Kai clung to her, tears soaking into white fabric, and whispered that Walter taught him not to hate her.
The groom knelt beside them, placing a gentle hand on Kai’s shoulder, asking if he would like to stay and eat.
Kai shook his head and said softly, “I just want my mom.”
The man smiled through emotion, embracing them both, promising Kai a father if he would allow it.
“I did not marry your past,” he told the bride quietly. “I married your heart.”
The applause that followed was raw and trembling, filled with tears rather than ceremony.
That wedding ceased to be about wealth or spectacle and became about return, forgiveness, and a child finally home.
Far away, in a hospital bed, Walter Boone slept peacefully that night, unaware that the boy he saved had found his mother’s arms.
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