Chapter 187: The wait
The tension in the cathedral seemed to tighten with every passing second. Estelle could feel the weight of hundreds of eyes settling on her. Whispers stirred through the rows of nobles, soft at first, then growing bolder as people realised she was no longer sitting still.
She clenched her hands beneath the folds of her gown, digging her fingernails into her palms until the sting gave her something else to focus on. Speak. Everything inside her screamed at her to speak. Her palms had grown damp, and her heartbeat hammered against her ribs, each beat painfully loud in the silence that followed the priestess’s question.
Her gaze slowly lifted to Alexander. Her eyes burned as she stared at the man she had once believed was the other half of her soul. Their marriage had never been loveless.
They had been fated mates. They had built a family together, ruled together and shared years that she had believed were enough to withstand anything. She had trusted him completely. For years, she had looked at Alexander and thought they were perfect. So when had everything fallen apart? What had she done? Or had it always been him?
Her gaze shifted towards Aevia, the woman standing beside him in her immaculate wedding gown. That homewrecker. Estelle’s jaw tightened as hatred burned through her. She wanted to scream. She wanted to point at them both and call them exactly what they were.
An adulterous pair. How dare they stand there looking so composed? How dare Aevia smile as though she had won some glorious victory? How dare Alexander look at her as though Estelle were nothing more than an inconvenience standing between him and his new beginning?
Her emotions surged so violently that she could barely contain them, and she wasn’t the only one who felt them. The family bond carried everything. Kaden’s fingers slowly curled into his palm. His expression remained remarkably calm, almost pleasant, but the tension in his jaw betrayed him.
He had always been the most sensitive of the three brothers, the one who felt things deeply even when he rarely knew how to put those emotions into words. He had no idea exactly what his mother was thinking, but he didn’t need to. Her rage reached him through the bond. Her resentment. Her pain. His fingers tightened until his knuckles turned white.
Yuki noticed. Her eyes flickered towards him, and she caught the tension in his hand hidden low behind the first row of seats, away from the camera’s view. His fingers were clenched so tightly that the skin across his knuckles had gone pale, yet his face told an entirely different story.
A faint smile rested on his lips, and his gaze remained calm. If Yuki hadn’t seen his hand, she would never have guessed how close he was to losing control. Her stomach twisted, and she quickly tore her gaze away, her throat suddenly dry.
As if sensing her unease, Declan shifted slightly and glanced towards her, his brows drawing together. "Are you all right?" he murmured beneath his breath. Yuki kept her expression perfectly composed. "I’m fine," she whispered, though the answer came out quieter than she intended. Declan studied her for another moment before reluctantly looking away.
Across the cathedral, Aevia’s fingers tightened around the bouquet. The flowers trembled almost imperceptibly between her hands as the second hand on the enormous clock continued its merciless journey.
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
Tick tock.
Every passing second felt like an eternity. Estelle swallowed hard, her chest rising sharply as the pressure inside her became too much to bear. She couldn’t do this. She couldn’t simply sit there and watch Alexander marry the woman who had destroyed her family.
She moved before she could talk herself out of it. The scrape of her chair against the stone floor was barely audible, but in the suffocating silence of the cathedral, it sounded deafening.
Estelle pushed herself to her feet, and the entire room seemed to freeze. Killian’s head snapped towards her, his brows pulling tightly together as concern flashed across his face. Kieran straightened in his seat, his expression instantly guarded as his eyes locked on their mother. Kaden nearly cracked. His carefully controlled smile disappeared for half a second, his jaw tightening as he stared at Estelle.
"Mother," Killian whispered, his voice low and warning.
"Don’t," Kieran murmured, barely moving his lips.
Kaden said nothing. He simply stared at her, his eyes silently pleading with her to stop. They understood exactly what she was fighting against, but understanding didn’t make the situation any easier.
Estelle was no longer the Luna. She was a deposed Luna standing before an Alpha King, and Alexander held the authority, the crown and the power to decide what happened next. One wrong accusation could place not only Estelle but their entire family in danger.
Estelle had barely managed to straighten when a hand closed firmly around hers. She looked down and found Yvonne staring up at her. The other woman’s expression remained composed, but her stern gaze left no room for misunderstanding. Don’t. Don’t make a scene. You cannot afford the repercussions. Yvonne didn’t need to say the words aloud. Estelle understood them anyway. Her lips trembled, and a lump formed painfully in her throat as her eyes began to sting.
Then Alexander’s voice entered her mind. The mind link came so suddenly that her entire body stiffened. ’Don’t put your family on the line,’ he said calmly, and the gentleness of his voice somehow made the warning worse.
Estelle’s breath caught as she slowly lifted her gaze. Alexander was staring directly at her, just as everyone else was. Hundreds of eyes waited for her to make a move. Some were curious. Some were worried. Others were hungry for scandal.
Several nobles had openly opposed the union from the beginning, though none had dared challenge Alexander publicly. They had watched the ceremony unfold in silence, waiting for someone else to do what they lacked the courage to do themselves. Now their gazes pressed against Estelle. Speak. They wanted her to speak. They wanted someone to stop this, but none of them would carry the consequences for her.
Alexander’s face remained emotionless. Estelle’s gaze shifted towards Aevia. The veil concealed most of her expression, but Estelle could still see the faint curve of her lips. Was she imagining it? Perhaps. But every instinct in Estelle screamed that Aevia was mocking her, mocking her pain, mocking her inability to stop the ceremony and mocking the fact that she was standing there while another woman prepared to take everything that had once belonged to her.
Estelle’s fingers trembled inside Yvonne’s grasp as the High Priestess looked from Estelle to Alexander before finally settling her gaze on Aevia. "Does anyone have a reason why this union should not be recognised?" she asked, her solemn voice carrying through every corner of the cathedral.
Silence.
Killian sucked in a sharp breath. Kieran’s shoulders stiffened. Kaden’s eyes fixed on their mother. Estelle’s lips parted. This was it. She could speak. One word. Just one. One accusation could bring the entire ceremony crashing down. Her heart slammed against her chest. "Stop this," she could say. Or perhaps, "I object." Three simple words. Yet her tongue felt impossibly heavy.
She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Yvonne’s grip tightened around her hand, and her voice entered Estelle’s mind. Your brother is still a lord. Your family’s lands... She didn’t need to finish. Estelle’s eyes burned as the meaning settled over her. Her brother. Their land. Everything her family had built could become collateral if she challenged Alexander publicly.
Her chest tightened. It wasn’t fair. None of this was fair. She wanted to scream that Alexander had betrayed her. She wanted to expose Aevia. She wanted to tear that beautiful veil from her face and force everyone to see the truth, but the image of her brother flashed through her mind, followed by the faces of her family and the people who depended on them. Estelle’s shoulders slowly sank.
A bitter laugh almost escaped her. She had become a spectacle. A woman who had risen from her seat ready to fight, only to be silenced by the very consequences she had been trying to protect her family from. Her cheeks burned, and her fingers curled helplessly against Yvonne’s hand.
Then the enormous clock struck.
Ding.
The sound echoed through the cathedral, followed by another chime. The hall stirred as several nobles glanced towards the clock. Ten minutes had passed midnight. The grace period was over. The law was painfully clear. Any objection to the union had to be raised during the designated grace period. Once that period ended, no grievance could stop the declaration.
The High Priestess lifted her chin. "The time has passed," she announced solemnly. "Those who had grievances and the opportunity to speak have remained silent. The union shall proceed."
Estelle felt something inside her collapse. She stood there frozen, surrounded by hundreds of people, yet she had never felt more alone. She had wanted to fight. She had wanted to expose them. Instead, she had become nothing more than a woman who had risen from her seat and failed to say a single word.
Then Alexander’s voice entered her mind again. ’Stop humiliating yourself.’
Estelle flinched.
Her eyes snapped towards him, but Alexander had already turned away. He didn’t spare her another glance. Instead, his attention settled on Aevia, and something that hurt far more than his words happened. His lips curved into a soft smile, a smile Estelle hadn’t seen directed at her in far too long.
"Shall we?" Alexander asked gently, extending his hand towards Aevia.
Aevia looked at his outstretched hand. For a heartbeat, she remained still before gracefully slipping her fingers into his. The corners of her lips tilted upwards, and Estelle’s stomach twisted at the sight.
It wasn’t the nervous smile of a bride.
It was the smile of a woman who had just won.
Estelle watched their joined hands as the cathedral erupted into applause, each clap striking her like another reminder that the life she had once known was slipping permanently beyond her reach.