Chapter 34 The Wedding.. is over
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"Deborah? What are you doing?! Are you trying to ruin everything again?!" Aston’s voice trembled with anger, frustration, and panic. Reporters and cameras surrounded the church, flashes bursting in every direction. Everyone’s attention was on Deborah, confusion and whispers spreading like wildfire through the crowd.
“That woman...she’s a traitor!” Deborah’s voice rang out, firm and trembling with fury. “She’s the one who leaked our financial information! She’s the one who spread those headlines claiming I sabotaged your wedding preparations! I have proof!”
“That’s not true, Aston… please, listen to me!” Selene’s voice cracked, her eyes wide with fake innocence. “She just wants to destroy my reputation with you! She’s lying!”
The crowd erupted into chaos, murmurs, gasps, and the sound of cameras clicking wildly. The atmosphere in the church shifted from sacred to scandalous in a matter of seconds. Selene’s trembling lips parted, but no words came out. The once perfectly curated bride, dressed in her ivory gown, now looked cornered, pale, exposed, and terrified.
Aston’s jaw clenched as he slowly turned to face her. His eyes, dark and unreadable, were no longer filled with the blind affection Selene had always relied on. Instead, there was a cold, cutting calm, the kind that came from a man who already knew the truth.
“Enough,” Aston said quietly, his voice slicing through the noise.
The murmurs died down, the media falling into a tense silence. Deborah’s chest rose and fell as she looked at him, confused, afraid this would turn against her again. But Aston’s gaze never wavered.
“I knew,” he continued, stepping closer to Selene. “I knew about everything. The leaks. The financial breach. Even the staged headlines. You played your part well, Selene. You made sure the world saw Deborah as the villain while you smiled for the cameras. But I'm not dumb.”
Selene froze. “Aston… w-wait, you don’t understand—”
“I understand perfectly,” he cut in sharply. “You were collaborating with someone from Geneva. Someone who had access to our systems.”
And as if on cue, the church doors burst open. Knight and Caelum entered, flanking a tall man in a charcoal suit. His presence alone commanded silence. Cameras shifted to him, reporters whispering furiously.
Deborah’s eyes widened, it was the same man who had spoken to her weeks ago in private, the one who warned her that someone was tampering with their financial database.
Knight’s voice was cold as steel. “This man also works for a data firm in Geneva. He confessed that he’d been in contact with Selene for months. She paid him to hack Valmere accounts and leak sensitive information. As well as Samuel.”
Gasps filled the church. Selene stumbled backward, her hands shaking. “That’s a lie! They’re framing me!”
But Caelum’s expression hardened. His steps were measured, heavy with fury, as he approached her. “No,” he said, his voice low. “That slap is for you being a traitor.”
The sound of his palm meeting her cheek echoed through the church, silencing even the media. Selene’s head snapped to the side, her veil trembling as she let out a choked sob.
Then Knight stepped forward. “And this one,” he said, slapping her as well, “is for what you did to Deborah.”
Lysander followed, his tone cold, controlled. “For dragging our family’s name into the mud just to get what you want.”
Selene’s mascara ran down her cheeks, her perfect bridal image crumbling into something pitiful and desperate. The guests whispered among themselves, phones raised, flashes blinding.
“You’ll regret this,” Selene spat, trembling. “You’ll all regret this!”
Aston’s voice cut through her rage, calm and devastating. “No, Selene. The only one who’ll regret anything… is you.”
He turned to Deborah then, his eyes softening, guilt flickering beneath the steel. “You were right all along,” he murmured, his voice barely audible over the chaos. “I just needed proof. You knew I didn't know, Selene... but.... I just playing with you all along. You think I will choose you over my sister?”
Deborah’s throat tightened, tears threatening to fall, but she held herself tall. For the first time, the world saw her not as the villain in Selene’s story, but as the woman who refused to be silenced.
The man from Geneva stepped forward, lowering his head. “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t know it would go this far. She said it was only for business leverage.” His voice trembled, desperate, but no one in the Valmere family believed him.
Caelum’s eyes darkened. “You expect forgiveness after what you did?” He punched the man across the jaw, sending him crashing onto the marble floor. The sound of it echoed through the church, and gasps rippled through the guests. Knight pulled him up by the collar, his glare sharp as a blade. “You don’t touch a Valmere’s empire and walk away clean.”
The man groaned, clutching his face, but didn’t dare speak again. His silence was enough to confirm every truth Deborah had fought to prove.
Selene collapsed to her knees, her hands trembling as her veil slipped from her hair and fluttered across the marble floor. The once-perfect image of grace now lay shattered at her feet.
Deborah took a deep breath, her voice steady as she whispered, “You took everything from me, Selene, my reputation, my peace, my family’s trust. But you forgot one thing. The truth always finds its way out.”
Selene’s eyes widened, her lips parting with disbelief, but Aston no longer looked at her. His expression had hardened into something final. "You're right, Debs.... The truth always finds its way out. And I'm waiting for yours." Selene said while smirking.
Aston took one last look at the chaos surrounding them, the destroyed decorations, the frightened guests, and the cameras flashing endlessly, before turning away completely.
“The wedding,” he said flatly, looking at Selene with complete detachment, “is over.”