Aaron's POV
Aaron is on his knees and everything inside him breaks open.
The words pour out like he's bleeding. Like his whole body is spilling out onto the floor of this church in front of three hundred people. He doesn't care anymore. Caring about his image. Caring about his reputation. Caring about what people think. All of that destroyed his life.
So he stops caring.
"I was wrong about everything," Aaron says and his voice cracks badly. Tears stream down his face and he doesn't wipe them away. "I was so wrong. About you. About us. About what matters. I made the biggest mistake of my life when I signed those papers."
Natalie stares at him and Aaron sees her jaw clench. She's trying to stay strong. Trying to keep her walls up. But Aaron can see the cracks forming.
"You told me I wasn't enough," Natalie says quietly. "You made me feel like I was broken."
"You're not broken," Aaron says desperately. His whole body shakes. His hands shake. Everything about him shakes because three years of holding it together is finally breaking apart. "You were perfect. You are perfect. I was the broken one. I am the broken one. I've been broken since the moment I signed those divorce papers."
Security stands nearby watching but not moving. They're confused. This doesn't look like a threat. This looks like a man destroying himself.
"I've been dying without you," Aaron continues. His voice gets louder because he needs Natalie to hear him. He needs her to understand. He needs her to know that these three years have been the worst nightmare of his life. "Every day I wake up and you're gone. Every night I try to sleep and all I see is your face. All I hear is you crying."
Someone in the crowd sobs. Aaron doesn't know who. He doesn't care. His entire world is focused on Natalie's face.
"I watched your Instagram," Aaron says and he knows how crazy it sounds but he doesn't care. Crazy is honest. "I watched you design dresses. I watched you smile. I watched you fall in love with someone else. And I wanted to die every single day."
Daniel moves like he's going to step forward. Sophia pulls Natalie back. The officiant looks completely lost. But Aaron stays on his knees because this is where he belongs. This is what true looks like.
"My doctor said I was depressed," Aaron says. His voice is raw. "My therapist said I needed to move on. My mother said I was being pathetic. But they were all wrong. They were all wrong because I wasn't sick. I wasn't broken. I was grieving. I was grieving the only real thing I ever had."
Natalie's eyes fill with tears.
She's listening. She's actually listening to him.
"I built an empire," Aaron continues. "I built Blake Enterprises into a billion-dollar company. I dated models and heiresses. I appeared on magazine covers. And none of it meant anything. None of it helped me sleep at night. None of it stopped the panic attacks. None of it made me feel like I wasn't dying inside."
His hands reach out toward her but he doesn't touch her. He just holds them out like he's offering her everything he is.
"I don't deserve another chance," Aaron says because this is important. He needs her to know he understands what he's asking. "I destroyed you. I made you feel small. I pushed away the only person who ever loved me just because I was too scared to be vulnerable. I was too scared to admit that I needed you more than I needed success."
Cameras flash but Aaron barely registers them anymore. The physical world feels far away. The only thing that's real is this moment. This desperate, terrible, honest moment where he's laying his whole broken heart at her feet.
"But I'm asking anyway," Aaron says. His voice drops lower. "I'm asking because I can't live without you anymore. I can't pretend to be fine. I can't keep building companies and dating women and appearing on magazine covers when my whole life is empty without you."
Natalie's hand covers her mouth. She's crying now. Actually crying. Not sad tears. Something more complicated than that.
"I've been in therapy for three years," Aaron says. "I've been trying to understand why I became someone capable of hurting the only person who ever loved me unconditionally. And I finally understand. I was afraid. I was afraid that being with you meant facing how much I'd changed. I was afraid that your unconditional love would show me how conditional my love had become."
He looks directly into her eyes.
"So I pushed you away first," Aaron says. "Before you could see how far I'd fallen. Before your love could remind me of the person I used to be. And Natalie I've regretted that decision every single second since."
The church is completely silent now. Nobody's talking. Nobody's moving. Everyone is just watching this man on his knees pour out his heart to the woman he destroyed.
"I don't expect you to forgive me," Aaron says. "I don't expect you to come back to me. I don't expect anything except maybe for you to believe that I'm telling you the truth. That I love you. That I've never stopped loving you. That you're the strongest, most beautiful, most incredible woman I've ever known and I was too blind to see it."
Daniel's face is unreadable. He's watching Aaron like he's trying to understand what's happening. Like he's trying to figure out if the woman he's about to marry is actually his wife or if she belongs to someone else.
"I'll leave," Aaron says because he means this. "If you want me to leave I will. I'll walk out of this church right now and never bother you again. I'll let you marry him. I'll let you have your peaceful life. I'll disappear."
He takes a breath.
"But I had to try," Aaron continues. "I had to fight for you one last time. Because I spent three years not fighting. I spent three years giving up. And I can't do that anymore."
His whole body shakes with sobs now. Real sobs. The kind that come from a place so deep it feels like his soul is breaking apart.
"I'm sorry," Aaron whispers. "I'm so sorry for everything. For being cold. For making you feel like you weren't enough. For choosing success over love. For signing those papers. For every moment I made you feel small. I'm sorry."
He stays on his knees in front of her.
His expensive suit is dirty from kneeling on the church floor. His face is wet with tears. His whole body shakes with the weight of three years of pain and regret. He looks destroyed. He looks vulnerable. He looks like a man who has finally stopped pretending and started being honest.
And then Natalie does something Aaron didn't expect.
She opens her mouth like she's going to speak.
But no words come out.
She just stares at him with shock and confusion written across her beautiful face. Like she's looking at someone she used to know but isn't quite sure if they're real or if she's imagining this whole moment.
Aaron waits.
He stays on his knees and waits for her to decide his entire future.