MollyDQueen
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- Parts 30
The Promise No One Heard
"I'll stand beside you, even if I'm the only one who knows I'm not supposed to."
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The wedding invitations were already printed.
A thousand ivory envelopes sealed with Jennie's initials.
It was supposed to be the happiest weekend of her life.
Lisa stood in the shadows of the hallway, watching as Jennie sat on the floor of her dressing room - veil undone, hair coming loose, face pale under the soft lights. She wasn't crying anymore. That part was over. Now, she just looked hollow.
Lisa's heart had broken a hundred times for her.
But tonight, it shattered in a new, final way.
"I saw him," Jennie had whispered. "I went to the office to surprise him. She was on his desk."
Lisa hadn't asked who she was. She didn't need to.
The answer didn't matter.
What mattered was the girl in front of her, breathing like her chest was cracked open. And the silence between them, full of all the things Lisa would never say.
She wanted to take Jennie's hand.
She wanted to say, "Choose me instead."
But what she said was:
"You don't have to marry him."
Jennie laughed bitterly. "You think I can just disappear? After everything my family's done, after all the guests...? The papers already think we're perfect."
Lisa hesitated. Then something inside her - the part that had loved Jennie for years, in shadows and silence - broke free.
"Then marry me."
The words fell like glass between them.
Jennie blinked slowly. "What?"
"You need someone," Lisa said softly. "Let it be me."
And for a moment, Jennie didn't answer.
She just stared - like she wasn't sure if Lisa was serious. Like maybe, deep down, part of her had always known this moment would come.
"Why would you do that?" she whispered.
Lisa looked away. Because if she looked into her eyes, she wouldn't survive it.
"Because you don't deserve to stand alone. Not now. Not ever."
That night, a new contract was signed.
And Lisa became Jennie's bride.