---- Chapter 11 Ethan didn't stay away for long. Fueled by a desperate, delusional hope, he somehow evaded the family members assigned to "manage" him and rushed back to the Botanical Garden reception. He burst in, disheveled and wild-eyed, during our first dance. The music skidded to a halt. Gasps rippled through the guests. Liam and | were in the middle of the dance floor, surrounded by our friends and family. The atmosphere had been joyful, celebratory. Now, it was thick with tension. "Ava!" Ethan shouted, his voice raw. "Ava, stop this! This isn't reall" Onlookers started whispering. "Isn't that Ethan Carter? | thought he was the Best Man." "| heard he had some kind of breakdown earlier." "Didn't he just get engaged to Chloe Davis? The one with amnesia?" "He told everyone Ava was just Liam's girlfriend! He denied he was ever with her!" The whispers grew louder, a chorus of judgment. Ethan's past lies, his public denials of our relationship, were now coming back to haunt him, amplifying his humiliation. He'd woven such a tangled web of deceit, and now he was caught in it. He looked around, his face flushed, realizing that everyone ---- was staring, everyone was talking about him, about his deceptions. The full weight of his actions seemed to crash down on him. "Ava, please!" he begged, his voice cracking. He stumbled towards us. "Don't marry him! Marry me! It was always supposed to be us!" Richard and Eleanor Carter moved swiftly. They intercepted Ethan before he could reach us, their faces grim. "Ethan, that's enough!" Richard said, his voice a low growl. He grabbed his son's arm. "You are embarrassing yourself and this family," Eleanor added, her voice like ice. "Liam has loved Ava for years. Truly loved her. You wouldn't know the meaning of the word." She leaned in, her voice dropping so only he could hear, but her fury was palpable. "If you disrupt this celebration any further, if you cause Ava or Liam one more moment of distress, | will personally ensure that Chloe Davis remembers everything about your little charade, and just how callously you used her. Do you understand me?" Ethan froze, the fight seeming to drain out of him. The threat against his "perfect past" with Chloe was a potent one. He stared at his mother, his eyes wide with a new kind of fear. He fell silent, his shoulders slumping. Defeated. The officiant, who had stayed for the reception, smoothly took the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, if | may have your attention. A slight interruption, but let us resume our celebration of Liam and Ava!" The band struck up a lively tune. ---- Liam pulled me close, his eyes searching mine. "Are you alright?" | nodded, taking a shaky breath. "| am now." He smiled, a genuine, loving smile. He took my hand, the gold band on his finger a solid, reassuring presence. "Then let's continue our dance, Mrs. Carter." He twirled me around, and the world outside our embrace seemed to fade away. The ring exchange earlier had been a blur after Ethan's outburst, but | remembered Liam's steady hand, his unwavering gaze as he said, "With this ring, | thee wed. | have wanted to say those words to you, Ava, for longer than you know." His declaration, so simple, so true, had resonated deep within me, a stark contrast to Ethan's desperate, possessive shouts.