---- Chapter 18 The wedding was a global event, broadcast live from the King family's sprawling estate in Virginia. Ember, in a simple but elegant gown that celebrated rather than hid her scars, looked radiant. She was no longer the broken, hiding woman from Julian's world. She was a queen in her own right. As they stood before the world, Gael took her hands. His voice, when he said his vows, was clear and strong, full of a love that was both fierce and gentle. "|, Gael King, take you, Ember Tucker, to be my wife, my partner, my equal. | will honor you, cherish you, and protect you, all the days of my life." When it was her turn, Ember looked into his adoring blue eyes and felt a wave of pure, unadulterated joy. "l, Ember Tucker, take you, Gael King, to be my husband. | am home." The kiss was a promise sealed, a new beginning celebrated by the world. Their life together was a quiet, happy rhythm. They continued their humanitarian work, founding their own global foundation. Gael, despite his immense responsibilities, always put her first. He learned her favorite foods, remembered every important date, and held her every night as if she were the most precious thing in the universe. ---- Ayear after their wedding, Ember found out she was pregnant. Gael was ecstatic. He dropped everything to be by her side, catering to her every whim, reading to her belly every night, his voice full of love and anticipation. He was a doting, devoted husband and father-to-be. Meanwhile, in a dark, foul-smelling room in a forgotten corner of New York, Julian Copeland stared at a television screen. Gael had arranged it all. He had secretly had Julian moved from the nursing home to a private, isolated basement room A single nurse, paid for by Gael, kept him alive with a nutrient drip. And a single television, a direct feed controlled by Gael, was his only connection to the outside world. Every day, Julian was forced to watch the life he had thrown away. He watched news reports of Ember's charitable work. He watched her glowing with happiness at public events. He watched her and Gael, a perfect picture of a loving, devoted couple. He was forced to live in a state of living death, a helpless observer of the paradise he had lost. The life he could have had, the love he had squandered, was now his personal, unending hell.