omething inside me snapped.

I took a step forward, ready to defend Emily, but she placed a gentle hand on my arm.

Her eyes told me to wait.

Meanwhile, Emily’s father stood frozen. He couldn’t believe Margaret could say something like that.

“Thank you, Margaret,” Emily said confidently.

“For what?” Margaret asked.

“For showing your true colors.”

Margaret stared at Emily with wide eyes.

That’s when I understood what Emily’s plan was about. At that point, I felt so proud of her.

So proud that my brave Emily hadn’t just planned a wedding. She’d planned something much bigger than that.

I watched as she stepped forward.

“Since we’re all sharing our thoughts today,” she began, her eyes locked onto her father’s, “let me finally tell you the truth about Margaret.”

A hush fell over the room.

Emily turned slightly, addressing everyone, but her words were meant for her father most of all.

“You’ve always believed she was just ‘strict’ with me, that she was trying to ‘teach me responsibility.’ But what she really did was tear me down at every chance she got.”

Margaret rolled her eyes, but Emily’s voice only grew stronger.

“I was never ‘good enough.’ Never ‘grateful enough.’ Never ‘pretty enough.’ She made sure I felt small and unwanted… like a burden you were forced to take care of after Mom died.”

I watched Emily’s father’s face transform as each word hit him.

How had he never seen this?

I thought of all the times Emily had downplayed Margaret’s behavior, saying it “wasn’t worth causing family drama.”

Emily turned back to her father, and this time, there was pain in her voice.

“I told you, Dad. I told you how she treated me when you weren’t around.

How she called me pathetic, how she laughed at my dreams, and how she told me no one would ever truly love me. And every time I tried to make you see it, she’d twist it and make me look dramatic.”

Emily’s fingers curled into fists at her sides.

“So, when she told me you were wasting your money on this wedding and that Adam would leave me at the altar, I knew exactly what she was hoping for. She wanted to humiliate me.

To finally prove to you that I was as much of a failure as she always said I was.”

She let out a slow breath and lifted her chin.

“So, I gave her exactly what she wanted. I gave her a moment where she thought she had won.”

A ripple of realization spread through the guests.

“I knew that if Adam said no, she wouldn’t be able to hide her reaction. She wouldn’t be able to resist rubbing it in my face.”

Emily’s gaze didn’t waver as she looked back at her father.

“You never believed me before.

But you believe me now, don’t you?”

Her father nodded.

He stood with his shoulders slumped, as if he was carrying the weight of everything he’d done. He’d dismissed his daughter’s pain for years and chose peace over truth.

Now, he’d finally realized how wrong he was.

Margaret scoffed, still trying to salvage her dignity. “Oh, please.

He wasn’t going to marry you. I just called it before it happened.”

Emily’s smile widened.

“That’s where you’re wrong.” She turned to me. “Because he is going to marry me.”

I grinned.

“Damn right, I am.”

I stepped forward and took Emily’s hands in mine, overwhelmed with love for this woman who had endured so much and still remained kind.

Margaret wasn’t expecting this.

“You—” she started, but Emily’s father suddenly stepped forward.

“We’re done, Margaret,” he announced.

“What?”

“You humiliated my daughter at her own wedding,” he said as his voice shook with anger. “I should have seen it earlier.”

Margaret spluttered, grasping for control, but it was already over.

Two of my groomsmen, who worked as security guards in their day jobs, stepped forward without being asked. They gently but firmly escorted Margaret out as she shouted insults.

As the doors closed behind her, the tension in the room dissolved.

Emily’s father approached us with tears in his eyes.

“Emily,” he whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

She hugged him tightly. “I know, Dad. I know.

It’s okay. You don’t need to apologize.”

After a moment, Emily exhaled and turned back to me.

“So… where were we?”

I grinned, dropped to one knee, and said, “Will you marry me?”

The crowd, now understanding what had happened, erupted in cheers and applause.

And this time, when the officiant asked if I took Emily to be my wife, I shouted yes.

That’s how I finally married the kindest woman I’ve ever known. My wife, my love, Emily.

Source: amomama