Stolen Identity: Mute Heiress

Chapter 488: Stef/Viv Vows

After the couple had gotten the kiss out of the way, and the laughter and applause had faded among the guests, Harry’s expression became serious as he looked at the couple.

“Today is not about how perfect your love story has been. It is about the fact that, after everything you have both faced individually and together, you are still standing here, together.”

Genevieve’s fingers tightened around Stefan’s.

Stefan looked at her.

She smiled.

Harry turned towards the guests.

“We are gathered here because these two have chosen each other. Not because life has been easy for them, but because they have learned that love is worth choosing even when life is difficult. Love is what keeps us all going.”

Stefan’s eyes remained on Genevieve.

Harry looked at them again. “Stefan, you may begin.”

Stefan took a slow breath. He had imagined this moment many times since he decided he wanted to marry Genevieve.

But now that she was standing in front of him, holding his hand, every speech he had prepared seemed too small.

He looked into her beautiful blue eyes. “Genevieve…”

His voice shook slightly.

She smiled.

“I don’t know how to put everything I feel for you into words.”

He swallowed. “Standing here today, looking at you, I still find it hard to believe that I get to call you my wife. You have become more than the woman I love. You have become my best friend, my safe place, my peace, the mother of my child, and the person I want beside me through every season of this life.”

Genevieve’s eyes filled with tears.

“Today, I am not promising you a perfect marriage,” he smiled softly. “because I know there will be difficult days. There will be moments when we disagree, moments when life becomes harder than we expected, and moments when one of us will need the other to simply hold on.”

A tear slipped down Genevieve’s cheek.

Stefan gently wiped it away with his thumb.

“But I promise you this: I will not walk away when things become difficult. I promise to love you when life is easy and when it isn’t. When you are happy and when you’re afraid. When you have answers and when you don’t know what to do. I will always choose you. I will choose you when we are happy and when we are struggling. I will choose you when life is beautiful and when life hurts. I will listen to you, respect you, protect your heart, and remind you of how deeply you are loved. I promise to love you as long as I live. I promise to grow with you, to pray with you, to laugh with you, and to stand beside you when you need strength. I promise that your dreams will matter to me. Your happiness will matter to me. Your tears will matter to me.”

Genevieve’s lips trembled.

He took another breath.

“And when we grow old and look back at this day, I want you to know that I kept the promise I am making now. I loved you then. I loved you through every season. And I will love you until my very last breath. Today, tomorrow, and for all the years God gives us, I choose you. You are my wife, my love, and my home. And I am so grateful that I get to spend the rest of my life with you.”

The garden was completely silent.

Genevieve wiped her tears.

Harry looked at her. “Genevieve.”

She took a deep breath.

“Stefan…” She smiled through her tears. “You came into my life at a time when I didn’t believe I deserved something good.”

Stefan’s eyes softened.

“I had spent so much of my life believing that my past had already decided who I was going to become. There were days when I wondered if I would ever find someone who would truly understand me, someone who would see beyond my weaknesses, my mistakes, and my fears, and still choose me.”

She shook her head.

“Then you came along. You saw me. Not the mistakes I had made. Not the things I wished I could change. You saw what I could be, and you loved me.”

Her voice broke slightly.

Stefan squeezed her hand.

“And you showed me what it means to be loved.”

A quiet sob came from somewhere among the guests.

“With you, I learned that love doesn’t have to feel like begging. It doesn’t have to make me question whether I am good or smart enough.”

She looked directly into his eyes. “With you, I feel loved and safe. And so I promise to give you that same love and safety for the rest of our lives.”

She took his other hand and smiled through her tears.

“I promise to be honest with you, even when the truth is difficult. I promise to stand beside you in every season.”

Her gaze dropped briefly to their joined hands. “And I promise to cherish our family with everything I have.”

She looked back at him.

“Most of all, I promise to be a wife you will always be proud of.”

“I love you,” Stefan whispered.

Genevieve smiled. “I love you too.”

Harry cleared his throat softly.

“You can exchange the rings.”

Jamal handed Stefan the ring box.

Stefan picked up Genevieve’s ring and gently took her left hand.

“With this ring,” he said, “I give you my heart, my trust, and my promise.”

He slid the ring onto her finger.

Genevieve looked at it for a moment.

Then she picked up Stefan’s ring. “With this ring, I give you my heart, my trust, and my promise.”

She slipped it onto his finger.

Their hands remained joined.

Harry smiled.

“By the authority given to me as a licensed marriage officiant, and in the presence of the people who love you both, I now pronounce you husband and wife.”

Genevieve’s eyes widened slightly.

Stefan smiled.

Harry stepped back.

“You have my permission to kiss for the rest of your lives now.”

Everyone laughed, including the couple as their lips met softly.

It wasn’t a hurried kiss.

It was slow and tender, and it carried every difficult moment that had brought them there.

When they finally separated, Genevieve rested her forehead against his.

She whispered, “My husband.”

Stefan smiled. “My wife.”

The garden erupted in applause.

Jamal clapped harder than anyone else.

Dawn laughed through her tears as she watched them.

Callan wrapped an arm around Emily, and she rested her head against his shoulder as she wiped her eyes.

Jax pulled Mari closer when she sniffled.

Tom and Lucy stood together, smiling proudly.

Harry stepped forward again.

“Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr. and Mrs. Kirk.”

The applause grew louder.

Stefan turned towards the guests, with Genevieve’s hand still firmly in his.