Akiko couldn’t tell if it had been seconds or hours by the time the woman poked her head into the room to tell them that it was time. It felt like time didn’t exist anymore, and all she could focus on was trying to breathe. Yuri offered his arm, and it helped ground her as she clung to it for dear life. She didn’t understand why she was so anxious; they had technically been married yesterday already. Still, her heart was pounding in her chest, and her palms were sweating. Everything she had ever dreamed of was coming true, and it felt like someone was going to pull the rug out from under her any minute. She kept pinching herself, wondering if this was an elaborate dream.
“You ready?” Yuri asked softly, looking down at her.
All the pain of Leif’s rejection was gone, and it was now repla
