Chapter 23
In stark contrast to Ariana’s unexpected calm, Luigi was visibly unraveling beside her.
He still couldn’t believe this moment was real–standing at the altar with Ariana Collins, the woman he’d once believed forever lost. After her “death,” he had spiraled so deeply into grief that he’d seriously contemplated holding their wedding ceremony with her “ashes” present. It had taken his family threatening their own lives to finally dissuade him from this disturbing fixation.
Now, the impossible had happened. His deepest wish had materialized before him–the woman he’d come to love with consuming intensity was becoming his wife. As they stood together, he made a silent, desperate vow to himself: I’ll spend every day making up for the past. I’ll never hurt her again. I’ll protect her from everything, including myself.
When the officiant prompted them for their personal vows, Ariana unexpectedly passed the microphone to Luigi first, breaking with tradition.
Despite commanding boardrooms and investor meetings his entire adult life, Luigi’s hands visibly trembled as he accepted it. All his meticulously prepared declarations of devotion evaporated, leaving only the raw truth:
“Ariana,” his voice cracked with emotion, “I love you–until my dying breath.”
Something shattered in Ariana’s expression as tears began streaming down her face. Luigi immediately reached out, gently wiping them away with his thumb, relief washing over him at this display of emotion.
But what he mistook for joy was actually grief. Ariana was mourning for the woman she once was–the naive, loving girl who had chased after him for years, who would have given anything to hear those words and mean something to him. That girl was gone now, destroyed by the same man who now professed his love with such apparent
sincerity.
In some alternate timeline where those ninety–eight calculated humiliations had never happened, perhaps today would have been genuine. Perhaps they would already have built a life together, maybe even started a family. But that possibility had been deliberately, systematically destroyed–by him.
Taking a steadying breath, Ariana accepted the microphone, her expression resolving into something unreadable.
“Luigi,” she began, her voice surprisingly steady, “I’ve prepared a special wedding gift for you that I’d like everyone to see right now.”
His face lit up with genuine excitement and anticipation. “You didn’t have to-”
Before he could finish, a staff member appeared, took the flash drive from Ariana’s hand, and inserted it into the event’s multimedia system. The massive screen dominating the reception hall flickered to life.
As the footage began playing, Ariana felt every wound reopening inside her–each calculated humiliation, each deliberate cruelty that Luigi had orchestrated over those three years. The physical pain, the psychological torment, the systematic dismantling of her self–worth–all of it projected in high definition before hundreds of stunned
witnesses.
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Addio To The Stand In Past, This Time I Chose To Reclaim My Own Life
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Chapter 23
For Luigi, the experience was entirely different. Watching his past self orchestrate these “pranks” with such calculating cruelty made his stomach turn. The man on screen was a stranger–cold, indifferent, treating Ariana’s suffering as entertainment. Everything he had convinced himself was justified vengeance now played back as naked sadism. The truth of what he had done–what he had been–was undeniable.
“TURN IT OFF!” he shouted, lunging for a nearby floral arrangement to hurl at the screen. “SHUT IT DOWN NOW!”
Security personnel rushed to restrain him as chaos erupted throughout the venue. Guests rose from their seats in shock, reporters frantically capturing every moment, their camera flashes creating a strobe effect across the hall. The surreal scene culminated with police officers in tactical gear streaming through the main entrance, heading directly toward Luigi.
As they handcuffed him, a strange calm washed over his features. He turned to Ariana, his voice barely audible
above the chaos.
“Why?” he asked simply. “Why now, when I finally understand what you mean to me?”
Ariana smiled then–a smile that started genuine but crumbled at the edges as tears spilled over her lashes. Despite the tears, her voice remained perfectly steady.
“Because I hate you,” she stated with crystalline clarity. “You methodically destroyed me, Luigi. Did you really think I wouldn’t eventually return the favor?”
She stepped closer, lowering her voice so only he could hear. “The girl who loved you died in that fire, just like you wanted. This is what you created instead.”
“Luigi Maggiore,” she continued, deliberately using his full name, “farewell, forever.”
With elegant precision, she removed her veil and tossed it into the air. The delicate fabric caught the light as it drifted upward, suspended for a moment like a ghostly manifestation of the freedom she had fought so hard to
reclaim.
“Ariana, PLEASE!” Luigi’s desperate voice echoed through the hall as officers began leading him away. “ARIANA!”
But she never looked back, her silhouette growing smaller as she walked confidently toward the exit and whatever future awaited beyond it.
Outside the chaotic venue, Layla Brown waited with a sleek black car idling at the curb. She handed Ariana an envelope containing a first–class ticket to London.
“Congratulations,” she said with undisguised satisfaction. “You’re finally free of him.”
Ariana accepted the envelope, a profound weight lifting from her shoulders as she exhaled. “Yes,” she breathed, feeling lighter than she had in years. “Finally free.”
From this moment forward, she would be simply Ariana Collins–not a victim, not an obsession, not anyone’s revenge project–just herself, with an entire world now open before her.
Cand In Dant This Time I Chose To Reclaim My Own Life
