"Selene came back!?"
With a look of both hope and excitement, Tobias held his mother's shoulders and shook her when he heard her mention the ceremony to him.
After receiving the letter and seeing the vacant dressing room, he had felt his heart shatter but hearing his mother speak, the dark cloud looming over his head disappeared without a trace.
His brother had delivered a letter with terrible news earlier but now his mother had spoken just what he wished to hear.
Therefore, a wide smile formed on his face as he alternated between the other two in this room, his brother and mother, waiting for either one of them to speak further.
"Where is she?" He inquired when he saw them looking at him with complicated gazes but heard no response from either of them.
A sinking feeling rose in his chest once again when his mother moved away from his grasp and instead, placed a hand on his shoulder.
"She left..." Theresa repeated to help her son realize that he had been holding onto false hope and that his bride had indeed run away before the wedding.
Having gone through a rollercoaster of emotions, Tobias felt his strength weaken as he ran his hand through his dirty blonde hair, messing up the slicked-back hairdo he had opted for today.
'What's the use of having perfect hair if the day has already been ruined....?' He thought to himself and the regret for having messed up his hairstyle vanished into thin air.
However, in the next second, his head snapped towards his mother as he recalled the first sentence she had uttered upon entering this dressing room.
"What do you mean by the ceremony is beginning soon?" He interrogated, his eyes narrowed at the older woman who stood before him.
Thanks to his stern gaze, he caught his mother's nervous cough and his younger brother's guilty expression with ease.
"The ceremony is going to begin in less than ten minutes, whether you like it or not." Theresa's firm words brought a frown to his face but she did not give him a chance to respond.
"Your Grandmother is here to attend your wedding."
"You can either go onto that altar and get married or go out there and announce that this wedding is canceled."
"The choice is yours to make now."
"Make her happy or break her heart..."
Those words echoed in the otherwise silent room as Theresa spilled all of her thoughts before her son.
"Who would I even marry?" The young man found his voice after a long silence.
"You don't have to worry about any of that. Just show up at the altar and leave the rest to me." She reassured him that she would take care of everything and he would not have to worry about a single thing.
Theresa knew what she was asking for was too much for her son, who must be feeling despondent right now.
Yet there was nothing she could do at this moment other than be firm in her stance, even if it meant that she would be hated by her son for forcing him into this situation.
"We are leaving now. You have less than ten minutes to make your decision." She announced before dragging her younger son out of the room, giving Tobias time and space to be alone with his thoughts.
Watching his mother and brother leave him behind, Tobias lowered his head and stared at the white marbled floor.
"What about my heart that broke...?" He muttered in a defeated tone but there was no one present to hear his voice.
The choices his mother placed before him were causing his head to throb in pain.
He wished to leave right now and find Selene to make things right with her but if he did so, it would mean he was abandoning the ceremony and hurting his family.
However, if he stayed behind and agreed to his mother's plan, he would have to get married to someone he might not even know and certainly did not like.
One option made him happy but his family would not be satisfied with it while the other made his family happy but he would be unhappy for the rest of his life.
Neither of the choices gave him an outcome that pleased both sides, making this a tough decision to make.
Regardless of how conflicted he felt about his present conundrum, he was certain of one thing.
He knew that he had to be careful and think about how his decision would affect his Grandmother's health.
The decision was his to make but it was a difficult choice to make no matter how to thought about it.
His lifetime's worth of happiness was being pitted against the chance to make his Grandmother happy for whatever was left of her limited lifetime.
The sound of the chapel bells ringing brought Tobias back to his senses as he now had less than five minutes to make his choice.
If he left right now, he would still be able to track Selene down but if he did so, he would be leaving everything behind.
However, if he chose to stick around, he would be leaving Selene behind and his chance of marrying her would be gone forever.
With these complicated thoughts in his head, the man dressed as the groom stepped out of the room and made his way through the now empty corridor.
At the end of the corridor, the path ahead of him split into two directions.
One led to the outside, whereas the other led to the chapel.
One led to the chances of reuniting with the love of his life, while the other led to his Grandmother's happy smile.
Tobias stood at the same spot for many minutes, contemplating what he should do next.
Shutting his eyes, he took a deep breath and when he opened his eyes again, there was pain and resignation in those blue eyes.
His brain had made a decision for him and he finally stepped forward, in the direction of the chapel, leaving behind the longing in his heart that told him to head outside.