His Son, Her Photo, My Turn Chapter 18

His Son, Her Photo, My Turn Chapter 18

Jonathan kept screaming at the top of his lungs outside the doors, as if his cries could somehow stop Valerie from marrying someone else.

But Valerie remained completely deaf to his shouts, her eyes locked onto the minister as she

delivered her answer.

“I do.”

Her voice was absolutely resolute.

At that exact moment, Jonathan’s heart shattered completely.

He collapsed onto the floor, tears streaming down his face.

“Why? Why must you marry him!”

“You may now kiss the bride,” the minister announced.

Gavin leaned down, capturing Valerie’s soft lips in a deep kiss.

The congregation erupted in applause once more as the newlyweds shared a warm embrace amid the heartfelt blessings.

Witnessing this, Jonathan went completely hysterical, attempting to force his way inside.

“Valerie!”

“Mr. James, please leave, or we will be forced to use physical restraint.”

The bodyguards tried to pull him away, but his desperate resistance made it impossible.

Left with no other option, they resorted to force.

As fists rained down on Jonathan, Valerie walked arm-in-arm with Gavin, smiling beautifully as she accepted the congratulations of their guests.

“Valerie! I need to see Valerie!”

“Don’t marry him! Please!”

“I love you, Valerie! Don’t do this to me!”

Jonathan was pinned to the ground and beaten until his face was bruised beyond recognition.

Some of the guests noticed the commotion outside. “The bride’s ex-husband actually tried to crash the wedding. He’s getting absolutely destroyed out there, did you see?”

‘Good. He deserves it! His wife spent three years in a coma after saving his life, and he used that/ time to find another woman and have a child with her. If I were her, I’d never forgive him either.”

“So Gavin’s new bride is a divorcee? Why would a guy like Gavin marry a divorcee? I’m shocked his mother even agreed to this!”

“You haven’t heard? Word is that to marry Valerie, Gavin stood up to his entire family and threatened to walk away from the family empire, even going on a hunger strike for days to get Mrs. Garrison to agree to the marriage! Otherwise, how could a divorced woman ever marry the city’s

elite billionaire heir?”

The whispers of the crowd washed over Valerie like a tidal wave.

The smile on her face slowly stiffened as she turned her head to look at the man beside her. /

It turned out Gavin’s mother had been completely against their union.

She had simply sent him a text asking him to marry her, and he had immediately taken her to City Hall without even forcing her to meet his parents.

She had assumed the Garrison family had no objections at all.

She never imagined Gavin had risked everything and fought his family for days to make this

happen.

In an instant, the guilt Valerie felt toward the man beside her multiplied.

She pressed his hand tightly and whispered softly, “Are you tired, babe?”

“What did you just call me?”

Gavin froze, a brilliant light instantly igniting in his eyes.

“Babe,” Valerie blinked playfully. “You don’t like it?”

Gavin actually blushed, the crimson color rushing all the way to the tips of his ears.

“No, I love it. I just didn’t expect you to call me that so soon.”

Valerie decided to tease him a little. “What about you? What are you going to call me?”

Gavin stared into her eyes with pure devotion. “Valerie.”

“I don’t like that name anymore.”

Valerie leaned into his chest. “Call me your wife, or just Val from now on, okay?”

“Wife…”

‘Hubby!”

The two smiled at each other, thoroughly enjoying their playful banter.

Outside, Jonathan was beaten so badly he could no longer stand. The guards hauled him over their shoulders and threw him onto the lawn outside the cathedral.

As he was dragged away, he caught a glimpse of the radiant smile on Valerie’s face.

She looked genuinely happy, a contrast to the dead silence he had faced ever since she woke up

from her coma.

Suddenly, a wave of acceptance washed over Jonathan.

If marrying Gavin was what it took to bring back her joy, then it was time to let go.

He brought this entirely upon himself, and he had no one else to blame.

Valerie never saw Jonathan again after that day.

All she knew was that the James name was completely erased from the elite circles of Capital City, spoken of only with utter disdain.

Jonathan had vanished entirely, his whereabouts completely unknown.

Gavin offered to have his team track him down if she wanted to know, but she stopped him.

“There’s no need. It doesn’t matter anymore. I don’t care where he went.”

“What about Lily?” Gavin asked gently, wrapping his arms around her. “I heard she couldn’t handle

the abuse in prison and took her own life.”

“Really?”

Valerie’s expression remained perfectly neutral. “That has nothing to do with me either.”

“Then what does have to do with you?”

Summer walked over from a short distance away, a brilliant smile on her face.

“You do!”

At the sight of Summer, a fleeting pang of sorrow crossed Valerie’s eyes.

For years, she couldn’t help but feel this way whenever she looked at her best friend.

Even though Gavin had showered Summer and the Shaw family with immense financial compensation on her behalf, she felt it would never be enough to fix what was lost.

‘What brings you here today?”

“To drop this off.”

Summer handed Valerie a wedding invitation “You’ve always wanted me to find happiness, right?

Well, I finally found mine.”

“Really!”

Overjoyed, Valerie wrapped her arms around Summer and spun her around in a circle.

Gavin immediately stepped in to stop her. “Be careful, you just found out you’re

“You’re pregnant!”

Summer squealed with excitement. “Valerie! I’m going to be the godmother!”

“Of course. No one else could ever take that title.”

The two women embraced, tears of joy streaming down their faces. It was the perfect conclusion for

them both.

As for Jonathan, he had long since relocated to a heavily underfunded rural community, volunteering as a teacher.

Walking down the quiet country roads beneath the vast blue sky, his thoughts would occasionally

drift back to Valerie.

He wondered how she was doing, and if she had a family of her own now.

And as he pictured her, a soft smile would touch his lips.

But the smile would inevitably dissolve into silent tears.