Chapter 262
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Chapter 262:
Kieran was still on his knees. Blood had seeped through the butterfly bandage, a stark red line across the white adhesive.
He looked up at Jocelyn, his eyes red-rimmed and glistening.
“I didn’t know,” he choked out. “Jocelyn, you have to believe me. About the attic. About any of it. I didn’t see how cruel she was. I thought I was protecting her from the world p>
“Ignorance isn’t an excuse, Kieran,” Jocelyn said, looking down at him. She felt strangely light — the crushing weight of her past had lifted. “It’s a choice. You chose not to see. You chose to believe the pretty lie because it was easier p>
“I can fix this,” Kieran pleaded, his voice breaking. “I’ll annul the marriage. Tonight. We can start over. I’ll make it up to you p>
R𝗲аd 𝗍𝗵𝗲 𝗅a𝘵𝖾st 𝗍𝗋𝗲𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝗼𝗇
Gaston stepped between them — a wall of black tuxedo and quiet, righteous anger.
“Start over?” Gaston looked down at Kieran with undisguised contempt. “You had your chance. You had years. You spent them enabling her cruelty and treating Jocelyn like an afterthought p>
“Jocelyn loved me! She still does!” Kieran yelled, trying to stand but stumbling. “We have a history p>
Gaston turned to Jocelyn. “Do you?” he asked. He already knew the answer. He wanted Kieran to hear it.
Jocelyn looked at Kieran and searched her heart for any lingering trace — anger, love, grief. There was nothing. Only pity for a man who had built his castle on sand.
“I loved the idea of you, Kieran,” she said clearly. “I loved a memory. But that memory is gone. And I love the man standing next to me p>
She turned to Gaston. She reached up, took the lapels of his jacket in her hands, and pulled him down.
She kissed him.
It was not a polite peck. It was passionate and deep — a claiming. Gaston responded without hesitation, his arms wrapping around her and lifting her slightly off the floor. He kissed her back with a hunger that silenced the room entirely.
Near the cake table, Bella Douglas let out a loud, jubilant cheer. “Finally p>
Kieran watched them. The intimacy was undeniable — the way their bodies fit together, the way Gaston held her as though she were both precious and vital. He realized, with a hollow certainty, that he had never kissed her like that. He had never held her like that.
Jocelyn broke the kiss, breathless, her cheeks flushed.
“Let’s go,” she murmured, smiling — her voice meant only for him.
“As you wish,” Gaston said, and offered his arm.
They walked down the aisle together, stepping over the white rose petals that had been scattered for Aspen.
The press was waiting at the doors. Flashbulbs erupted like a thunderstorm as they stepped outside — a public declaration, unmistakable in its meaning.
Kieran was left alone at the altar. A groom without a bride. A hero without a damsel. A man without a legacy.
Robert Schneider, Aspen’s father, rushed forward, his face purple with rage.
“You ruined my family!” he shouted at Gaston’s back. “I’ll sue you for everything p>