I Was Ready to Say ‘I Do’—Then a Stranger Stood Up and Said Five Shocking Words

I Thought I Was Marrying the Love of My Life — Until a Stranger Stopped the Wedding with Five Words

Just as Ivy is about to say “I do,” a voice from the past interrupts the wedding to protest their union. She feels a chill as the words reveal memories she had assumed were hidden. One issue remains: what will she do now that her ideal future is in jeopardy?

After I saw him across the room, I hardly paid attention to the charity gala’s tinkling champagne glasses and courteous conversation.

Although Daniel wasn’t very attractive, I was drawn to him because of the calm assurance in his demeanor and the gentle crinkles that formed around his eyes when he grinned.

I had a flash of recognition when our eyes locked, as though I had known him all along.

As he approached me, the sophisticated ballroom with its marble flooring and sparkling chandeliers seems to disappear.

His words, “You look like you’re plotting your escape,” came as he appeared before me holding two glasses of wine.

In contrast to the stuffy atmosphere surrounding us, his speech was friendly and slightly humorous.

I smiled gratefully and took the offered drink. “That obvious, huh?”

“Well, you’ve been staring at that exit sign for the past five minutes.” He made a glass gesture.

“I felt that I ought to step in before you fled.” Additionally, “these things are always better with a partner in crime,” he smiled.

“My hero,” I said, giggling. “But if you’re volunteering to be my partner in crime, you should know I’m terrible at small talk about golf scores and stock portfolios.”

“Good thing I know nothing about those things,” he said. “Want to discuss terrible reality TV shows instead?”

Suddenly, we were having a discussion as easily as breathing.

That night was the start of a relationship that exceeded my wildest expectations. Our love tale was better than the romance movie fare. We both knew what we wanted and were in our 30s.

We would play crossword puzzles together on Sunday mornings, and he would make me coffee the way I liked it. We loved going on road drives together and taking turns choosing music, singing off-key and not giving a damn.

We used to spend peaceful afternoons on the couch, reading novels while keeping our feet intertwined and content in our mutual stillness.

It was how I could tell by the way his shoulders were set when he needed time to think, or how he knew to bring me chocolate on bad days.

There were no flash mobs or fireworks when he proposed.

One evening, we were simply relaxing on our shabby couch as the room was filled with cozy shadows from the table lamp’s gentle glow.

“Ivy, I can’t imagine my life without you in it,” he added, taking my hand, which was a little sweaty. Are you going to be my wife? Join me as we age?”

“Yes,” I muttered in response, feeling as though my heart may explode. “A thousand times, yes.”

Golden sunlight filled the air as the wedding day dawned. I was filled with excitement and confidence as I stood at the venue’s entrance.

My dad gave me a light squeeze on the arm. Everything I had ever been and everything I was going to become seemed to be connected by the aisle in front of me.

Daniel was standing at the opposite end, confident and solid as usual.

The ceremony got underway. As the officiant spoke, Daniel’s hands were warm in mine and his voice could be heard clearly throughout the room.

Everything was flawless, fitting together just so.

Then those words were spoken. The ones that nobody ever thinks will matter.

“If anyone has any reason why these two should not be married, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

Like a scalpel, the scrape of a chair against the floor sliced through the quiet.

I turned to gaze, and my gut wrenched. My breath froze in my throat as a person rose at the rear of the room. Everything else became hazy around the edges as the globe shrank to a single point.

No. No, it’s not possible.

However, it was.

Liam. Why was he in this place? How did he discover me at all?

He talked in a steady voice, but when he said the five words that broke everything, his eyes were raw.

“I have a motive. Blue roses were not found by him.

My eyes skewed. The words struck me like a blow to the body. Confident that I had misheard, I blinked.

Then I noticed the bouquet of blue roses he was carrying.

Like a tidal wave, the past swept over me. Images of the boy I’d devoted my heart to when I was seventeen flooded my consciousness as memories I’d carefully stored away exploded.

He had given me a cherry lollipop that spring afternoon in the courtyard, and I could still taste it.

The memory came to me as vividly as it had when it first happened: Liam kneeling on one knee below me as I sat on the stone wall with my legs swinging.

He had proposed after twisting the wrapper into a ring.

As I laughed and played along, the sun warmed my face. “If you propose for real one day, you better give me blue roses.”

Roses that are blue? “Those aren’t even real.”

“Not naturally, not yet.” I had used my lollipop to tap his nose. “They’re once-in-a-lifetime rare, just like us.”

After that, we had made a lot of promises. After receiving his Oxford acceptance letter, we spent hours figuring out how to make it work.

calls in the middle of the night. vacations. A little postponed, but a future we’d create together.

“Distance won’t break us,” he had vowed the night before he went, embracing me. “Nothing could break us.”

Promises, however, are brittle.

The gaps between his communications lengthened and his messages became shorter. After a while, all that remained were the echoes of “forever” that plagued my nightmares for years.

The precise item that had once represented our unattainable ideal was now in his hands as he stood at my wedding. Roses in blue. actual ones. It is years too late.

With the bouquet quivering in his hands, Liam took a step forward.

His eyes remained the same, but his face had become older and more wrinkled. He continued to look at me in the same manner.

“I never forgot, Ivy, not for a single day,” he replied. “Back then, I looked for them, but I was unsuccessful. Just as I couldn’t figure out how to get back to you. However, I never stopped loving you or searching for you. And now I’m here.”

The final statement caused his voice to break, and the sound shook my carefully crafted world.

Liam went on, his voice full of emotion, “I lost you once because I was stupid enough to think I had all the time in the world.”

A startled silence descended upon the room.

“I believed I was acting appropriately. Even though I pursued my goals, I continued to miss you. And now, I simply don’t care how. “I just want you,” he said, his eyes meeting mine with the kind of need I believed I had hidden behind me. Please marry me instead. Or flee with me. I’ll do anything you want.”

The crowd echoed with gasps. My mom covered her mouth with her hand. The white roses in my maid of honor’s bouquet stood out sharply against the impossibly blue ones Liam was holding.

Daniel clenched his fingers around mine. He had remained silent. He looked at me steadily and unflinchingly when I turned to face him.

He wasn’t pleading or in a panic. All he did was wait. As he always has, allowing me the freedom to choose for myself.

I turned to face Liam again. He fulfilled every desire I had ever had. I learned what it meant to want something so passionately that it ached from the first boy who made my heart race.

However, Daniel was always there for me when I needed him and never made me doubt my sufficiency.

He showed me his love with quiet constancy and unfailing support, not with extravagant displays of impossibly beautiful flowers.

Even though I was quiet, I answered Liam’s proposal without faltering.

“You were my school life’s love, Liam. Daniel is the love of my life right now, but it’s great to see you again. “My future.”

Liam’s face broke into a barely perceptible wince that conveyed years of regret.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t long for blue roses anymore.”

His jaw tensed as his hands tightened over the bouquet.

I briefly believed that he would defend me by arguing, pleading, and fighting. Remind me of all the vows we made while the stars were shining.

However, he sighed and a melancholy, even sardonic smile appeared on his lips.

“I had to try,” he whispered to himself. Like morning mist, the words lingered in the air.

Suddenly, he turned to leave. The final remnants of my initial love vanished as the sound of his footsteps diminished.

In an attempt to gather himself, the officiant cleared his throat. Despite everything, Daniel turned to face me with a playful twinkle in his eyes.

“So, just to be clear,” he said quietly, “I don’t need to worry about some guy showing up with purple tulips at our 10-year anniversary, right?”

The rest of the tightness in my chest was released as I burst out laughing in amazement. I gave his hands a squeeze.

“No,” I smiled and murmured back. “Just you. Always you.

His eyes softened, and I saw in them a future of peaceful mornings, laughter, overcoming obstacles together, and a love that only deepened with time.

With steadiness and assurance, I spoke.

“I do.”