"Hold still, Meilin!" Liyana laughed as Meilin attempted her third dramatic bow in the span of five minutes, her flowing lavender rehearsal dress swirling around her like a tornado.
"I need to practice my flower girl walk with flair, Jiejie," Meilin argued, tossing flower petals into the air like confetti. "This is going to be the wedding of the century!"
"You're not the flower girl," Damien interjected, appearing behind them with a smirk. "We hired professionals. You refused to wear the flower crown, remember?"
Meilin placed her hands on her hips. "Yes, because it clashed with my earrings. Priorities, Ge."
Yuhan zipped past them, nearly knocking over a floral arch. "Can I be the ring bearer? Or the DJ?"
"No," both Damien and Liyana said in unison.
Zhen entered the hall with a hand on his forehead, visibly exasperated. "Mira is threatening the event planner with a clipboard. Again."
"I told them to not hang the floral chandeliers over the seating area," Mira snapped, walking in after him, her hair slightly tousled. "What if someone sneezes mid-vow? Pollen is a silent killer."
Aiden followed behind, casually sipping an iced Americano. "She has a point. I almost sneezed during the fashion campaign shoot last month. It nearly ruined my highlight reel."
Damien looked like he was reconsidering his entire life.
The rehearsal was taking place in the grand garden pavilion of the Lu estate—an open-air masterpiece of glass, chandeliers, white roses, and golden lanterns. The wedding planner, poor Mr. Han, stood in the center with a clipboard that now had three Post-its from Mira, a doodle from Yuhan, and what looked suspiciously like a lipstick kiss from Meilin.
"Alright!" Mr. Han clapped. "Let's run it through—one last time."
Liyana moved into position, her elegant ivory rehearsal gown swaying as she took Damien's hand. They walked down the aisle together, Damien's eyes never leaving hers.
"You ready?" he whispered.
"I was born ready," she replied, squeezing his hand. "And for the record, your family is the most chaotic force I've ever faced."
"You married into this willingly," he teased.
"Too late to back out now."
Behind them, the chaos resumed.
Meilin kept changing the background music on the speaker, switching from classical strings to K-pop.
Yuhan tried to sneak into the speech rehearsal with a rap verse he'd written that included the words "CEO vibes" and "emotional damage."
Zhen and Ruoxi were trying to teach Damien a quick step dance because he kept stepping on Liyana's train.
"I don't need choreography!" Damien protested. "We're just walking!"
"It's called grace, brother," Zhen deadpanned. "You should try it sometime."
Ruoxi added, "You stepped on Liyana three times. Once more and she might take your shares in Celeste."
Mira was hovering near the cake display, making last-minute adjustments with the catering team. "No fondant roses. We agreed on edible pearls. Pearls, not rocks!"
Liyana turned to Damien mid-aisle and whispered, "Is it bad I'm loving every second of this?"
"No," he smiled, eyes softer than she'd ever seen. "This is what family is. A glorious mess."
The rehearsal ended in laughter, one broken vase, a mild frosting accident (Aiden had leaned too far into the cake), and Damien chasing Yuhan for trying to replace the seating chart with superhero names.
"Tomorrow," Liyana said, walking off arm-in-arm with Damien once the rehearsal concluded, "we'll be husband and wife."
"And still surrounded by these lunatics," Damien added with a grin.
"Exactly how I want it."