Chapter 66
From the looks of horror from everyone in the temple, I could tell I was right. Delilah was the one who seized me. With a knife pressed on my throat, my life hanging in the balance.
I was the one who told her about the wedding, I was the one who told her to come and ruin it, but I had been so caught up with my own thing that I had forgotten all about what I told her. I had forgotten that I had gone to meet her to beg her to ruin the wedding for me.
And now, she was finally here, wreaking havoc like I wanted her to.
"Lucian," she spat, her voice dripping with venom. "You beg me to let her go? How ironic. Did you ever beg me to stay? Did you ever fight for me the way you're fighting for her now?"
"Delilah," Lucian said, stepping forward cautiously, his hands raised in surrender. "Please, don't do this. Let her go, and we can talk. Let us talk like adults please."
"Talk?" Delilah laughed again, harsher this time. "You didn't want to talk when you severed our mating bond! You didn't want to talk when I begged you to give me another chance. You didn't want to talk when you abandoned me, cast me aside like I was nothing! You never wanted to talk to me again!"
Her grip on me tightened, and I felt the blade press harder against my skin.
"Delilah, please stop!" Rowan's voice cut through the chaos. His presence at the edge of the hall was commanding, his gaze locked on her. "Put the knife down. You don't have to do this. Arin, she is innocent in all this. She's not the one you should be fighting."
"Stay back!" Delilah snapped, her voice shaking. "Don't come closer. She is human. One wrong move, and she is dead. Is that what you want? Do you want her to die?"
Rowan froze, his hands clenched into fists.
"Why her, Lucian?" Delilah's voice cracked as she turned her gaze back to him. "If you wanted to remarry, why did it have to be her? Why did it have to be this woman?!"
Lucian looked desperate. "Delilah, please—"
"Don't 'please' me!" she screamed. "You're a horrible mate! You betrayed me! You destroyed me, Lucian. You let them all destroy me. Because of you, now I have no life!"
Her eyes darted around the room, landing on Royal Concubine Elana, who sat frozen in shock. "And you," Delilah snarled. "You pushed me to marry him. You told me we were perfect for each other, you promised me that I would be Queen when he became king. You told me we were meant together as the moon goddess ordained it. But when he severed the mating bond you didn't say anything. Look at me now! Look at what your lies have done!"
Tears streamed down her face as she continued, her voice breaking with every word. "My parents abandoned me, they say I am worthless. I cannot go home anymore! They don't want me there. Everyone turned against me. And now you all stand here, ready to celebrate this farce of a wedding as if I never existed."
"It's not even been a year since my son died! And now you do this! How dare you all disrespect me this way! Every one of you moved on and I am unable to!"
"Delilah," a soft voice came from the crowd. Princess Blanca stepped forward, her face pale and tear-streaked. "Please, stop this. This isn't you. Delilah please."
Delilah's eyes flicked to Blanca, and for a moment, something shifted in her expression. But then her gaze fell to Blanca's swollen belly, and rage consumed her once more.
"You're pregnant," Delilah hissed, her voice low and venomous. "You'll have a child while mine is gone!"
"Dead! Your child will end up dead too! I promise you that! Do you think this family will cherish your child? Do you think your child will survive in this cursed family? You're a fool for coming back here! You should have stayed in the Western Isles!"
Blanca sobbed, her hands clutching her stomach. "Delilah, please—"
"No!" Delilah shouted. "This family is cursed! Look at them! Look at Rowan!" She pointed a trembling finger at the king. "The crippled deposed crown Prince who finally walked, only to lose the first woman he ever married. She was executed like a common animal! Did any of you know that?! Oh no the crown kept it from you. And Isabelle!" She sneered. "The exile turned queen. The barren queen who will never bear a child."
Her voice rose, frantic and full of despair. "This family is doomed! And now you want to drag her into this?" She shook me slightly, the knife still pressed against my neck. "I'll end it all right here if you don't stop this wedding."
The room was deathly silent. All eyes were on her, but no one dared move.
My heart pounded, my thoughts racing. Delilah was unraveling before my eyes, her pain spilling out for everyone to see. And yet, no one seemed to know what to do.
I suddenly felt very stupid. I shouldn't have told Delilah about the wedding. Clearly I had underestimated how mad she had gone.
"Delilah," I said softly, surprising even myself. Her gaze snapped to mine, her wild eyes narrowing.
"What?" she demanded.
"You don't have to do this," I whispered, my voice shaking but steady. "There's still a way to make things right."
She stared at me, her grip on the knife faltering for just a moment. But it was enough.
"Delilah," Rowan's voice came again, firm but gentle. "Put the knife down. Please."
Her hand trembled, her face crumpling as tears streamed down her cheeks. For a moment, I thought she might actually let go. But then her grip tightened again, and her gaze hardened.
"Stop the wedding," she demanded, her voice low and trembling. "Or I swear, she dies."
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