My Groom Kneels to Another Bride

I walked past the end of the first row of pews.

My heels crushed the rose petals scattered across the floor, grinding them into brown stains. I walked up onto the altar, grabbed Lucia Ferrante by the wrist, and removed the ring from her left ring finger.

I had spent seven months designing that ring. Engraved inside the band were Dante Corleone's and my initials.

The chapel fell deathly silent.

Lucia shrank into Dante's arms like a startled fawn.

"Mi Dispiace, Camilla. I had no idea the ring meant so much to you…"

Dante frowned. "You're making a fuss over nothing, Camilla. We're just rehearsing the ceremony."

I looked at him, clutching the ring tightly in my palm. The sharp edges dug painfully into my hand.

"Dante, does she not know that you're my fiance?"

His expression stiffened for a second.

Lucia looked at me with those innocent, tear-filled eyes before turning to Dante.

"I… I know. That's why I feel so bad…"

She knew. She knew Dante was my fiance. She knew I had waited two long years for this wedding rehearsal.

And yet she'd still shown up today wearing a wedding dress, stood next to Dante, and made him say "I do" in front of God—the "I do" that was supposed to belong to me.

The priest awkwardly closed the Messale.

"So… what should we do about the rest of the ceremony?"

I looked at Dante calmly, while Lucia stared at him with puppy-dog eyes and a pout.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. He always did that whenever he had to make a difficult decision.

"Let's just finish the ceremony."

A flicker of delight clearly crossed Lucia's eyes, but she waved her hands, feigning reluctance.

"No, no. We shouldn't continue. It'll upset Camilla."

"Lucia, you're always thinking about everyone else," Dante said with a sigh.

Tears finally spilled from her eyes.

"I never meant to upset Camilla, Dante. Mi Dispiace. I just wanted Davide up in heaven to see what I would look like if I had married him."

This time, Dante didn't hesitate.

"Finish it."

They stood side by side on the altar, and the priest reluctantly went through the vows again. After they finished that section of the ceremony, Lucia suddenly lowered her head and timidly mentioned that she and Davide had once promised each other different versions of the vow, and that she'd like Davide to witness them all.

Dante looked at me.

"One last time."

I stood to the side, holding up the enormous train of my wedding dress, and watched them say "I do" to each other again and again.

I had spent more than six months going back and forth with the wedding planner to plan the decor for this venue.

Both Dante and I were usually swamped with work. There were always various Famiglia matters to deal with, so I could only pull out my phone and work on the details of our wedding late at night.

And yet, here Dante was, standing in the venue I had personally designed, exchanging vows meant for me with another woman.

Once they had gone through all the different versions of the vows, a tiny gasp suddenly escaped Lucia.

"I… I think I forgot to record it. What should I do? I wanted to bring it to Davide's grave and show it to him."

She cried so pitifully, tears falling one after another.

"Va Bene. We can just do it again," Dante said.

And so by the time they finished going through Lucia's chosen versions of the ceremony again, three whole hours had passed.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, the priest reminded us that if we didn't start our rehearsal soon, we wouldn't have enough time for the actual wedding that afternoon.

Dante finally stepped down from the altar and walked back over to me.

"Camilla, it's just the rehearsal this morning anyway. It's not important. We still have the real wedding this afternoon, but Lucia only gets this one chance today."

I looked straight into his eyes.

"I only have today as well, Dante."