We Are Getting Married Today

Amber was still standing in the middle of the Sterling mansion in her military uniform when the front doors opened again, and a burst of voices entered before the people themselves did.

"Amber!"

"My goodness, look at you!"

"We were so worried about you!"

Amber's expression immediately turned cold. Her father, Alexander Laurent, entered first, followed by Vivienne, her stepmother, Damian, and Celeste, her stepbrother and stepsister.

They looked exactly like the family she had explicitly forbidden from coming to the airport.

For several seconds, they smiled at her as though nothing had happened, and Vivienne hurried forward with open arms. "My darling, welcome home."

Amber stepped backward. "Don't you dare take another step."

Vivienne froze, and her eyes widened.

Amber's eyes swept over all four of them. "What are you doing here? I told you not to come."

Alexander forced a smile. "Amber, we're your family. How could you say such things to us?"

"I said stay away from me," Amber said sharply.

The warmth disappeared from his face. "Watch your tone! I'm your father!"

Amber's gaze sharpened. "My tone?" She took a slow step toward him. "I spent five years away from this family, and apparently, nobody learned how to listen."

Cedric watched her silently, unable to reconcile this woman with the Amber he remembered.

The Amber in his memories had been reckless. She had once climbed onto the roof of his house at two in the morning because she wanted to watch the sunrise, stolen his car without asking, dragged him to parties he hated, and laughed whenever he complained.

That Amber had been wild, spoiled, and impossible, but the woman standing before him now was different.

There was something frighteningly controlled about her. She didn't need to raise her voice. She simply spoke, and people instinctively listened.

Alexander cleared his throat. "We came because we heard about the situation here."

Amber's eyes moved briefly toward Cedric. "And what situation are you talking about?"

Alexander hesitated, but Damian stepped forward. "You're seriously still planning to marry him?"

Amber looked at him. "Yes."

Damian laughed. "After seeing him like this?"

Amber's face became expressionless. "Like what?"

Damian gestured toward Cedric's wheelchair. "He's crippled, Amber. Don't tell me the military blinded you."

A strange silence fell over the room.

Damian continued, seemingly unaware of the danger in the room. "Our family isn't going to accept a cripple into..."

SMACK!

The sound of Amber's palm connecting with his cheek echoed through the mansion, and Damian stumbled sideways.

Vivienne gasped. "Amber!"

Amber didn't even look at her. She stared directly at Damian. "Finish that sentence. I dare you!"

Damian touched his cheek in disbelief. "You hit me?"

"And I don't mind doing it again," Amber said sharply.

"You actually hit me?"

"I guess you aren't completely stupid." She muttered coldly.

Damian's face turned red. "You've lost your mind!"

Amber stepped closer. "No. I found it." She looked at Vivienne, then Celeste. "And apparently, the three of you have forgotten something."

Celeste folded her arms as the spoiled brat she was. "What?"

Amber's smile was cold. "You don't deserve to be in my presence if you have any dignity left."

Vivienne's face paled. "Excuse me?"

Amber continued, "Everything you have. The clothes. The cars. The houses. The company. The lifestyle you've enjoyed for years." Her eyes narrowed. "None of it came from you."

Alexander's expression hardened. "Amber, enough!"

She turned toward him. "No, father. Not yet." Her voice remained calm, somehow making every word more humiliating. "Had it not been for my mother, you would never have had any of this."

Alexander's jaw tightened. "Your mother was my wife."

"And you were lucky enough to be her husband." The room went silent. Amber continued, "My mother built the life you inherited. Her family gave you opportunities you never could have created for yourself." She looked toward Vivienne. "Then she died, and you moved another woman into her home." Vivienne's face twisted, but Amber didn't stop. "And you brought her children into my mother's world."

Celeste opened her mouth, but Amber raised one hand. "Don't even think about."

Celeste immediately fell silent.

"You've spent years pretending this belongs to you." Amber's gaze swept over them. "But you are guests in a house built by someone you didn't have the decency to respect."

Alexander was now furious. "You've been away too long. Your military training has made you arrogant."

Amber laughed softly. "You are wrong! It taught me the difference between authority and weakness." Then she looked directly at him. "And right now, you're neither impressive nor intimidating."

Alexander's face darkened, but before he could respond, Margaret finally stood. "That is enough!"

Everyone turned toward her. The elderly woman looked furious. "You may be a Laurent, but you are standing in my home. You will show respect to your elders."

Amber slowly turned toward her. "Did you just say... Respect?"

Margaret lifted her chin. "I am your elder."

Amber stared at her. "And?"

The question stunned everyoneas she walked toward the older woman. "You think being older gives you permission to insult my fiancé?"

Margaret's expression hardened. "Cedric cannot provide you with the future you deserve."

Amber glanced toward Cedric, then looked back at Margaret. "That's his decision."

"He is my grandson!"

"And I'm his fiancée!" Amber shot back firmly.

Margaret opened her mouth, but Amber cut her off. "And if you ever speak about him as though his disability makes him less of a man again, I won't care how old you are." She paused, her eyes hardening. "I'll answer you the same way I'd answer anyone else."

Cedric watched her, unable to remember the last time anyone had spoken to his grandmother that way or the last time anyone had stood between him and humiliation.

Somehow, despite the chaos unfolding around him, something warm settled in his chest.

Amber looked around the room. "Does anyone else have something to say?"

Nobody answered, so she nodded. "Good."

Then her eyes landed on Elena. Cedric's younger sister had been standing quietly near their mother, watching everything unfold with wide eyes.

Amber's expression softened immediately. "Elena."

Elena blinked. "Y-yes?"

"Do you know where your brother's identification is?"

Cedric's brows furrowed. He knew that look. He had seen it years ago. Amber was about to do something reckless. "Why?" he asked.

Amber turned toward him, and her expression completely changed. The coldness disappeared, replaced by a warm smile that made Cedric stare.

It was the same smile he remembered from five years ago, the smile that had once made him forget every argument they'd ever had.

Amber walked toward him. "Because we're getting married today." She said.

Silence! Absolute silence filled the room.

Cedric stared at her, and then chaos erupted.

"What?!"

"Today?"

"Marry?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Amber, have you lost your mind?"

"Grandmother will never approve this!" Julian's expression went blank, but Amber ignored every one of them.

She looked only at Cedric. "We're getting married today."

Cedric swallowed. "Amber..."

She smiled. "You heard me."

"Why?" Cedric asked. He hadn't had the chance to reconcile with her Homecoming. And now... she's throwing this bomb at him?

As expected, she was reckless as before.

"Because I waited five years." Her voice softened. "And I'm done waiting."

Margaret slammed her hand against the table. "This is impossible!"

Amber looked at her. "Why is it impossible?"

"Because this engagement was never finalized!"

Amber's expression remained calm. "It was approved by my maternal grandparents before they died."

Margaret froze as Amber continued, "And I intend to honor it."

Richard immediately stepped forward. "Think carefully. Your mother's family has enormous assets. This marriage will affect both families."

Amber stared at him. "Is that what you're worried about?"

Nobody answered. Her expression became colder. "I didn't come back for money." She looked at Cedric. "I came back for him."

Then she turned toward everyone else. "I am not marrying Cedric because of some obligation left behind by our grandparents." She placed a hand on the back of his wheelchair. "I'm marrying him because he is the only man I have ever loved."

Cedric's eyes widened slightly.

Amber looked down at him. "And if I ever marry, he'll be the only man I marry."

For the first time in years, Cedric didn't know what to say. Shock, disbelief, pride, amusement, and something close to happiness moved through his eyes.

Amber turned toward Elena. "His ID."

Elena looked at Cedric, as if asking for permission.

Cedric remained silent for several seconds before finally sighing. "Top drawer of my study."

Elena nodded and hurried upstairs.

Amber smiled happily. Only she knew the butterflies dancing in het stomach. Her dream was finally coming true.

Julian stared at her with a cold gaze. "You can't just decide to get married."

Amber glanced at him. "I just did."

"This family won't allow it."

Amber smiled. "Then they can watch."

Elena soon returned with Cedric's identification, and Amber took it from her. "Thank you." Then she looked at Cedric. "Let's go."

Cedric stared at her. "Where?"

"The marriage bureau." She simply said.

His eyebrows rose. "Now?"

Amber smiled sweetly. "Did I stutter?"

A few people shouted protests behind them, but Amber ignored them and pushed Cedric's wheelchair toward the door herself.

Then she stopped and looked over her shoulder. "Aunt Vicky."

Cedric's mother looked up.

"You'll need to come with us." Amber said.

Victoria hesitated and glanced toward Margaret instinctively.

Amber noticed, and her expression hardened. "Why are you looking at her?"

Victoria lowered her eyes. Amber walked toward her. "You're a grown woman," Victoria said nothing. "You don't need anyone's permission to leave your own house."

Margaret's face tightened, but Amber continued. "Go change, Auntie."

Victoria looked at her for a long moment, and then something changed in her eyes.

For the first time, Amber saw a tiny glimpse of the woman she remembered.

Victoria nodded. "All right." She turned and walked upstairs, with Elena following soon after.

Amber returned to Cedric, who looked up at her. "You've become terrifying."

Amber smiled. "Only to people who deserve it."

A faint amusement appeared in his eyes. "You're still reckless."

"Maybe." She leaned closer. "But now I'm reckless with better training."

Cedric almost laughed. And Amber's heart skipped at the sight.

Five years... She had waited five years to see that expression again.

Amber pushed his wheelchair toward the entrance while the Sterling and Laurent families remained frozen in disbelief behind them.

They had spent the entire afternoon deciding Cedric's future for him.

They had assumed Amber would abandon him. They had assumed his disability had made him undesirable. They had assumed she would choose Julian.

Instead, Amber had done something none of them expected. She had chosen Cedric, and she was taking him to get married... Today!