Chapter 26:

Wyatt & Hope simply stood there in front of Eric's desk holding hands as Brooke glared at both of them. She was ready to tear into her daughter and new son-in-law with no hesitation and no mercy whatsoever.

Ridge, meanwhile, looked at the young lady he had raised as his own with disappointment. He understood why she had married Wyatt, but he felt that she had simply made a mistake by doing so.

Brooke, meanwhile, wasn't feeling disappointed. She was angry as hell.

"You had better explain yourself, young lady," said Brooke with a look of extreme anger on her beautiful face.

Hope, however, was ready for this. She lifted her left hand up & wiggled her ring finger, which had both her engagement & wedding rings on.

"You see this, Mom?" asked Hope. "Yes, I do. Now take them off," said Brooke angrily. Both Wyatt & Hope looked at her with surprise. That was a comment they weren't expecting.

However, Wyatt got his surprise really fast. "Are you asking Hope to take those off because you want us to annul this marriage?" asked Wyatt. "That's right. This marriage is a mistake that will soon be taken care of," said Brooke.

Hope, however, wasn't fooled by what her mother was trying to do.

"I'm not taking these rings off, & this marriage will NOT be annulled, Mom," said Hope. Brooke was taken aback by the comment.

Still, that wasn't going to stop her. Brooke then said this:

"Yes, it will, Hope. You made a mistake by marrying this guy, & the media are all over it. This has caused nothing but scandal for this company and this family. Besides, how well do you really know him besides him being Liam's brother? Do you have any idea how hurt Liam is by this?"

That last part about Liam finally caused Hope to snap. She had had enough of this crap. Wyatt was Hope's husband whether Brooke liked it or not, & nothing she did was going to make the young newlyweds change their minds.

"Yes, Mom, I know how hurt Liam is by this, but I don't give a damn," said Hope angrily. "That guy has hurt me more then you'll ever realize. Wyatt has been there for me. He's more then my husband. He's my best friend, & that means so much to me. Now you can hate the fact that Wyatt & I are married all you want, but we don't care. We love each other & want to spend the rest of our lives together. Now you can your talk about us getting an annulment & shove up your ass!"

Brooke was stunned & even more furious. She was about to rip into Hope some more when Wyatt stepped in with a few words of his own.

"Don't even try, Brooke. I love your daughter more then anything in the world, & I won't let anyone hurt her, not even you. I made that vow to her when we got married. Either accept it or risk never having Hope in your life ever again."

Brooke was completely floored. She thought she had it all figured out. She would make Hope feel guilty enough to annul the marriage to Wyatt, but it seemed that Hope had became musch stronger & more confident in herself ever since he came into her life. Brooke now had no idea what to do.

Ridge, however, did know what to do. He put his hands on his wife's shoulders & said this:

"Let these two be together, Logan. It's clear to me that they wouldn't have done this if they didn't love each other."

Brooke turned & looked at her husband with the same stunned expression. "Ridge..." she whispered. "Please, Brooke. Let it go. Don't lose your daughter over this. Let her be happy," said Ridge who then looked at Wyatt & Hope & gave them a smile, letting them know that he approved. They then left the office.

Once the door was closed, Wyatt & Hope embraced each other tightly.

"I was so scared," whispered Hope. "I was too, babe, but we did it," said Wyatt with a smile. "Yeah we did," said Hope.

Now they knew that they could move on with their marriage & their life together.