Page 138 of Stronger Than Fate

“It’s true, little demon,” Bastián said, also laughing. “Woollardy is going to wear a groove in the ballroom carpet.”

“You’re ready now,” Niky said, laughing at those two’s comments, and the girls who were helping her nodded theirheads while looking at me in wonder. “You’re the most beautiful bride I’ve ever seen, and believe me, I’ve seen many. My brother is going to have a heart attack when he sees you. I’m going to open the door so those two nuisances can stop talking, because I’m sure when they see you they’ll be speechless.”

Niky slowly opened the bedroom door, and I could see my brothers standing on the other side, waiting for me. Both were truly speechless and looked at me with emotion. They looked incredibly handsome, wearing tuxedos with silk lapels, matching pants, white shirts with special collars for bow ties. The vest had a horseshoe collar and was gray. Henry would be dressed the same as them, the difference being that on his lapel he would wear a flower that matched those in my bouquet.

“You can say something,” I said, looking at them with a smile.

“My goodness!” Lolo exclaimed. “You look like a beautiful angel.”

“You look beautiful!” Bastián said.

I rushed to hug them, though Niky started shouting because she didn’t want a single hair to move out of place.

“As the older brother, I’d like to say a few words before giving you away to Henry,” Bastián said, emotional.

“I’ll wait outside,” Niky said, and left the suite accompanied by the girls who were helping her.

Bastián took one of my hands and stretched out the other for Lolo to take it. Lolo took it, and his other hand joined with mine. And so, the three of us united in an indestructible circle, we listened to my older brother’s emotional words.

“Today is a very important day for us, our little sister is getting married. We want to wish you all the happiness in theworld because you deserve it, you are an extraordinary woman and our parents must be extremely proud of you, today they must be up there toasting to you. I know that the place that Lolo and I will occupy today should have been Dad’s, but I’m sure they are happy to see us together and that we have the honor of accompanying you,” he paused to compose himself because all three of us were crying with emotion, and continued: “We are going to give you away to Henry because, after getting to know him, we are convinced that this man loves you and would give his life for you. Only once have I seen that true love that you two profess to each other, and it was the love of our parents, and it fills us with happiness that you have found it. We love you, Dali, we love you with all our hearts, and although you’re now going to be a married woman, we want you to know that we will always be there for you, no matter what happens in our lives, the three of us will always be together. May you be very happy, little demon!”

We hugged again, unable to contain our tears. Niky’s knocks on the door made us separate. We wiped away our tears and smiled.

“Let’s go, the moment has arrived,” Lolo said.

We reached the doors of the ballroom and my brothers positioned themselves on either side of me. As I had once promised them and as was my wish and theirs, I would walk toward Henry holding both their hands.

Niky finished arranging the dress and veil, stood in front of me, and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

“The moment we’ve all been waiting for has arrived. I love you all,” she said, looking at the three of us, gave a signal to the hotel staff to open the doors, and stepped aside so we would be visible to everyone.

At that moment, images of my history with Henry flooded my mind. I had met him on an ordinary night at the hotel bar, but for us it had been the beginning, and now, some time later, we were getting married in that same hotel. Who would have thought that would be our destiny, that destiny that had so many times diverted our paths, often with complex situations. But as Henry had always said, we had been stronger than destiny and had ended up walking the same path in the same direction, together and hand in hand. Our love was stronger than everything. From that moment on, Henry would be my husband, but most importantly, he was and would forever be the love of my life.

My brothers squeezed my hands, bringing me back to reality.

“Let’s go, Dali, they’re waiting for you,” Bastián said.

The song we had chosen for that moment began to play,“Te voy a amar”by Axel, which was being performed by a hired singer with an extremely sweet voice. That song expressed so much of what we felt. We would choose each other each and every day of our lives, forever.

I Will Love You

Axel

It's not enough to say

That you're my light, my sky, my other half

It's not enough to say

That I would give my life for your love and even more

Words are no longer enough, no

To explain what I feel

And everything you're causing in me

Black and white turns to color