Chapter 200 THE WEDDING CANNOT GO ON
AURORA'S POINT OF VIEW
She suddenly started sobbing, her fake tears streaming down her cheeks, leaving streaks and stains of her mascara. Morgan joined in with a loud cry, bringing the attention of everyone to her.
She jumped suddenly, slamming herself onto the floor. “She tries to kill me! every time…she always tries, a nd never succeeds. She’s the daughter of a whore…..a child of shame, and filth. Please, save my mom and me….save us from Aurora.”
“Morgan, Denise.” Armando hissed, grabbing a screaming Morgan off the floor….or rather, trying to because she pulled him to the floor along with her. “Stop this nonsense, right now! How dare you humiliate your sister and this family like this? And on a night like this?” he snapped, trying to pull Morgan, but she seemed to have the strength of ten hungry wild cats. Because she did not budge.
My eyes moved over to Silas, and he was still…. painfully so. The silence that radiated from Silas Mercer was more terrifying than Morgan’s banshee screams. He stood like a mountain, his eyes unblinking as they tracked the circus show from my stepsister on the floor.
I felt the blood drain from my cheeks, leaving me cold and hollow. The words mistress, bastard, whore didn't just hurt; they were branding irons, searing my skin in front of the most judgmentally lethal people in the country.
I wanted to scream, ‘I’m not the daughter of a mistress….they’re the real illegitimate ones! My mother was married legally to my father. They’re accusing me of their sins.’ But the words didn’t find their way out.
As if my throat was sealed under lock and key, all I could do was stare. I felt it too, the glares of the cair ladies and the grand chair lady of the Orsini clan. The Vaihala didn’t seem angry, sad, or even upset….rather, their faces were an unreadable mask. Unlike the Orsini.
They glared at me with their noses high in the air, shaking their heads with disapproval. This is it. Kai and I cannot be engaged.
It’s over.
Without their approval, the De la Vista family cannot give me away….and Densie must have known that. Which is the reason she's targeting them instead of the Vaihalla.
Unless they give their yes, Armando cannot give me away, and I cannot sign the agreement. The Orsini elders were leaning in now, their disgust palpable….so palpable, it was all I could see no matter where I turned, their loyalty to the bloodline turning into a collective desire to see me erased.
"Save us from Aurora, and her wicked ways!" Morgan shrieked again, her face a mask of calculated madness as she clawed at Armando’s suit.
I looked at my father. He was on his knees, struggling with his own daughter, looking small, weak, and utterly pathetic. He wasn't defending my mother’s honor. He wasn't even defending me. He was just trying to stop the noise.
I knew if Silas decided to turn to Morgan and make her Kai’s bride instead, he would cast me aside in her favor again.
And then, there was Kai.
The grip on my waist didn't loosen. If anything, his fingers dug deeper into my skin, anchoring me to the earth as the world tried to spin me into oblivion. I looked up at him, and for the first time, I saw the true face of the Mercer heir.
He wasn't just angry. He was gone.
The stillness I felt earlier? Yeah, it had turned into something….dangerous. His jaw was so tight I thought his teeth might shatter. He didn't look at Morgan. He didn't look at Denise’s mascara-stained performance. He looked directly at Silas, a silent, lethal challenge passing between father and son.
"Enough," Silas finally spoke. He didn’t shout, nor did he have a microphone, but everyone heard his voice amidst the noise. Denise and Morgan stopped with their antics, turning to him expectantly. I saw it, their smirks, and gleams of victory.
They knew as much as I did that there was no way Silas would let this slide. Kai and I…whatever we have, even if it’s fake or just tethering off the edges to become real, it would end now.
And in front of the most powerful clans in the world, my enemies, the entire world….the entire school.