CHAPTER 2: THE MAN BEHIND THE SERVICE DOOR
The wedding hall remained frozen.
Emily was still holding the old man.
Her white dress trembled as she cried against his worn work shirt.
Guests didn’t know what to do.
Some stood up.
Some whispered.
Some recorded everything.
The groom finally stepped forward.
“Emily…” he said carefully. “Who is this man?”
But Emily didn’t answer.
She couldn’t.
Because she was afraid—terrified—that if she let go, he would disappear again.
The janitor slowly pulled back just enough to look at her face.
His hands were shaking.
“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” he whispered.
Emily cried harder.
“Where have you been?” she asked. “Why did you leave me?”
The old man looked down.
“I didn’t leave you,” he said quietly. “I was taken away.”
A silence spread through the hall.
The groom frowned.
“Taken away…?”
The janitor hesitated.
Then added:
“By people I worked for a long time ago.”
Emily stepped back slightly.
“What people?”
The old man didn’t answer immediately.
Instead, he looked around the luxury hall.
The chandeliers.
The guests.
The expensive decorations.
And then he said something that changed the atmosphere instantly:
“The same kind of people who built this world.”
A few guests laughed nervously.
But most didn’t.
Because something in his voice made it impossible to dismiss.
Emily wiped her tears.
“Dad… what are you talking about?”
The janitor looked at her with deep sadness.
“I didn’t come here to disturb your wedding.”
A pause.
“I came because I knew I didn’t have much time left.”
Emily froze.
“What do you mean?”
But before he could answer—
a new voice cut through the room.
Cold.
Sharp.
Familiar.
“I told you not to come here.”
Everyone turned.
A man in a tailored black suit stood near the entrance.
Security immediately tensed.
The janitor’s face went pale.
Emily whispered:
“…No.”
The groom frowned.
“Who is that?”
But the janitor already knew.
May you like
And whatever peace had just formed—
was about to break again.
