Chapter 4
The double doors stood slightly ajar, framing a view of the grand foyer bathed in the afternoon light. Standing right in the center of the threshold was Elena. She looked breathtaking in her custom white wedding gown, the intricate lace train pooling behind her on the marble floor like seafoam. A sparkling tiara rested upon her dark, perfectly coiffed hair, and a sheer veil cascaded down her back. She was checking her reflection in a tall gilt-framed mirror by the coat room, adjusting the diamond drop earrings that caught the light of the massive crystal chandelier overhead. She didn't look back as Julian approached; she assumed he was still in the parlor, safely out of sight until the processional music cue. Julian stopped a few paces behind her, his footsteps entirely silent on the thick runner rug. He watched her profile—the sharp line of her jaw, the calm, almost bored expression she wore while waiting for the cue to walk down the aisle. There was no trace of nervousness, no sign of the emotional turmoil that usually accompanied a wedding day. She was simply executing a transaction, sealing a merger of estates and social standing. The realization hit Julian with the force of a physical blow. He had been chosen not for love, but for his rising political ambitions and his unblemished public image, which would help legitimize the family name after her father's scandals. And Clara, a product of a previous, messy chapter Elena preferred to forget, was an inconvenient loose end to be tied up and thrown away. Julian stared at the back of her pristine gown, feeling a cold detachment replace the warmth he had once felt for her. The silence between them stretched out, thick and heavy, until Elena finally turned around, her practiced smile ready for her groom.
