“Don’t keep replaying yesterday in your head,” Kaelen said over the phone, his tone brisk, as if settling an inconvenience. “I already apologized to Marcella for you.”
“Alright,” Liora replied evenly.
“She thinks weddings are nothing but pageantry,” he continued. “There’s no need to make a fuss. Our mate bond is solid—no rituals or ceremonies are needed to prove that. We’ll keep everything minimal.”
“Do whatever you think is best,” Liora said softly.
By then, her choice had already been made.
This mating ceremony would likely be the most stripped-down one the packs had ever seen.
No ceremonial photos beneath the moon.
No registration with the elders.
No officiating alpha.
And in the end—no bride.
Once the call ended, Liora straightened. Without hesitation, she picked up a thick marker and crossed out Wedding Photoshoot on her calendar, the ink cutting decisively through the words.
Kaelen had always belonged more to his work than to anything else, and Liora had learned long ago not to interrupt him when he was busy. When she began planning the ceremony, she’d bought a special lunar calendar, filling each square with careful notes and quiet hopes. Every date represented a promise she wanted to keep, a dream she believed would finally come true—a once-in-a-lifetime moment she thought she was building toward.
Now, all of that disappeared beneath heavy strokes of black ink, smothered by regret and silence, leaving behind a hollow ache she didn’t bother naming.
She exhaled slowly and looked around the room. The crimson wedding banners and silver charms glared back at her, mocking her with their brightness. It took her the rest of the day to dismantle what she had so carefully arranged—pulling down decorations, folding fabrics, erasing the evidence of a dream that no longer belonged to her.
By nightfall, however, Kaelen’s name was everywhere.
“To make his beloved smile, the Alpha CEO spends eight million on a rare antique pearl brooch.”
The image attached was blurry, but the woman at his side was assumed to be Liora.
A quiet, bitter laugh slipped from her throat.
So this was where the funds meant for their ceremony had gone.
Strangely, the realization didn’t hurt as much as she expected. Somewhere along the way, Liora had already closed the door on the sorrow tied to Kaelen.
In the days that followed, he never came home.
Liora didn’t ask where he was. She didn’t prepare meals or leave messages like she used to. Instead, she submitted her resignation, said her farewells to a handful of trusted coworkers, and began quietly telling her friends that she would soon be leaving the country—and the pack lands altogether.
They exchanged looks, their shared sigh heavy with understanding.
“We thought this might happen,” one of them admitted gently.
Without another word, another friend opened Kaelen’s social feed and handed the phone to Liora.
“To outsiders, it probably looks like this is you,” she said carefully. “But we all know… it’s Marcella.”
Only then did everything fully settle into place.
Kaelen had been with Marcella the entire time.
Though he rarely posted anything before, his updates had suddenly become frequent—one after another, all centered around her. They went to amusement parks, wandered through ceremonial shops trying on mating attire, and watched the moon rise together from the peak of a mountain.
His affection wasn’t subtle. It was laid bare for the world to see.
The only thing he’d done to conceal it was block Liora from seeing any of it.
Her friends grew quiet, unease filling the space between them.
“Liora… are you holding up?” one finally asked, worry threading through her voice.
“There’s no point crying over someone like him,” another added quickly. “Kaelen doesn’t deserve you. One day, when Marcella shows her true nature, he’ll regret everything.”
Liora smiled faintly, her gaze drifting to the bustling street beyond the window, where life went on as if nothing had changed.
“It’s alright,” she said calmly. “I really don’t care anymore.” After a pause, she added softly, “But I do need your help with something…”
In just a few days, she would leave this place for good, severing herself from the past entirely. There was no time left to drown in grief over Kaelen.
When he finally returned home after days of silence, Liora felt nothing.
She remained distant, her cool indifference slicing cleanly through the lingering tension. Kaelen, meanwhile, seemed lost in his own world. Even after stepping inside, his attention never wavered from the glowing screen in his hand, his fingers moving rapidly as he typed—completely oblivious to the woman standing only a few steps away.
