Lucas wasn’t trying to cause trouble. He just wanted something to eat.
A catering assistant noticed him lingering near the tents and, without drawing attention, quietly handed him a plate and told him to sit behind the service area. Lucas ate slowly, carefully, watching guests laugh, pose for photographs, and move confidently through a world that felt distant—like a place he had never been meant to enter.
Then the music changed.
Guests rose from their seats as the bride appeared at the top of the marble staircase. She was elegant, radiant, and calm—glowing with confidence and joy.
But Lucas wasn’t looking at her gown or her smile.
His eyes were fixed on her wrist.
A red string bracelet.
Worn. Frayed. Tied in the exact same knot as the one around his own wrist.
Lucas’s heart began to race. Without fully understanding what he was doing, he stepped forward. His voice trembled as he spoke the words that brought the entire ceremony to a standstill.
