The next morning, a loud noise woke Elara up. It was the sound of voices arguing downstairs. Her head felt heavy, and her eyes were sore from a night without sleep. The memory of yesterday hit her like a physical blow. The wedding that never happened. The empty altar. Cassian's quiet voice saying, "He was with Lena."
She pulled on her robe and slowly walked downstairs. Her body felt stiff, like she had been in a fight.
The scene in the living room made her stop at the doorway. Her parents were there, and in the middle of the room stood Lena. She looked tired but had a strange, triumphant smile on her face. She wasn't wearing the dusky rose maid of honor dress anymore, but simple jeans and a shirt.
"You have some nerve coming here, Lena!" Elara's mother, Serena, said, but her voice was more hurt than angry.
"Mom, please, just let me explain," Lena said, her voice sweet and pleading. "You don't understand what really happened."
It was then that Lena noticed Elara standing in the doorway. A flash of guilt crossed her face, but it was quickly replaced by a look of fake sympathy.
"Elara," Lena said, walking towards her. "I'm so, so sorry you had to find out that way."
"Find out what?" Elara asked, her voice a dry whisper. "That my husband left me for my sister on our wedding day?"
"It wasn't like that!" Lena cried, turning back to their parents. "It's not some dirty secret. Aris and I… we were in love first."
Elara felt the air leave her lungs. Her parents stared, shocked.
"What are you talking about?" their father, Robert, demanded.
Lena took a deep breath, ready to tell her story. "Aris and I dated for almost a year. It was a secret because he was worried about the family business, about people thinking he was playing favorites. But we were serious."
She looked at Elara with fake sadness. "Then he met you, Elara. You were so quiet and… sweet. His family pressured him. They said a stable, gentle woman like you was a better public image for a Thorne than someone like me, who is more… ambitious. He felt trapped. He thought marrying you was the 'right thing' to do."
Elara's mother put a hand over her heart. "Oh, Lena…"
"But yesterday," Lena continued, her eyes shining with fake tears, "he looked at me as I was helping him get ready. He realized he was making the biggest mistake of his life. He couldn't go through with it. He couldn't break your heart, Elara, by marrying you when he loved me. So, we left. It was a moment of pure panic and love. It was the only way to be honest."
The room was silent. The story was a perfect, beautiful lie. It made Aris and Lena look like tragic, romantic heroes instead of a selfish man and a betraying sister.
"So, you see," Lena said softly, looking at their parents. "It wasn't to hurt anyone. It was to fix a mistake before it was too late. We're truly, deeply in love."
Elara's father let out a long sigh. "Well… when you explain it like that… it was a terrible way to handle it, Lena, but I can understand the pressure."
"Understand?" Elara whispered, the word tearing from her throat. "You understand?"
They all looked at her. The pain was so sharp it was hard to breathe. "He left me alone in front of everyone. He humiliated me. And you," she said, looking straight at Lena, "you were my sister. You stood beside me, you helped me get dressed, and you knew you were going to take him from me."
"It wasn't like that, Elara!!" Lena insisted. "It was a last-minute decision!"
"Get out," Elara said, her voice trembling with a fury she didn't know she had.
"Elara, please," her mother said, stepping forward. "Let's be a bit reasonable here.. So, let's just all calm down and talk about this as a family."
"Be reasonable? A family?" Elara let out a bitter, broken laugh. "You're taking her side? After what she did?"
"We're not taking sides, honey," her father said, his voice tired. "We're just trying to understand a very difficult situation."
That was the final blow. Seeing the doubt on their faces, seeing them already forgiving Lena's pretty lie, broke something inside her. She turned around and ran back up the stairs, the sound of her mother calling her name fading behind her.
She locked herself in her old bedroom, the room that had never truly felt like hers. The walls seemed to be closing in. The weight of their betrayal—Aris's, Lena's, and now her parents'—was crushing her. She slid down against the door, crouched on the floor, and buried her face in her knees. The hot, silent tears finally came. She was completely alone.
The room grew dark as the sun set. She didn't move. She had no energy left. She felt empty, a shell of the person she was just two days ago.
Suddenly, a sound pierced the silence. Her phone, lying on the floor beside her, was vibrating. The screen glowed with a number she didn't recognize.
She almost ignored it. Who would be calling her? Everyone she knew was either pitying her or betraying her.
But the phone kept ringing, a persistent, annoying sound in the quiet darkness. With a shaky hand, she finally picked it up.
"Hello?" her voice was hoarse from crying.
A deep, calm, and unfamiliar male voice spoke from the other side.
"Hello? Is this Elara Vance?"