The Wedding Invitation
Chapter 15 - The Wedding Invitation
Claire invited William to the wedding.
She did not ask him to walk her down the aisle.
That role belonged to Sophie.
William accepted without complaint.
When he received the invitation, he called Claire.
"Thank you."
"Don't make me regret it."
"I won't."
At the ceremony, William sat in the third row.
Not the front.
He watched Sophie walk beside Claire.
For a moment, Claire saw tears running down his face.
Daniel waited beneath a white flower arch.
No mansion.
No luxury ballroom.
They married in the courtyard behind the foundation's community center.
Eleanor sat beside Rebecca.
Captain Cole attended.
Families helped by the foundation filled several tables.
During the reception, William approached Daniel.
Claire watched from across the room.
Later Daniel told her what he said.
"Don't protect her by deciding things for her."
Daniel had answered:
"I learned that lesson before I married her."
William smiled sadly.
"Good."
Then he walked away.
Claire realized something.
May you like
Her father's greatest change wasn't that he had become good overnight.
It was that he had finally stopped demanding control over how other people healed.
