Emily whispered, “One who listens.”
Nathan stared at Vanessa.
She shook her head.
“She misunderstood.”
“How does a six-year-old invent that sentence?”
“Nathan, children combine things.”
His brother stepped closer.
“Maybe let's get Emily away from her.”
Nathan handed Emily to him.
“Take her to Mom.”
Emily panicked.
“No!”
Nathan immediately took her back.
“I’m coming.”
He looked at Vanessa.
“The wedding is over.”
Her face went blank.
“What?”
“There is no wedding.”
“Nathan.”
“No.”
“You cannot make this decision while you're angry.”
“I just watched you hit my daughter.”
“You're throwing away three years over thirty seconds.”
“No.”
Nathan held Emily closer.
“I'm realizing what those three years actually were.”
Outside, the music continued.
Hundreds of guests still waited.
Nathan walked toward the ceremony lawn carrying his daughter.
Vanessa followed.
“Nathan!”
People began standing as he approached.
The officiant looked confused.
Nathan’s mother hurried toward him when she saw Emily's face.
“What happened?”
Nathan handed Emily to her.
“Stay with her.”
Vanessa reached the aisle.
Her bridesmaids stood behind her.
Guests whispered.
Nathan walked to the front.
He took the microphone from the officiant.
For several seconds, he looked at all the people who had come to watch him begin a new life.
Friends.
Coworkers.
Family.
Sarah's parents.
Vanessa's family.
Then he said:
“There will not be a wedding today.”
A wave of murmuring moved through the chairs.
Vanessa froze halfway down the aisle.
“Nathan, don't.”
He continued.
“My daughter was harmed in the bridal suite before this ceremony.”
Gasps followed.
Vanessa's mother stood.
“That is not what happened!”
Nathan didn't argue.
He didn't show the video.
He didn't need to humiliate Emily publicly by turning her pain into entertainment.
He simply looked at the guests.
“I’m taking my daughter home.”
Then he stepped away.
Vanessa caught his arm.
“You owe me more than this.”
Nathan looked at her hand until she released him.
“No.”
His voice was calm.
“I owed Emily more than I gave her.”
He walked away.
Nathan thought canceling the wedding was the worst thing he would learn that weekend.
It wasn't even close.
That night, Emily slept beside him in Sarah's old sweatshirt.
Nathan sat awake.