Scott sat on the stone bench outside Nadine’s gallery, the early morning sun filtering through the trees, painting the ground in dappled gold.
He looked tired, older than he had just a few months ago but there was something clearer in his eyes now. Across from him, Niccolo stood with his arms folded, posture calm but unyielding, like a wall no storm could break through.
“She’ll never come back to you, you know that,” Niccolo said quietly. It wasn’t cruel, just the truth.
Scott let out a long breath, staring at his hands. “I know. That’s not why I’m here.”
“Then why are you here, Scott?” Niccolo’s tone softened, just slightly. “Haven’t you hurt her enough?”
Scott swallowed. He looked up at Niccolo then, and for once, there was no mask, no arrogance, just a man who had finally understood what he’d lost.
“I just wanted you to know,” Scott said hoarsely, “that I’m done. I’m leaving. I’m moving the company overseas, selling what’s left. And I’ll stay away. I promise.”
He blinked fast, looking down at the ring he still kept in his pocket like a ghost that refused to leave. “You… you take care of her. Do what I never could.”
Niccolo’s jaw tightened, but he gave a single nod. “I would die for her, Scott. But more importantly, I’ll live for her. I’ll do the quiet work – the real work. I hope you understand that’s all she ever wanted.”
–
Scott’s eyes glistened. He stood and reached out a hand a gesture that, for a moment, made them just two men who had both loved the same woman, but in very different ways. Niccolo shook it once, firmly.
Before he left, Scott stopped at the corner and found Claudia waiting for him near the gallery door. She’d been watching everything.
“I know I’m the last person you want to see,” Scott murmured.
Claudia didn’t say anything at first. Then, with a weary sigh, she simply said, “At least you finally understood what you took from her.”
Scott bowed his head. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Smith. For all of it.”
She turned away before he could see her eyes soften – just a little.
In the weeks that followed, Nadine received three letters and a single bouquet of lilies. No note attached, she knew they were from Scott. She never opened the envelopes. They stayed tucked in her drawer, untouched. Some goodbyes don’t need words.
Finally, the day came, the day that didn’t feel like an ending but the gentlest, brightest beginning.
Nadine’s wedding dress hung in the sunlit bedroom, a slip of white silk and lace. Claudia helped her fasten the delicate buttons up her back, her mother’s hands trembling only slightly.
Chapter 22
You’re sure?” Claudia asked, smiling through tears. “No regrets?”
Nadine caught her reflection
her eyes were clear, her shoulders straight,
There was a time she had stood before a mirror just like this, trembling, praying she was enough for a man who never truly saw her. But today…
“No regrets,” she said softly. “This time, it’s real.”
Outside the small chapel, Niccolo waited in a perfectly tailored suit, a single white rose pinned to his lapel. He looked like he hadn’t slept but when she appeared at the end of the aisle, all the tension in his shoulders melted away. His smile broke something open inside her, that fragile part that still wondered if forever could really exist.
They spoke their vows with voices steady, hands linked tight.
There were no hundreds of guests, no flash of cameras, just the few people who mattered, the scent of fresh flowers, and the warm morning light that made her veil glow like a halo.
At the reception, Nadine danced barefoot under strings of fairy lights.
Niccolo’s mother kissed her cheek and called her daughter. Claudia pressed a small locket into her palm, inside was a photo of Nadine as a child, paintbrush in hand, smiling wide.
“I want you to remember,” Claudia whispered, “that no matter how many times life tries to break you, you always find your color again.”
When Niccolo pulled her close for their first dance, she let her head rest against his chest, listening to his heartbeat steady and strong.
“Are you happy?” he asked against her hair.
She laughed, tears slipping down her cheeks. “So happy, it scares me.”
“Good,” he murmured, tipping her chin up so she met his eyes. “Then we’ll keep painting it, every day. A little more color. A little more light.”
Their honeymoon was simple, no grand resorts or lavish islands. They rented a small house on a cliff by the sea.
Mornings were spent curled up with coffee and canvases, painting side by side. Some days they barely spoke, letting the ocean and the breeze fill the silence. Other nights, they made love until dawn, the past a fading echo that no longer had claws in her heart.
On the last night, Nadine stood on the balcony, looking out at the dark waves. She thought of Jasmine, of Scott, of every broken piece that had made her who she was.
Niccolo came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She felt his warmth, solid and true.
“Do you ever think about… all of it?” she asked.
He kissed her shoulder. “Sometimes. But then I remember the only thing that matters now is this. Us.”
She closed her eyes and leaned into him. For the first time in her life, she believed him. She believed in them.
And when she opened her eyes again, the horizon was soft and endless – just like the life
