. You were the one who said you’d indulge me for a day.”
Stefano laughed. The sound was hollow and painful to hear.
“Yeah. I did.”
“Guess this is my payback.”
He tore off the boutonniere from his wedding to Juliana and tossed it in the trash.
Then he turned and walked away.
In the end, the wedding became a complete disaster.
The groom left. The bride cried until she fainted. The guests scattered.
Not a single shred of dignity remained.
I learned all of that the next morning.
Riccardo was in the kitchen making breakfast.
He wore a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
Morning sunlight fell across his profile, softening the sharp edges of his features.
Hearing me stir, he turned around.
“Did I wake you?”
I shook my head.
Sitting at the dining table, I watched him bring breakfast over.
For a moment, I felt dazed.
I’d spent seven years with Stefano.
In all that time, he had never stepped into a kitchen for me.
He always said, “You can cook. That’s enough.”
“I’m out working all day. The last thing I need is to come home and deal with this stuff.”
Yet Riccardo was far busier than Stefano had ever been.
And there he was, on the first morning of our marriage, up early making me breakfast.
I lowered my head and took a sip of oatmeal. The warmth slid down my throat.
For some reason, my eyes stung.
Riccardo sat down across from me.
“If you don’t want to hear about Stefano anymore, I’ll make sure no one brings him up again.”
I blinked. “You know what happened?”
He nodded casually.
“Raven sent over at least a dozen voice messages.
I thought of Raven running her mouth and couldn’t help but laugh.
Riccardo watched me quietly.
“Good. You smiled.”
In that moment, it hit me.
Maybe marrying Riccardo wasn’t a desperate escape.
Maybe fate had just reached out and gently guided me off the wrong road.
