My phone buzzes with a text from Bella: “Where are you??? We’re supposed to be at the venue in an hour for hair and makeup!”
I text back: “On my way. And Bella? I have news.”
“Good news or bad news?”
“The best news.”
An hour later, I’m in the bridal suite at the estate, being fussed over by a team of professionals who are transforming me intoa bride. The hair stylist is working on an elaborate updo while the makeup artist perfects my foundation, and Bella is pacing around the room in her maid of honor dress, demanding to know what my mysterious good news is.
“You’re killing me with suspense,” she says for the third time. “Just tell me already.”
“Wait until they’re done with my face,” I say, trying not to move my lips too much while the makeup artist applies lipstick. “I don’t want to ruin their work by crying happy tears.”
“Happy tears? Freya, you’re being ridiculous. Just?—”
“There,” the makeup artist says, stepping back to admire her work. “Perfect. Just let me set everything with some powder, and you’ll be ready for hair accessories.”
I wait until the makeup artist and hair stylist are out of the room, and my sister and I are alone. “Ben and I are really together now.”
She stares at me blankly. “What do you mean really together? You’ve been together for months.”
“No, I mean really together. He came to my apartment last night and told me he loves me. He proposed—actually proposed, with the ring I originally wanted. The whole fake engagement thing is over. This wedding is real now.”
Bella’s mouth falls open. “Are you serious?”
“Completely serious. He’s been in love with me for years, apparently. We’re both idiots who were too scared to admit how we felt.”
“Oh my God!” Bella shrieks, loud enough that everyone in the room turns to look at us. “Oh my God, Freya, this is incredible!”
She pulls me into a hug that’s probably going to wrinkle my robe and mess up my hair, but I don’t care. Having my sister’s excitement and support makes this moment even more perfect.
“I knew it,” she says, pulling back to look at me. “I knew he had feelings for you. The way he looked at you at that family dinner, the way he talked about you… Nobody fakes that level of devotion.”
“We almost ruined everything by being too scared to tell each other the truth.”
“But you didn’t. You figured it out in time.” Bella wipes tears from her eyes, careful not to smudge her own makeup. “I’m so happy for you. You deserve this, Freya. You deserve someone who loves you the way Ben does.”
The next hour passes in a blur. When I finally put on my dress—the same dress I cried in yesterday, but for completely different reasons—I feel like a real bride for the first time.
“You look perfect,” Bella says, helping me with the buttons. “Ben is going to die when he sees you.”
“Good. That’s the plan.”
Through the windows of the bridal suite, I see guests arriving and taking their seats in the garden. The ceremony setup is even more beautiful than I imagined—white chairs arranged in neat rows, flowers everywhere, a string quartet tuning their instruments in the corner.
“It’s time,” the wedding coordinator says, appearing in the doorway. “Are we ready?”
“We’re ready.”
The walk from the bridal suite to the garden feels like it takes forever and no time at all. My father is waiting for me at the edge of the ceremony space, looking handsome and emotional in his tuxedo.
“You look beautiful, sweetheart,” he says, offering me his arm. “Are you ready?”
“I’ve been ready for fifteen years.”
The string quartet begins the processional music, and suddenly everything becomes real. This is happening. I’m about to walk down this aisle and marry Ben, and it’s not fake. Every word we say will be true.
I can see him waiting for me at the altar, and even from a distance, the sight of him takes my breath away. He’s wearing a charcoal gray suit, but somehow he looks different—more relaxed, more genuinely happy than I’ve seen him in months.
