The sudden Interruption–a man storming in to steal the bride–sent shockwaves through the church.
“What do you think you’re doing?” the groom shouted, swinging a fist at Eddy’s face. But before the blow landed, Eddy’s bodyguards stepped in, pinning the groom’s arms behind his back.
The bride, caught in Eddy’s arms, struggled wildly. She slapped him hard across the face, voice trembling with rage. “Who the hell are you? How dare you barge in and ruin my wedding!”
Hearing the unfamiliar woman’s voice, Eddy’s heart clenched. He turned to get a good look at the bride.
His handsome features were ghostly pale from years of illness, his sunken eyes bloodshot and wild. In that instant, he looked almost vampiric, so much so that the bride recoiled in terror, collapsing into her groom’s arms. Both pointed at him with trembling hands. “Who are you? We don’t even know you! Why are you wrecking our wedding?”
Eddy frowned, staring at the woman as if searching for answers. “Where’s my wife?”
“Your wife? Who’s your wife supposed to be? Are you delusional?” the groom scoffed, earning a ripple of laughter from the congregation.
Without warning, Eddy’s hand shot out and clamped around the groom’s throat. His gaze was as cold as ice, his voice deadly calm. “Her name is on the guest list for this ceremony. Where is she?”
The crowd recoiled in fear. A few brave souls looked ready to intervene, while the bride clawed frantically at Eddy’s hand, trying to pry him off her husband.
But Eddy’s bodyguards had already sealed off every exit, forming an unbreakable barrier around the church. The guests‘ knees buckled in dread.
Eddy’s grip only tightened, as if he might strangle the groom on the spot if no one gave him what he wanted.
His head bodyguard hurried over, holding up a tablet displaying a photograph. “Look! This is our lady! Have you seen her? Her name is Blanche!”
“Anyone who helps us will be handsomely rewarded by my employer!” he added, voice carrying to every
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“Come on–please, everyone, take a look another bodyguard pleaded.
The bride, her composure cracked, shouted desperately, terrified Eddy would kill her husband. The realization was dawning–this stranger was not to be trifled with
She and her relatives snatched the tablet and began passing it around. Suddenly, someone in the crowd cried out, “I’ve seen her! This woman was here today—she had two children with her, and another man. I heard the kids call them ‘Mom‘ and ‘Dad‘–they looked like a family of four.”
Mom, Dad, a family of four?
Eddy’s body, already weak from illness, seemed to collapse from within. His hand. slipped from the groom’s throat and he staggered, drained, into the arms of his bodyguards. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
The bodyguards gasped and quickly steadied him.
“Where did they go?” Eddy asked, his lips trembling and pale from blood loss.
“The memorial cemetery, someone replied. “It was built to honor victims of the old earthquake. Come to think of it, this church was right at the epicenter.”
Eddy’s mind flashed back to an old, faded photograph–and to Fernando. His eyes narrowed, cold and sharp. He gave his head bodyguard a meaningful glance.
The man seized the witness by the arm. “You’re coming with us. Help us find them and you’ll be handsomely rewarded!”
With no way out, the reluctant witness led them from the church.
“Guess he really did come to steal the bride… with backup, no less. That woman’s not getting away,” someone whispered in the pews.
“Honestly, he isn’t bad looking,” another murmured.
“Are you insane? Did you see how terrifying he looked? Maybe the poor woman ran away to escape him in the first place.”
Their gossip faded as the priest’s shaken voice tried to restore order.
Eddy paused at the church doors, just in time to hear the new couple exchange vows-“I do. I do. The words hit him with a wave of memory.
He remembered when he and Blanche stood before a minister just like this, faces glowing with happiness.
When had he lost her? When had he let happiness slip away?
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“Chapter“]
With a pang, Eddy picked up his pace.
Meanwhile, at the cemetery-
A bouquet of tulips lay before two adjoining headstones.
“Terrell’s mother asked to be buried with his father when she passed,” Fernando explained softly, holding little Mamie in his arms.
Blanche knelt in front of the gravestone, gently brushing away the dust. She hugged a somber Terrell closer. “Don’t worry. I’ll love Terrell as if he were my own.”
Terrell hugged her back, clinging tightly.
The four of them lingered at the graves for a long while. Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps drew near. Blanche caught snatches of voices she recognized. Fernando had once been trapped here, and she’d been here before too. Today, they’d only come for Terrell’s sake. She wanted nothing to do with trouble..
She took Mamie from Fernando’s arms and, with a quick glance between them, they slipped behind a thicket of bushes.
Blanche watched as Eddy and his men arrived at the cemetery. Eddy barked at his bodyguards, “Check the security cameras! Spread out and search–don’t scare my wife off.”
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