IAN's POV :
"You're not marrying my daughter," Emma's dad said in a warning tone. Glaring at both Emma and me, he spat, "Over my dead body!"
"What is the matter with you?!" my mom added to the fire. "I can't believe this! You lied to me! You said you guys met in Emory!"
"It's true, we did meet there before-" I tried to speak, but Emma's dad's fist was already on my face again.
* SMACK! *
I staggered back as he punched for the second time. I heard a crack and I might have broken my nose. But that was the least of my concerns at this point.
"Dad! Stop it!" Emma cried. She hugged me, purposefully covering my body with hers so that her dad won't come near us again. But because she did that, my blood got all over her white dress. Her dress was ruined.
You're thinking about her fucking dress? This whole wedding is damned to hell, you moron!
"Everyone just stop yelling!" Emma cried into my chest. "Please!"
Emma's mom burst into tears at the sight of her daughter. She bent down next to Emma and tried to hug her, but Emma kept her arms around me instead.
"Emma, you need to come with us," her mom cooed. "We're taking you home,"
"No," Emma replied sharply. "Ian is my home,"
As soon as she said it, my hand instinctively went to hold her body tighter around me. I was in protective mode.
"Honey, you don't know what you're talking about," her mom shook her head sternly and said, "This man groomed you and took advantage of you-"
Oh, shit. That hurts.
"That's not true!" Emma shouted over her mom.
"We're going to report you to the police," her mom turned to glare at me.
"Nobody's doing anything! Stop it! Please!" Emma shouted again.
I thought about saying something, but I figured no matter what I say, they already had their minds made up about us. I might only make things worse. So, I did the only thing I could do. I sat there with one hand holding my nose to stop the bleeding, and the other hand was on Emma, holding her tightly in place.
"Ian and I love each other," Emma stated, pausing a moment to look at her parents before continuing, "I don't care what you think or if you don't believe me, it's the truth. We did meet before he became my teacher. I know it was wrong to keep the relationship going after he became my teacher, but we love one another. We didn't hurt anyone by loving each other-"
"You hurt us," her mom interjected. "You lied to us. The two of you,"
Her mom was crying too. Bill, who had been quiet after he punched me for the second time, bent down next to his wife and pulled her into a hug. In her ear, he whispered, "Let's go. Let's get out of here," and then he turned to Emma and said in a commanding tone, "We're leaving. We're getting out of here as soon as possible. If you still want to be a part of our family, you come with us right now,"
Emma stared at her dad in defeat. She sighed loudly and shook her head, saying, "Dad, I can't just leave. My whole life is here,"
Bill didn't say much. He picked up his crying wife in his arms and led her towards the door. He stopped before he got all the way out. He turned back to Emma and said, "We'll wait in the car,"
"Dad... mom... please..." Emma's voice came out in breaths. She was still desperately pleading with them, but they were so done.
Bill ignored Emma's pleas and shot daggers at me, hissing, "You're lucky you're not dead,"
And with that, he and Joanna walked out the door. As soon as they were gone, the bridesmaids and groomsmen busily moved. Emma's friends went down hug her, gave her napkins to clean her face and dress, and whispered comforting words into her ear. My groomsmen also came towards me, giving me a hand to get up and a handkerchief for the blood.
My eyes darted to my mom who was crying onto Hailey's shoulder. Hailey looked at me with a 'what are we gonna do' look and I just shrugged.
I walked over to her and tried reaching out. "Mom..."
"Don't touch me," she slapped my hand away and glared. "I am so ashamed, I don't even know where to begin,"
"Mom, please listen-"
"I need some air," she shoved past me and headed for the door. I had never seen my mom that cold and bitter before. I had gotten into trouble plenty of times before, but this was different. She was really disappointed and ashamed of me.
Maybe she even hates me right now.
The room fell deadly silent as mom left. I gave Hailey a nod, signaling for her to go after our mom. As Hailey was walking out, Tristan was coming into the room. His jaw fell to the floor when he saw us inside. The bride was in tears and in a bloody dress, sitting on the floor surrounded by her three friends. I was holding onto my nose, and it was still bleeding. My groomsmen stood around me and stared at each other in confusion. And Annie, our wedding planner, took off her heels and threw them on the ground, before slumping down on the couch and chugged the bottle of champagne in front of her.
"Wait... what's going on here?" Tristan asked.
Nobody said anything for a while. No one wanted to. Her sister, Sophie, gave him a warning look and shook her head.
"The wedding is ruined," Annie announced finally. Sighing loudly in defeat, she groaned, "Ruined!"
I glanced back at my almost wife, and her eyes looked up to see me. Our eyes met, and I didn't know what to do or say. So we just stared at each other in silent despondency.
Ah, fúck.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
An hour had passed since that catastrophic afternoon. Emma asked Tiff and Carrie to talk down her parents and Hailey was with my mom. Sophie, Tristan, and my groomsmen were outside in the living room, while Emma and I were in the en suite bathroom, trying to clean up.
"What are we gonna do?" Emma said after a while of silence. She tried getting the blood off her dress, and even though she managed to get most of it off, it still left a huge stain.
"Maybe you should go with your parents. They're very upset right now," I suggested.
"No, I don't wanna go with them," she shook her head firmly. "I wanna stay here with you,"
"It's useless even if you stay here, the wedding's off anyway," I sighed and threw the bloody towel away, reaching for a new one.
"I can't believe this is happening," she groaned and put her hands over her head. "Literally the worst thing that could happen at our wedding happened,"
I guess this was what they mean by karma. We lied to our parents and we thought we could get away with it. Karma's a fucking bitch.
"Why'd you bring that thing around anyway?" I asked, referring to the diary. That little thing just cost us our entire wedding.
Emma threw her gaze down in guilt and said, "I was writing our story in it. I wanted to give it to you as a present,"
Quickly, I went over to her and pulled her into a hug. I whispered into her ear, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to blame it on you. It's not your fault,"
"It is my fault," she whimpered into my chest. "It's all my fault. I'm sorry,"
"No, baby girl. It's not your fault. Don't say that," I said as I tilted her face to mine.
Emma stared at me for a moment before saying, "Please don't tell me to go with my parents. I don't care what anyone says, I wanna be with you,"
"Okay, okay," I nodded my head in agreement. "I'm not gonna tell you to go. Honestly, I don't want you to go either,"
"Good," she breathed a sigh of relief.
We didn't say a word to each other for a while. I just held her in my arms and she hugged me back. It was such a crazy day. We should be married by now, but instead, we were in a hotel bathroom in bloody clothes.
And the worse part is waiting for us outside this door.
"Is your mom gonna be okay?" she asked cautiously, as if she could read my mind.
"I don't know..."
"My parents are too angry to talk to me, but maybe you can try talking to Kristen? Maybe she'll be more understanding?" she suggested.
"I guess I'll try..." I sighed. I didn't wanna have to do this, but I had to. If I could just explain to my mom, maybe she'd understand.
Reaching for the door handle, I turned back to her again and asked, "Are you gonna be okay in here?"
"Yeah. Don't worry. I have Sophie and Tristan with me," she smiled reassuringly. "Go, talk to your mom,"
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Mom was in her room with Hailey. The door wasn't locked, so I came right in. Mom had a cigarette in her hand and she stood by the open window. Hailey was right behind her, whispering comforting words into her ear.
Once they heard the door cracked open, they turned their heads to see me. Mom scoffed in anger and turned her gaze back to the window.
"Hail, can I get a second alone with mom?"
"Sure," Hailey replied and stepped away.
I walked closer to my mom, who was still refusing to see me.
"Ma, please talk to me," I said softly.
"I can't even look at you right now, Ian. I'm so mortified," she replied, taking a long drag of that cigarette.
"It's not what you think, mom. Emma and I love each other,"
"You don't know that," she hissed. "You're an adult in the position of power, she was your student. She might have done it out of fear or..."
"Or what?"
"Did you force her?"
"No, mom!" I spat. I was so offended that she would think so low of me. "I can't believe you even think that. I'm your son. You raised me better than that!"
Mom turned her gaze away again. She had this pained look on her face that I couldn't decipher. She took another long drag of her cigarette before finally putting it away. Turning back to me, she took a deep breath and let out a sigh.
"Ian, there's something you should know about me..." she started. The anger and pain in her eyes were mixed with sadness now. She let out another deep breath before continuing, like this was a hard thing for her to say.
"When I was in high school, I was molested by an older family member," she stated, pausing for a beat before saying, "I never said this to anyone. Not even to your dad. I was so ashamed. It took me a long time to realize that it wasn't my fault and that he had been grooming me,"
"Ma..." my heart broke at her words. I tried reaching out for her, but she just took a step back.
"And what you're doing right now to this poor girl... I don't know, I don't know what to think of it," she shook her head and put her hands to cover her face.
Letting out a sigh, I stood in front of her and pulled her into a hug. She finally gave in. She rested her head on my chest and tears flowed down from her cheeks.
"Ma, I understand where you're coming from, and I'm really sorry that that happened to you," I said softly and stroked her hair. "But that's not the case with Emma and me. We're not like that, I promise you,"
Mom didn't say anything, she just cried into my chest.
"Emma's an adult when I met her. We both knew what we were getting into. We knew it was wrong, but we did it anyway. We love each other so much, mom, we can't deny it,"
"Love is not everything, Ian," mom said finally, pulling away from me slightly. "You broke a lot of people's trust. I don't think that's something you can get back,"
"But I have to try..."
Sighing again, she pulled away from me completely and said, "I think it's best for everyone that we take some time off to cool down and think. You should let her go be with her parents. They're very upset and they've threatened to report you to the police,"
"I don't care about that-"
"Maybe you should. It's a serious threat. And maybe you should take some time to think about what you've done and where to go from here,"
And with that, mom went to grab another cigarette from her purse and she walked to the window. She didn't look at me again after that. She just kept smoking and looking out the window.
And I just stood there for the longest time with her words ringing in my ears, "Love is not everything, Ian. You broke a lot of people's trust. I don't think that's something you can get back,"
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- - - - - To Be Continued - - - - -