Chapter 1: on our wedding day

Naomi’s POV

[Your sister is in bed with your fiancé.]

My phone lit up on the vanity table, buzzing right next to my hairpins. I picked it up, expecting another reminder from the wedding planner, but three photos downloaded on the screen instead.

In the first shot, Phoebe was lying under the dark duvet in Stefan’s bed, her bare shoulder resting inches from his chest. Stefan was asleep beside her without a shirt on.

I knew that bedroom. I had lived at the Catwright estate for six months trying to make this arranged marriage work. I knew the dark walnut headboard, the heavy gray sheets, and the silver watch he always took off and left on his nightstand before going to sleep.

My own sister was naked in my fiancé’s bed on the morning of our wedding.

“Naomi, the cars are outside!” my mother called through the bedroom door. “Your father is waiting downstairs!”

“Give me five minutes,” I yelled back. My voice sounded hollow, like it belonged to someone else.

My wedding dress was already on, the heavy ivory skirt pooling around my feet, but my veil was still draped over the back of the chair. I didn’t touch it. I grabbed my phone, unlocked my bedroom door, and headed down the stairs.

My mother, Katerina, was standing near the mirror adjusting a diamond earring. When she heard my footsteps and saw my bare hair, her eyebrows drew together.

“Where is your veil?” she asked, looking irritated. “The cars have been idling for twenty minutes, Naomi. Everyone is already at the venue.”

“Where is Phoebe?” I asked.

“Upstairs, I suppose. Why does that matter right now?”

I unlocked the screen, brought up the photos, and shoved the phone right in front of her face. “Does this matter?”

My mother took the phone. She swiped from the first picture to the second, then to the third. Her face didn’t change at all. There was no gasp, no anger, and none of the outrage a normal parent would have after seeing one daughter in bed with the other daughter’s fiancé hours before the ceremony.

My father walked out of his study, adjusting the cuffs of his suit jacket. He stopped when he saw the two of us standing in the middle of the room.

“What is going on here?” he asked. “Naomi, why are you not in the bridal car?”

He took the phone from Katerina’s hand. As he looked down at the display, his eyes narrowed.

“Who sent these to you?”

“An unknown number,” I replied. “Phoebe was in Stefan’s bedroom last night. That is his watch on the table. She was in his bed.” I cried out .

Then I heard footsteps descending the staircase.

Phoebe walked down the steps wearing a black, backless satin gown. It had nothing to do with the wedding colors, but she wore it anyway. Her hair was pinned up, her makeup was flawless, and her lips curled into an easy, arrogant grin the second she saw me holding my bouquet like a weapon.

I walked straight up to the base of the stairs.

“Did you sleep with Stefan?” I asked.

Phoebe glanced at our mother, then brought her chin up without blinking. “You already know the answer.”

“Say it.”

She shrugged, leaning on the wooden banister. “I went over to the Catwright house last night to see him.”

“And?”

“We spent the night together.”

“Did you end up naked in his bed, yes or no?” I demanded, my hands shaking.

“He isn’t your husband yet, is he?” she threw back with a smirk.

Phoebe had hated me for as long as I could remember. In her mind, everything I had ever received was something stolen from her. When the Catwright family approached my father to arrange an alliance, Phoebe had screamed for days, claiming she deserved to be the future Luna instead. She wanted Stefan from the moment his name was brought to the house

“You knew I was marrying him today.”

“And you knew he never wanted you,” Phoebe replied. “You were only picked because you were born first. That doesn’t mean Stefan actually wants you as his wife.”

“Phoebe, shut your mouth,” my father snapped, stepping forward.

“No, let her talk,” I told him. “She’s been waiting to say this for months.”

Phoebe took another step down. “You lived in his house for six months pretending you two were building something real. If he cared about you so much, why did he let me into his bedroom last night?”

Katerina set the phone down on the console table. “There is no reason to make this a public disgrace.”

I turned on my mother. “My sister was in bed with my fiancé last night, and your only concern is a public disgrace?”

“Phoebe did nothing wrong if Stefan wanted her there,” Katerina answered smoothly. “A man like Stefan doesn’t invite a woman into his bed by accident.”

Hearing those words come out of my mother’s mouth made my stomach churn.

My father rounded on her. “How can you say that to Naomi?”

“Because she needs to face reality,“mom fired back. “The Bellaris and the Catwrights founded this pack together. Our grandfathers built this alliance to keep our family afloat, and our business contracts depend on this wedding happening today. If Naomi wants to walk away because her feelings are hurt, Phoebe can put on the dress right now. Stefan has already made his preference clear, and Phoebe has always been far better suited to be Luna anyway.”

I stared at my mother, feeling like the ground had dropped out from under my feet.

I had spent my whole life watching Katerina favor Phoebe, excusing her cruel behavior and giving her everything she asked for, but I never imagined she would try to hand my wedding over to her.

“You knew,” I whispered, looking between them. “

“I am protecting the Bellari name,” Katerina said, unbothered. “The guests are waiting. The elders are already seated in the hall. If you cannot fulfill the arrangement, your sister will step in.”

Phoebe stood behind her, a triumphant glint in her eyes.

My father took my arm and walked me several paces down the hallway toward his study, putting distance between us and them.

“Naomi,” he said quietly. “Listen to me.”

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my breathing under control.

“Your mother is not making this decision for you,” he told me. “Our family needs this alliance, and every elder in the city is sitting in that hall right now, but I will not force you to marry him. If you want me to call the venue and cancel the entire ceremony, I will do it right now. The choice is yours.”

I looked back down the hallway at Phoebe, who was leaning near the banister watching me like a vulture.

If I walked away, our family name would be ruined, and Phoebe would get the exact life she had spent months trying to steal from me. But it wasn’t just anger stopping me.

I loved Stefan.

When my father first proposed the Catwright arrangement, I had agreed because I thought it was just a business agreement to help my family. But when I moved into the Catwright estate six months ago, I decided to give it an honest chance. I learned the weight he carried as the future Alpha, and I fell in love with him.

I wasn’t going to throw six months of my life away because of an anonymous message and Phoebe’s smug mouth. If Stefan truly didn’t want me, I wanted to hear him say it to my face.

I requested for my purse from the maid.

“I’m going to the wedding,” I said.

Phoebe’s smirk dropped. “After seeing those pictures?”

“You said Stefan never wanted me,” I told her, pinning the lace into my hair. “I’ll let him tell me that himself.”