Chapter 22: The Wedding I No Longer Wanted

Three years after I entered Highmoor, the Royal Castle announced that Princess Helena's national peace service program had officially ended.

For most volunteers, it was a celebration.

For me, it was the beginning of something even bigger.

The Highmoor Peace Administration had become permanent, and I had been appointed its first director.

I had spent three years building a life that no longer depended on anyone choosing me.

Then, just before the closing ceremony, an invitation arrived from the Redoak Pack.

Gavin Mercer was getting married.

I stared at the invitation for several seconds.

His name was printed beside another woman's.

There was no pain.

No jealousy.

Only a quiet sense of completion.

He had finally moved forward.

So had I.

Princess Helena noticed the invitation in my hand.

“Are you going?” she asked.

I smiled.

“Yes.”

The wedding was held in the Redoak Pack's grand hall.

When I arrived, Gavin was already standing at the altar.

He looked calm.

The woman beside him looked happy.

I recognized her as a senior royal mediator who had worked with Gavin during several northern negotiations.

She was intelligent, composed, and clearly respected him.

As I took my seat among the royal representatives, Gavin's eyes briefly met mine.

He smiled.

I smiled back.

There was no sadness between us.

Only acknowledgment.

When the ceremony ended, Gavin approached me during the reception.

“Thank you for coming.”

“Congratulations.”

He glanced toward his new wife.

“She's nothing like you.”

I laughed softly.

“That's probably why you chose her.”

He smiled.

“You're right.”

For a moment, we stood in comfortable silence.

Then he said, “I used to think my life ended when you left.”

I shook my head.

“You just had to learn how to live differently.”

He nodded.

“And you?”

I looked around the hall.

“I learned that leaving wasn't the end of my story.”

He smiled.

“I'm glad.”

His wife called his name from across the room.

Gavin turned toward her.

Before leaving, he looked back at me one last time.

“Take care of yourself, Celia.”

I smiled.

“You too, Gavin.”

Then he walked away.

I watched him join the woman he had chosen.

There was no bitterness in my heart.

Only peace.

That night, I returned to Highmoor.

I stood beneath the same mountains where I had once cried over a postponed wedding.

I thought about the wedding dress I had thrown onto the floor years ago.

I thought about the girl who had believed being chosen by Gavin was the greatest happiness she could ever have.

She had been wrong.

The greatest happiness was choosing herself.

I looked toward the stars and smiled.

My story with Gavin had ended long ago.

But my story had never ended with him.