And Paige stayed loud because no one had ever taught her how to be heard gently.
Different symptoms.
Same sickness.
Paige read the final lines.
“Baby girl, if you want attention, ask for love instead. If you want to be chosen, choose someone else first. And if you cannot say sorry today, at least start by telling the truth. Your sister is not your enemy. She is the witness God gave you so you would not have to survive this life unseen.”
When Paige finished, she lowered the page.
The chapel remained silent.
Nobody clapped.
Thank God.
This was not a performance anymore.
Then Paige did something I never expected.
She turned toward the guests.
“I wore this dress to hurt my sister,” she said.
A few people shifted uncomfortably.
My father covered his face.
Paige’s voice shook, but she kept going.
“I told myself she deserved it because everyone has always loved her more. But that wasn’t true. She was just easier to love because she didn’t make people work for it.”
She looked at me.
“And I made everyone work too hard.”
I felt tears slide down my cheeks.
Paige took one step back.
“I’m sorry, Clara.”
Two words.
So small.
So late.
So impossible.
I had imagined her apology for years. I thought it would feel like victory. I thought something inside me would stand up and cheer.
Instead, it felt like setting down a suitcase I had forgotten I was carrying.
I walked toward the empty chair in the front row and picked up Mom’s blue scarf.
Then I returned to Paige.
She stiffened, probably expecting me to throw it at her or tell her she did not deserve to touch it.
Instead, I placed it around her shoulders.
The blue against the white changed everything.
She was no longer a woman pretending to be a bride.
She was a daughter wearing her mother’s mercy.
“Stand with me,” I said.
Paige stared at me.
“What?”
“Stand with me.”
She shook her head quickly. “No. Clara, I can’t. People will—”
“Let them.”
My voice was stronger than I felt.
“Let them see what forgiveness looks like when it doesn’t pretend nothing happened.”
Ethan smiled then.
A small, proud smile that I will remember longer than the flowers, longer than the cake, longer than the music.
Paige looked around the room once, like she was searching for permission.
