13
~Elara's POV
I sat back on my bed, my fingers running over the soft blanket like it could distract me from the endless boredom eating me up inside. The room was huge, quiet, too quiet. The kind of quiet that made my thoughts louder, heavier. I stared up at the ceiling, counting the tiny carvings on the beams for the hundredth time. Each minute felt like an hour. I could almost hear my heartbeat echo in the silence.
I sighed deeply, grabbing a pillow and hugging it to my chest. "What am I even doing?" I muttered to myself. I wanted to move around, to just do something, maybe look through the house, see what this massive place actually looked like. It was our honeymoon home, after all. But then my chest tightened at the thought of bumping into him, Alpha Darlon.
The Ice Alpha. The man people feared to even look at twice.
My husband.
"Yeah, no," I whispered to myself, shaking my head. "Not today."
The thought of seeing him again made my stomach twist. I could already imagine that unreadable expression of his, cold eyes, strong jaw, the face that never gave anything away. What if he still looked mad? Or worse, what if he just ignored me like last night meant nothing?
Nope. Not risking that.
So, I stayed.
After what felt like hours of doing nothing, I forced myself up and walked to the bathroom. The cold water from the shower made me gasp a little, but it also helped clear my head. When I came out, I wrapped a towel around myself and stared at my reflection. My hair was still wet, falling messily over my shoulder. My eyes looked tired. My lips… well, they still felt weirdly warm from last night's almost-kiss.
I swallowed hard and looked away.
I didn't even know what I was expecting anymore. A smile? A good morning? Maybe him asking if I slept well? But Darlon wouldn't be that kind of man. He wouldn't be the type to hold you or whisper sweet words. He was power and silence mixed, the kind of man people didn't dare approach unless he called them first.
And me? I was just the hefty, awkward Luna who didn't even know how to act around him.
I put on a light skirt and a cream-colored blouse, simple, soft, nothing that would draw too much attention. I tied my hair loosely and walked toward the window. The sunlight poured in gently, and when I pulled the curtains aside, I saw it, the ocean. Vast, endless, glimmering like a sea of melted glass.
It was beautiful. The waves rolled and crashed in the distance, calm but strong. A part of me wished I could just run down there barefoot, feel the sand, and forget everything. But no. The thought of meeting him somewhere along the way made me freeze right in place.
So, I stood there quietly, just watching the water.
"This should feel like a dream," I said softly, pressing my forehead against the glass. "But it doesn't. It feels… lonely."
I sighed again and reached for my phone on the nightstand. My thumb hovered over the screen for a moment before I finally unlocked it. Scrolling a bit could help me stop thinking. Maybe if I got lost online, I could forget for a few minutes that I was sitting alone in this giant room, on what was supposed to be my honeymoon.
I turned on the Wi-Fi, and the notifications flooded in. The network was buzzing as always, news articles, gossip pages, trending tags about alliances and ceremonies. I started scrolling without much focus, just looking at whatever popped up, until something stopped me cold.
A headline.
"The Mysterious Alpha Darlon Finally Married; Bride's Identity Still Unknown."
My heart skipped. I blinked twice, reading it again, as if the words would somehow change the second time. But no, they didn't. My fingers moved before I could even think. I clicked on it instantly.
The article opened, and there he was, Darlon. My husband. The Alpha, everyone called the Ice King. He stood there in a perfectly tailored black suit, looking every bit the untouchable man the world saw him as. His eyes looked sharp, cold, and powerful. The kind of gaze that could make anyone flinch.
But then… There was me, or rather, there wasn't.
Next to him was just space.
They had cropped me out completely.
The photo looked like he was standing alone at his own wedding. Like he had married no one. Like I didn't even exist.
My lips parted slightly, a small sound leaving me, half a laugh, half a sigh. "Wow," I whispered, trying to make it sound light, but it came out shaky. "That… actually hurts a little."
It felt like someone had just erased me with a single click. Like I was invisible all over again.
I scrolled down, and the comments started loading, hundreds of them.
"Whoever his wife is, she must be insanely gorgeous."
"No way he'd marry someone ordinary."
"Probably some rich Alpha's daughter."
"Maybe he was forced into it."
"Alpha Darlon doesn't do simple weddings. Something's off."
"Imagine being married to a man that scary. I'd faint every day."
The words flashed past like daggers, each one sharper than the last. My throat tightened. My chest felt heavy. I could almost hear their voices in my head, mocking, curious, cruel.
And then I saw the one that made me stop breathing for a second.
"If she's ugly, I pity her. He'll freeze her heart out before the year ends."
My fingers stilled. The room felt smaller all of a sudden. The air was thicker.
Ugly.
Freeze her heart out.
Before the year ends.
I stared at the screen for so long that the words started to blur together. My vision grew misty, and I blinked hard, but it didn't help.
Maybe… maybe they were right.
Maybe I really wasn't what he wanted.
Maybe he regretted this marriage, regretted me.
Maybe that was why he'd pushed me away last night, his face unreadable, his tone distant. Maybe that kiss, the one that made my heart race, meant nothing to him. Maybe I was just a duty, a name on a scroll, a formality he needed to fulfill.
"Maybe I'm just another mistake in his perfect life," I whispered. My voice cracked a little at the end, and it made me wince.
I set the phone down on my lap and took a deep breath. But no matter how many times I tried to inhale deeply, the sting in my chest didn't ease. It only grew heavier.
I wiped at my face, realizing too late that a tear had slipped down my cheek. I brushed it away quickly, as if someone might walk in and see it, see me looking weak.
"It'd be better if I just stay hidden," I whispered, barely audible even to myself. "If they never find out who I am."
The words came out bitter. But they were true.
If no one knew who I was, they couldn't compare me. They couldn't judge how plain I looked next to him. They couldn't laugh at the way my body curved where others were slim. They couldn't mock how awkwardly I spoke or how shy I seemed beside the Ice Alpha.
It would be easier this way.
Easier for everyone.
Maybe even easier for him.
I picked the phone back up and scrolled through the comments again, slower this time. It was like watching strangers dissect my worth with careless words. They didn't even know me, none of them did, but still, they had already decided who I was.
Someone unworthy.
Someone forgettable.
Someone who didn't belong beside him.
And the worst part? I almost agreed.
I turned the phone off and placed it facedown on the bed.
The screen went black, and suddenly, it was just me, my reflection staring back like some stranger I didn't recognize.
"Look at you, Elara," my mind whispered, sharp and cruel.
"Red eyes, messy hair, lips that still ache from a kiss that wasn't even meant for you. You look pathetic."
I swallowed, but the lump in my throat stayed. The more I stared, the harder it got to breathe.
"This is what he sees, isn't it?" I thought bitterly.
"A tired, swollen-faced girl pretending she belongs in a world that doesn't even want her."
"Staying hidden is better," I said again, as if saying it twice would make it easier to accept.