bChapter /bb25 /b

Elena’s POV:

I stood frozen for a second, staring at my mother across the room.

She was smiling

Not the weak, strained smile she’d worn thest few days out of politeness or maternal obligation, but a real one. Gentle and glowing, framed by the soft blush–toned shawl draped over her shoulders. The stylist working beside her tucked a final strand of hair behind her ear and stepped back, clearly satisfied with the result. Her beyes /bmet mine from across the space–and for a fleeting moment, I forgot how jiuery I fell.

1 blinked.

This bwas /bactually happening

It was II o’clock in the morning, and the room was a blur of movement and bpastel/b. My hair was half–done, strands pinned in ce as the stylist worked through the waves, asionally murmuring something about volume and symmetry. Alex sat beside me cross–legged on the armchair, scrolling through his phone while asionally offering his very loud opinions

“No shimmer. Not on the eyelids. We’re not giving runway m, we’re giving timeless bride.” bHe /bwaved off the assistant inakeup artist like a mother hen protecting her chickb. /b

I didn’t have the energy to argue. I was too busy trying to keep my breathing even.

How had bthis /ball happened so fast!

Just yesterday ago, Mom bhad /bfinally allowed Niki into the hospital room. Dinner bhad /bgone smoother than I could have imagined. He’d brought over Arabic cuisine from some restaurant that looked like it belonged on a Michelin list, though Mom stuck to the soup and soft dishes due to her recovery. But the moment she heard on call that Niki had grown up without a mother, something in her shifted.

It shouldn’t haveforted me. But it did.

That was the start of her warming up to him. The night ended with the three of us watching her favorite drama rerun together on her hospital bbed/b. Surreal didn’t even cover it. It was absolutely ridiculous if you ask mc

Now here we were.

The white tulle of my gown spilled across the room in gentle folds. The fabric shimmered just slightly, like morning dew, bcatching /bthe light each time bI /bshifted

“Sull breathing Alex’s voice cut through my thoughts.

“Barely

“Good,” he grinned. “You’re supposed to feel like you’re on the verge of a meltdown. That means it’s working

I rolled my eyes but didn’t bargue/b.

Next to me, Fiona–my best bfriend /band maid of honor, was finishing a bst/b–minute check of her pastel purple dress. She looked bradiant/b, her usual sarcastic smirk reced by something oddly tender.

“I still can’t believe you’re marrying Dmitri’s older brother,” she said for the fifth time.

I groaned. “Can we not-

“No, no, I mean it in the best bway /bpossible,” she interrupted. “It’s like something out of a novel. Betrayal, revenge, mysterious older bbillionaire/b… Cod. I live for this

Rachel–dressed in flowing bpastel /bblue–rolled her eyes affectionately. “She’s a dark romance junkie, don’t listen to her.”

Tim standing right here,” Fiona muttered.

My eyes Eicked to the mirror again.

bWas /bthis really me? Was I really about to walk down the aisle! For the past couple years bI /bbhad /bimagined myself doing this with George beside me, alive and breathing

Not to mention him.

His family

Dmitri

bHe /bwould be here. Somewhere. Sitting just a few rows away, watching bas /bhis older brother married the woman he was supposed to spend his life bwith/b. Watching me bin /bba /bdress that wasn’t meant for him, bwith /ba name that bwould /bnever belong to him now,

Would he speak

Would he storm out!

Would he sit quietly, doing nothing–just staring?

My throat tightened.

Would any of it matter now!

Sull

I wasn’t ready to see Dmitri. Not really. Not when a part of me still flinched at the memory of finding him with someone else. Not when the thought of him looking at me with anything other than regret or heartbreak made my stomach twist.

? give me away and my mother was attending my wedding in a wheelchair.

Now! I didn’t even bhave /bba /bfather to p

bBut /bthat was okay. I had made peace bwith /bbit /b

I would walk myself down that baisle/b.

1 had walked myself through so many things already. I could do this too.

I stood as the stylists backed away, their job done. Alex bid me a loud. See you out there! as he left taking mom along with him in her wheekhair. Like we bhad /bdecided earlier.

Fiona ced the bouquet bgently /bin my hands, and Rachel gave my arm a small squeeze. I looked down at the roses pale pink and white–and drew bin /bba /bslow, careful breath.

Then I stepped forward.

The hallway outside was quiet. The air felt thicker now, like the calm before ba /bstorm. My heels echoed lightly against the polished floor as I moved. At the end of the hallway, double doors stood open. Music floared softly from the courtyard ahead, the beginning notes of the wedding march filtering in from the string quartet ying near the altar.

Sunlight flooded the corridor as I walked into it, nked on both sides by Fiona and Rachel. The veil over my face added a dreamlike haze to everything, but even through it, Lcould make our the bvivid /bbursts of color–the lush floral arrangements lining the aisle, the sea of guests in summer silks, the white rose petals scattered beneath my feet.

My eyes obviously scanned the room quickly, trying to find

My motherb, /bseated at the front. I rxed as soon bas /bIid eyes on her. Beside her sat Alex, dabbing at the corner of his eyes with a tissue like this was the most dramatic moment of his life.

But none of that held my attention for long when I turned my gaze to blook /bforward.

Because standing at the baltar/b, in a crisp white tailored suit that fit him like it had been sewn onto his frame, was Niki,

And he bwas /blooking

Not smirking. Not teasing. bNot /bbeing his busual /btoo–slick–for–his–own–good self. He looked stunned–Like he hadn’t expected me to look like this. bHis /bjaw bwas /bclenched slightly, and bfor /bonceb, /bI couldn’t read his expression.

Or surprise!

1stepped forward slowly, feeling my heartbeat sync to the sound of the quartet’s soft harmonies.

One step. Another. Each footfall echoing in my bears /blouder bthan /banything else.

Niki’s eyes didn’t move from mine.

And then-

Lawhim

8:40 PM

Just beyond the baisle/b.

Standing near the bback /brow.

Dmitri

His face pale.

His eyes wide with disbelief.

Like he was watching ba /bghost walk down the aisle.

And for a single, splintered second–I couldn’t breathe.

My heart stuttered, and I forgot everything where I was, who I was walking toward, what this day even meant

Because those eyes–bthe /bbsame /bones that bused /bto blook /bat me like bI /bwas everything–now looked at me like I was a stranger.

A stranger about to be his brother’s wife.

色