Vengeance

Epilogue

Ava's POV

2 years later

I stared into my reflection in the mirror as I stood in my room wearing a long white gown, feeling extremely overwhelmed. I sucked in a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. 

"You look absolutely stunning, tesoro." Mrs. Bianchi said with tearful eyes.

She was being overly emotional ever since we announced the wedding, which was a month ago. Every small thing about the wedding preparations reminded her of Mama, as they had planned for it since I was a baby. And today, I was wearing my mother's wedding gown in the memory of my parents as a blessing for our marriage. 

I smiled at her since she was the mother figure in my life now.

"Oh my god! Look at you! So gorgeous..." Nik came in wearing the bridesmaids' satin gown we had selected for her, Nessa and Rose. 

"Brother, won't be able to take his eyes off you today." Nessa giggled. 

"Like he ever does anyway." Nik scoffed dramatically. 

"Shut up, you both! You've got my brothers whipped and you don't see me complaining about that!!!" I smirked at them. 

"Ava.. Oh my god! Now I want a wedding too!" Rose came in and stomped her feet childishly. 

Just two weeks after I said 'yes' to Ryan, Rose and Enzo also confessed their feelings for each other and we all had a big celebration. The twins were still sneaking around everyone's backs except mine since I knew from day one. 

"Soon, Rose." I winked at her.

It was time.
My three bridesmaids, started to head downstairs with bouquets in their hands and soon after them I followed. 

Lorenzo stood at the foot of the stairs looking upto me with adoration in his eyes. As soon as I reached him, I saw him gulp a lump in his throat. Dante took my hand and kissed the back of it gently. Romeo pulled me into a hug making me chuckle. Marco and Matteo were in tears already. I give them quick pecks on their cheeks. Enzo took my hand stared at me with all the love he had for me and started leading me to our lawn. 

Nothing was said but I knew what each of them felt for me.
I missed my Papa a lot. He was supposed to walk my down the aisle. But that's alright because I have five big brothers to take his place.  

As soon as we reached the venue, everyone stood up. My heart raced like crazy in my chest. I looked up and saw Ryan in a hot black tuxedo and a white rose in the front pocket. He looked as handsome as ever. Our eyes met and I saw his mouth falling open slightly, in awe. 

Arlo and Stefen, his best men, cleared their throats reminding him of the all the company we had. 

Enzo brought me in front of Ryan and placed my hand into his. He squeezed them before smiling at us. Enzo hadn't entirely forgiven Ryan but they were getting back to normal slowly. He kissed the side of my head before backing away.

I turned to Ryan and smiled at him. Today, was the happiest day of my life. I felt a huge lump in my throat. 

No crying Ava!
Your mascara will ruin your entire make up.

But then I saw Ryan's teary eyes, and that did it. Ryan brought up his hand wiped away the single tear off my cheeks with his thumb. 

Once the crowd had settled down, the priest began the wedding ceremony. He said the homily and then it was our turn to say our wedding vows.

"I, Ryan King, take you, Ava DeLuca, as my lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us apart." 

We smiled at each other. 

"I, Ava DeLuca, take you, Ryan King, as my lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us apart." 

We exchanged our wedding rings. 

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."
Ryan leaned in and kissed me gently and the whole crowd burst into cheers.

Ever since we came into this world, our fates were written. For many years our parents spared us the cruelty and the selfishness of this world but somehow revenge and jealousy found its way in and destroyed all the happiness from our lives. It was like splash of cold water over our faces, the harsh truth, the reality of the world. It moulded us into stronger beings determined to avenge for all the injustice, with same poisonous emotions. This poison of vengeance creeps in from one generation to another until it becomes a cycle of life.

Life is cruel, unfair, unpredictable. But most importantly, life is a blessing, a miracle. And all we have to do is make the most of it, make it meaningful, make it worth fighting every single day for.

Not with Vengeance in our hearts, but Mercy.