Mikhail stood still at the altar. Regal. Handsome. Silent.His eyes didn’t move once. He looked through Lana, like she was glass. His jaw was tight, his expression unreadable, carved from the same cold stone that surrounded us in the towering chapel. He didn’t offer her a smile. He didn’t reach for
E M O R YThe ceremony was at sunset.It was finally time to drive to the venue of the wedding, at a big castle-like church. The decorated car was parked outside, ribbons and white orchids weaved through the handles, a string of golden bells tied to the back bumper to sing the beginning of a new cha
"You think you’re the only one who’s scared? You think I didn’t cry the first night I realized what I’d have to do to get Sebastian back? I watched that bitch Laura win his heart. I watched him smile at her the way he used to smile at me, and I swallowed it. I bled inside, but I waited. I worked. I
E M O R YIt was finally happening.All the pieces I’d been carefully moving across the board for the last two years were clicking into place. After all the late-night planning, lies, whispered threats, and calculated sacrifices, we were standing on the edge of victory. My wedding was in two days. L
I wanted to be sick.“You’re gonna look so stunning,” one of the artists said softly, not realizing she was speaking to a corpse in silk. “He won’t be able to take his eyes off you.”But I didn’t want Mikhail to look at me out of obligation. I didn’t want his eyes to land on me and feel trapped. I w
L A N AI imagined walking down the aisle, Mikhail waiting at the altar. He wouldn't smile. He wouldn't reach for me with warmth. He’d stand there because he had to. Because I gave him no other choice.I saw our wedding photos. I’d be glowing. He’d be cold.I saw our future. A house full of silence.