I’ll Marry His Rival and Burn His Empire to Ash Chapter 22

I’ll Marry His Rival and Burn His Empire to Ash Chapter 22

Sending that child away was no longer a punishment for Jackson. It was a release.

That paternity report was the final tombstone on Savannah-Claire’s lies, and the last price he would pay for his own stupidity.

He finally understood that everything he had fought for had been a deception from the very beginning.

Now, he was going to retrieve the only thing that had ever been real.

The bells of Charleston’s St. Michael’s Church rang.

Sunlight streamed through the old stained-glass windows, casting brilliant spots of color over an aisle strewn with white roses. The air was filled with the fragrance of magnolias and lilies.

Ava wore a custom Vera Wang gown, its skirt flowing like moonlight as she walked step by step toward the altar.

She walked toward Ethan Blackwood.

Ethan took her hand, his fingertips warm and strong. He gazed at her, his deep eyes filled with unconcealed love and relief.

“I’ve waited a long time for this day,” he said quietly.

Ava held his hand and smiled. “So have I.”

“I believe that ‘nightmare preview’ of yours now,” Ethan said, his thumb gently stroking the back of her hand. “Because only someone who has experienced the worst could know what she truly wants the way you do. From now on, whatever you say, I’ll believe you.”

The pastor’s solemn voice rang out.

When he asked Ethan if he was willing, Ethan’s voice was resonant and firm.

“I do.”

Then it was Ava’s turn.

The pastor turned to her with a smile, about to speak.

“No!”

The heavy oak doors of the church were shoved open, and a heart-rending roar tore through the solemn quiet.

It was Jackson.

His eyes were red, his hair disheveled, his expensive suit wrinkled like a rag. Two tall bodyguards held him fast, but he still struggled wildly, trying to charge inside.

A commotion rose from the guests.

“Ava! Don’t marry him!” Jackson’s voice was hoarse and distorted. “Come back to me! I’m begging you!”

“I was wrong! Everything was my fault!” He reached out desperately, as if trying to grab her shadow from the air. “I shouldn’t have doubted you. I shouldn’t have hurt Chloe. I shouldn’t… I shouldn’t have done any of those bastard things!”

The bodyguards dragged him back, his feet scraping harshly across the marble floor.

“I have nothing left!” he cried, abandoning the last of his Devereaux dignity. “The land, the reputation, the family… everything is gone! I can’t lose you too! Ava, give me one more chance!”

The entire church was silent, save for his pleading echoing beneath the vaulted ceiling.

Ava looked at him silently for two full seconds.

There was no hatred in her eyes, no pity, not even the slightest ripple. It was as if she were looking at a stranger.

Then she slowly turned back to the pastor. Her red lips parted, her voice clear and cold, loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Continue.”