Hazel’s wedding day goes perfectly until a mysterious woman bursts into the ceremony claiming to be Sam’s wife. As the truth unfolds, Hazel faces a moment that could ruin everything. But love isn’t always what it seems, and sometimes the unexpected leads to something even more beautiful…
I sat in front of the mirror, running my fingers over the lace of my wedding dress, tracing the delicate floral patterns sewn into the fabric.
Today was the day.
A slow breath filled my lungs with the scent of peonies and roses from my bouquet lying nearby.
I was marrying Sam.
To the love of my life.
To the young man who once handed me a lone daisy in the middle of a summer downpour, grinning as if he’d plucked the sun itself just for me. The man who remembered my coffee down to the extra vanilla before I even realised I had a regular order.
The man who kissed me on the forehead every night without fail, whether we were laughing or arguing.
I knew him. I knew his strong hands, his quiet strength, the way his eyes softened when they found mine in a crowded room. ‘
Sam was my safe place.
A tear glistened in the corner of my eye and I laughed to myself, wiping it away before it could fall.
‘Careful,’ Lauren’s maid of honour teased me, holding out a flute of champagne. ‘We’ve been doing your make-up for too long for you to mess it up.’
I took the glass and shook my head.
‘I just…’ My voice shook. ‘I can’t believe this is real.’
‘You’re about to become a wife,’ Lauren smirked.
A wife.
The word made me shudder. Because this wasn’t just any wedding.
This was our wedding. Our beginning.
And in just thirty minutes, I would be walking down the aisle, towards the man I’d loved all my life.
Everything was perfect. The flowers, the music, the quiet hum of our guests. I stood at the altar, heart pounding, fingers clutching my bouquet as I locked eyes with Sam, my fiancé of five years.
We were seconds away from eternity.
I’d imagined this moment a thousand times, pictured the look on his face when I said yes, the way his voice would sound when he promised to love me for the rest of his life.
And then the door creaked open.
The sound cut through the silence like a knife, and all the heads in the room turned.
A woman had entered.
Her heels clicked on the floor as she took slow, deliberate steps. She was stunning. Her long dark hair fell in a cascade over one shoulder, her lips were painted a sharp, bold red colour.
But it wasn’t her beauty that sent a chill through me.
It was the way she looked at Sam.
My Sam.
‘Aren’t you going to tell them?’ – She asked, her voice smooth and confident.
My fingers tightened around the bouquet.
‘Tell them what?’ I swallowed.
She didn’t even look at me. Her gaze was fixed on Sam.
‘That you’re already married, Sam,’ she said.
Everyone in the room gasped, sighs and murmurs rolling in waves in all directions. My breath caught. The flowers in my hands grew heavy, as if I were sinking under their weight. My wedding ring felt like it was digging into my skin.
I turned to Sam, expecting him to laugh, to shake his head, to do something…anything! Something that would prove this was some kind of sick joke.
But he didn’t.
Instead, he stepped forward.
My heart thumped against my ribs.
Whispers erupted around us. I felt my mum tense up beside me, bringing a hand to her mouth. My bridesmaids shifted in their seats, eyes wide, and lowered their bouquets.
I could hear my heart pounding, each beat was deafening in the silence.
And then, right in the middle of our wedding, he walked up to her.
All the air seemed to leave my lungs.
My fiancé’s movements were not hesitant. He didn’t rush to correct her, he didn’t deny her.
And then, God help me, he wrapped his arms around her.
There was a stunned silence in the room.
The world tilted. My hands trembled. I wanted to move, to say something, to scream, but I couldn’t.
Sam’s lips moved and whispered something in her ear. Something only she could hear.
She laughed softly.
I felt like the ground beneath me had failed and I was falling into a void.
When he finally turned to me, his face was filled with something I couldn’t define.
Regret?
Pain?
Betrayal?
‘I…’ He exhaled sharply and ran a hand over his face. ‘Hazel, I need to explain.’
‘You…’ My voice cracked. ‘Are you married?’
‘No.’ His voice was careful, too careful. It was as if he was calculating how many words he would need to explain.
‘Not exactly, Hazel,’ he continued.
The woman, this stranger who had just ruined my wedding, laughed in relief, shaking her head.
‘Wow,’ she muttered. ‘That’s one way of putting it.’
I turned to her, my voice shaking.
‘Who are you?’
Her eyes met mine for the first time, and something in them softened.
‘My name is Anna,’ she answered simply.
Anna.
That name rang in my ears, and all the details came together too slowly, too painfully.
Sam had mentioned her before.
She was his childhood best friend. She was someone he’d been close to for years. But never…not once had he mentioned marriage.
I felt sick, bile coming up to my throat.
‘Sam,’ I said, forcing myself to say the words. ‘Tell me the truth. Right now. In front of all our family and friends.’
He swallowed hard and looked at the two of us before turning to me fully.
‘When we were kids, we had a fake wedding,’ he admitted. ‘Candy rings, some scribbled vows, and Anna trying to play a song on her ukulele. We thought it was real then. We were twelve.’
He chuckled nervously, running a hand through his hair.
‘But Anna’s my best friend, that’s all.’
The room seemed to hold its breath.
‘Then why…’ My voice trailed off.
I cleared my throat and tried again.
‘Then why did you hold her like that? Why did she just walk in here and say that?’
The expression on Sam’s face darkened. He hesitated for a long moment, then sighed.
‘A few years ago,’ he said, ’Anna was in a terrible car accident.
Silence.
‘The doctors said she might never walk again.
There was silence in the room, and I heard Mum sigh. My hands tightened around the bouquet again.
‘And then?’ I asked.
‘Anna spent years in rehab, fighting for her life,’ Sam continued. ‘I invited her to the wedding because how could I do without her? But she told me she couldn’t come.’
Sam’s voice grew thicker. He turned to Anna again, and for the first time I could actually see the emotion in his eyes.
It wasn’t love.
It was something else.
But it was just as deep.
‘She didn’t want me to know she was coming…,’ he said quietly.
‘I wanted to walk through those doors myself,’ Anna said just as quietly. ‘I’ve been practising with heels for a while now. I literally taught myself to walk in them for your day.’
My heart clenched.
Anna sighed slowly and turned to me.
‘I’m so sorry about everything, Hazel,’ she said, something between guilt and amusement in her voice. ‘Sam and I were always teasing each other, and I thought… why not one last time?’
She let out a small chuckle, shaking her head.
‘But mostly I just wanted to see his face when he saw me walk in. When I was diagnosed after the accident, I shut everyone out. I couldn’t believe I was going to have to live the rest of my life in a wheelchair.’
Anna paused, letting us all realise the reality of her situation.
‘But Sam got me into this facility, and I went there knowing that maybe the reality of a wheelchair would still find me afterwards. But when I got there, I shut myself off from the world again, Sam included. And I worked tirelessly. And here we are.’
Tears streamed down my eyes. I couldn’t believe it. This woman had worked her way up, making sure she could get back on her feet.
‘I followed Sam on social media,’ Anna continued, laughing. ‘And I’ve never seen him so happy. Not once in all the years I’ve known him. When he posted about your engagement, I reached out to him to tell him how happy I was for him. Then we started talking again…’
I looked at Sam and smiled.
‘And I’m so happy for both of you. Sincerely,’ Anna said.
There was silence in the room. Then laughter erupted.
Quiet at first, just a breath against my lips. But then it grew stronger. It bubbled up inside me, surprising even me.
Because it wasn’t betrayal. It wasn’t heartbreak. It was a miracle.
I turned to Sam. His lips parted, a look of relief on his face. And when I looked at him standing there, with an open heart and eyes full of everything we’d built together, I knew.
This was the right thing to do.
‘Have a seat here, Anna,’ my mum said, pushing back the muff so Anna could sit down.
The tension in the room subsided, the energy replaced by murmurs and quiet giggles from the guests.
‘Put some music on,’ Sam said. ‘It’s time to get married.’
I reached for Sam’s hand as a romantic instrumental playlist played.
‘Now let’s get this show on the road,’ the pastor said, smiling.
Everything was back to normal. But the most important thing of all?
I found peace in the way Sam looked at me. And that was all I needed.
The low hum of laughter and conversation filled the air at our wedding reception, mingling with the clinking of silverware.
The warm and rich aroma of rosemary, garlic and butter wafted through the air. Dinner had gone perfectly.
The plates were wiped clean of lemon and herb chicken and creamy risotto with truffles.
‘Well done, Hazel,’ I said to myself. ‘You’ve done a bloody good job of choosing the menu.’
My wedding was a dream come true.
And as I sat there, champagne glass in my fingers, I let myself breathe it in.
The love. The joy. The warmth of it all.
A quiet laugh burst out of me. After the ceremony began, it was a miracle that I was here, basking in the glow of our eternity.
‘Am I forgiven yet?’
I turned and saw Anna slumped into the empty seat next to me, something between guilt and amusement sparkling in her eyes.
‘Well, you nearly gave me a heart attack,’ I said, watching Sam dance with my mum.
‘Okay, fair enough,’ Anna grumbled. ‘But… are you happy?’
I exhaled, keeping my gaze on Sam. And when he turned around, as if sensing my gaze, he smiled.
It was that soft smile. The one that had always felt like family to me.
I felt my chest tighten.
‘Yes, I really am.’
Anna grinned.
‘Then I’ll consider myself mostly forgiven.’
I rolled my eyes, but my lips curled into a smile. And when the music died down and Sam headed towards me, I felt a sense of satisfaction.
‘Come on,’ he said. ‘Let’s dance.’
