Here is a full continuation and ending to the story:
The church was deadly silent. Mrs. Cole clutched her designer handbag to her chest, her knuckles turning white. She tried to laugh it off, looking around at the guests nervously.
“Don’t be ridiculous, darling,” Mrs. Cole stammered, offering a tight, fake smile. “The stress has clearly gone to your head.”
“Open. It,” I demanded, stepping down from the altar. My veil dragged behind me as I closed the distance between us.
When she refused, Ryan stepped in. He walked down the aisle, his face a mix of confusion and heartbreak. “Mom? What is she talking about? Just open the bag.”
Mrs. Cole’s lip quivered. “I was only trying to protect you, Ryan! She’s not one of us!”
With a shaking hand, Ryan gently took the purse from his mother’s grip. He undid the clasp and looked inside. He pulled out a slightly crumpled piece of paper—a cashier’s check.
He stared at it, reading the amount aloud. “One hundred thousand dollars?”
The congregation gasped again.
“She offered me $100,000 to say ‘I don’t’ and disappear,” I told the room, tears finally spilling over. “She cornered me in the dressing room. She said that if I really loved you, I’d take the money and spare you the embarrassment of marrying ‘trash’ like me. She said you secretly thought so too.”
Ryan looked from the check to his mother, his expression hardening into something I’d never seen before.
“You… you tried to buy my wife?” Ryan’s voice was low, dangerous.
“She’s a gold digger, Ryan!” Mrs. Cole shrieked, dropping the act. “If she loved you, she wouldn’t have made a scene! I did this for the family legacy!”
“No,” Ryan said, tearing the check in half. “You did this for yourself.”
He turned to me, his eyes softening. “Jemma, is that why you said ‘I don’t’? Because you thought I agreed with her?”
“I said ‘I don’t’ because I won’t marry into a family that disrespects me,” I said, my voice trembling. “And I needed to know if you were going to stand there and let her run your life, or if you were going to be my husband.”
Ryan didn’t hesitate. He took my hand and turned to the priest.
“Father, I’m sorry to interrupt the ceremony,” Ryan said. Then he turned to his mother. “Mom, you need to leave. Now. If you stay, there is no wedding, and there is no us.”
Mrs. Cole looked around for support, but even her friends were looking at the floor in embarrassment. sobbing, she grabbed her purse and ran out of the church doors.
Ryan wiped a tear from my cheek. “I choose you. Today, tomorrow, and every day. I don’t care about the legacy. I care about you.”
He pulled me back up to the altar. The priest, recovering from the shock, cleared his throat.
“Shall we… try the question again?”
I looked at Ryan, the man who just defended me in front of everyone he knew.
“I do,” I whispered. “I really, really do.”
Would you like another variation of the ending, perhaps where Ryan knew about the money?
