Emily Was Seconds Away From Saying “I Do” — Then a Woman Put an Official Document in Her Hands
Chapter 2 — Natalie Cole
The ceremony ended without vows.
Guests were asked to leave the chapel.
Emily remained inside with her parents, Ryan, Nora, and the minister.
Her wedding bouquet lay forgotten on a chair.
“Who is Natalie?” Emily asked.
Ryan looked toward Nora.
“You had no right to do this here.”
Nora’s expression didn’t change.
“I tried calling you.”
“You could’ve waited.”
“Until after you committed bigamy?”
Emily looked between them.
“Answer me.”
Ryan rubbed his face.
“Natalie was my wife.”
Emily laughed once.
“Was?”
Nora opened the folder again.
“Legally, she still is.”
Emily looked at Ryan.
“You told me you’d never been married.”
“I thought the marriage had been dissolved.”
Nora shook her head.
“No divorce was ever finalized.”
Ryan looked angry now.
“Natalie disappeared.”
Emily stopped.
“Disappeared?”
Ryan nodded.
Five years earlier, he had married Natalie Rose Mercer after dating for less than a year.
The marriage lasted eight months.
Then one morning Natalie left.
No goodbye.
No explanation.
Her phone disconnected.
Ryan said he eventually received legal papers suggesting she intended to divorce him.
“I signed everything,” he said.
“And you checked that it was finalized?” Nora asked.
Ryan didn’t answer.
Emily noticed.
“Did you?”
Ryan looked down.
“No.”
Nora removed another document.
“Because Natalie never filed the final petition.”
Emily stared at her.
“How do you know?”
Nora’s expression changed.
“Because Natalie contacted me three weeks ago.”
Ryan froze.
“What?”
For the first time that afternoon, he looked genuinely shocked.
