The Man I Left at the Altar (English)

Chapter 35: Forever

Chapter 35

Dark Montero

All my life, I only knew about pain and suffering. I had a fleeting moment of love and care from my mother and younger brother. But I tried not to dwell on it. It will only give me the bittersweet memories of my past.

It has been 2 years since I lost my mother. I could still painfully remember as I knocked our neighbors doorsteps begging for help. I remembered asking for a phone to contact my mother's brother. I remembered crying my hearts out as I shook my mother's body to wake her up. Her skin was cold and clammy. Her bones sticking out underneath her pale thin skin.

She had breast cancer, and the stolen money I got from pickpocketing at school and businesses weren't enough to cover her treatments. I remembered the pain in my brother's eyes as we dug her grave.

We didn't have any money to buy her beautiful casket. If I had the means, I would have bought her the most beautiful white dress and the most golden casket. Because she deserved it and she was the most beautiful and purest woman I've ever met.

Her eyes were a startling shade of brown and her smile the brightest of them all. Her smile would always put me on ease whenever I get home beaten up by the bullies for my hand me down clothes.

But she wasn't here anymore. And I had to take care of my younger brother. For 2 years, I worked at a construction site while my brother went to school. One day, I went home to him coughing uncontrollably. I bought him some medicine to help ease his cough and cold but it was no use. He told me it was just a common cold. But it was not.

The next thing I know, I woke up to the cold and blue body of my brother. I found out he had pneumonia. And I didn't knew about it because we didn't have the money for a doctor or for the lab tests.

To say I was angry was an understatement. I hated the world. I hated life. And I hated the universe for bringing me to hell. I didn't have anyone with me except for my bestfriend Blaise.

One day when we were working on the construction site, a young man offered us a job. He flashed us with the allure of money and a warm home. We took it, not knowing we were about to sold our souls to the devil.

It was my first time to be molested and sexually abused. I became a puppet and an entertainer. They liked me for my looks and my well-built muscled due to working in the construction site.

The married women gave me enough money yet our pimp pocketed most of it. We had to buy our way out for the food and clothes he provided for us. Eventually, Blaise and I started a business besides working as an entertainer for the women. We bought our way out and focused in our business.

We went to school to get a degree while working our asses off. However, the damage was done. I was known as a stripper and a highly paid entertainer.

It bothered me that I strove hard to be the best that I can be. To erase in their minds the dirty deeds I had done in the past. I graduated Magna Cum Laude and became one of the youngest self-made millionaires in our country at the age of 24. But nothing was enough.

Until, I met her.

Laurene Velarde.

I remembered attending an employee's wedding when I saw her silently standing at the edge of the ballroom. She was wearing a light blue mermaid gown with an open back. Her hair was in a side ponytail and a gentle smile was on her lips. She had the kind of pure and peaceful energy around her that you would want to bask yourself into.

And like the bloody bastard that I was, I basked into her energy. I didn't know how but I found myself asking her for a dance. The way her eyes widened and her lips turned into an o was a sight to behold.

I thought no woman could ever make me feel alive and whole again, but she again, proved me wrong. One touch of her hand, my heart erratically beat inside my chest. One smile, she made me weak in the knees. And one tiny bit of her lip was enough for me to make up my mind to make her mine.

I was relentless with courting her. I wanted her, not because of her physical beauty but because she was warm, and nice. I loved spending time with her that I found myself falling deeply and uncontrollably in love with her.

I felt like a goddamn king when she answered me yes and became my girlfriend. Everything was fine despite the paparazzi hounding her and my exes spouting venom at her. I made sure she didn't get hurt by their lies and their venom.

But as much as I tried to shield her, to make her not want leave me, I couldn't protect her from her own self. I knew she was scared of marriage. I see it with the way she deflects the conversation whenever I open about it, or the way she gave me a small smile whenever she watches movies with wedding.

It drove me crazy knowing there was a possibility that she could never be fully be mine. I wanted her to be my wife. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I was damn right scared of her walking away from me.

So the devious bastard that I was proposed marriage to her. It was all part of my plan to bring her to the orphanage and have sister therese talk to her. I used her selfless and caring attitude to have it work on my forever.

And it worked. For only a short amount of time. Because the next thing I knew, she was lying on the cold hospital bed, fighting for her life.

This must be karma for the sins I have committed. I vowed to give her my all and the best when she wakes up.

And she did woke up. But I can see there was a difference in her eyes. There was power and firmness in it. I knew she was about to leave me. I sensed it, so I made sure to know everything about her. Where she goes and who she's with it.

But it backfired on me. And I knew I was wrong after she honestly cried to me how she felt suffocated by my actions. So, I let her breathe for a few days. I also went to counseling, and it helped.

Although it pained me to know that she was leaving, I knew it was for the best. We both had our issues to fix. We both had our demons to face on our own.

This time I'm facing everything in life in a right and uncalculated manner. For 3 years, I worked hard and avoided manipulating people. I stopped doing it because bad things will eventually catch up on you and it will only hurt the people around.

I've learned the lessons of life in a hard way, but I can only be thankful that I was a given a chance to set things right.

Now, I stood before my lovely wife at the grandest wedding she could ever imagine.

It was fitting for a queen, because she was a queen. My queen and I will forever treat her as such and our children. The tiny bump in her stomach was a proof of our love and our promises.

Glancing at her eyes that were full of love and happiness, I felt my tears at the brim of my eyes. My heart felt so full and I could almost combust at the happiness I am feeling.

Holding her hand with mine, I grinned at the two rings on our hands.
"By the power invested in me, I know pronounce you, husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."

Slowly parting her, I was hit by her beauty and her blinding smile. Her green eyes were tear-stained yet her cheeks were flushed pink. Her lips were rose colored and there was a radiance in her that I couldn't stop basking myself into.

Caressing her cheek, she kissed my palm and smiled.
"Hello, husband."

"Hello to you too, wife." I murmured against her lips before leaning down and capturing her in a heated kiss, promising everyone and from up above that I will forever cherish this woman and our children until the end of my life.

Published 05.03.2020