Priest Asks Bride to Step Aside as Groom Proposes to Her Sister—Her Reaction Stuns Everyone
The crowd recoiled, whispers swelling into frantic murmurs.
Faces turned to Liam, desperate for an answer—for some sign of denial.
But he didn’t step back.
He didn’t object.
He only held Stephanie’s hands tighter, his jaw tight, his eyes unreadable.
Clara’s knees threatened to give way.
“Why?” she whispered, her voice trembling as her gaze locked on him.
“Why are you doing this?”
For the briefest instant, Liam looked at her, a shadow of something flickering in his eyes—pain, regret, fear.
But it vanished as quickly as it came.
To everyone else, it looked like choice—like devotion to her sister over her.
The officiant cleared his throat nervously, his face pale.
“Since the bride and groom raise no objections,” he said at last, “we must proceed.”
His voice shook, but he turned the page in his book as though bound to continue.
Around him, the guests shifted uneasily, their faces pale with disbelief.
Clara shook her head slowly.
“No,” she whispered, but her words were swallowed by the weight of the moment.
No one moved to stop it.
No one dared to intervene.
The ceremony pressed on, surreal and unstoppable, with Stephanie now standing where Clara had been meant to stand.
Tears blurred Clara’s vision as Liam and Stephanie clasped hands, turning to face the officiant together.
Her body screamed at her to run, but her legs felt rooted.
All she could do was watch, powerless, as the vows she had dreamed of were stolen in front of her very eyes.
“Do you, Liam, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?”
“Yes,” Liam said—the word cutting through Clara like glass.
Her breath hitched.
Her vision tunneled.
“And do you, Stephanie, take this man—”
“I do!” Stephanie cut in eagerly, her voice soaring, triumphant.
