One Touch, One Truth Chapter 04

One Touch, One Truth Chapter 04

On the day of the Marking Ceremony, I arrived at the venue as planned.

As the makeup artist finished my makeup, she smiled.

“You look beautiful today.”

I looked at my reflection in the mirror.

I truly looked like a bride eagerly waiting to marry the love of her life and seal the mate bond with her mate.

But only I knew the truth.

I wasn’t here to marry Tristan.

I was here to give him and Cora a gift they would never forget.

The makeup artist reached for my veil, then suddenly paused.

“Ms. Monroe… your veil…”

I looked up.

A section along the edge was wrinkled, and there was a faint smear of lipstick on the delicate fabric.

My fingers clenched instantly.

This veil had been sewn by my mother herself before she died.

Back then, she had already been terribly frail.

Her hands shook so badly she could barely hold a needle, yet she still sat up in her hospital bed every day for an entire month, stitching tiny pearls and white roses into the veil one by one.

She had smiled and told me,

“I probably won’t live long enough to see your wedding, Felicity. So let this veil walk beside you in my place. When you wear it, imagine that I’m holding your hand.”

After she passed away, I kept the veil carefully stored away.

I could barely bring myself to touch it.

When I delivered it to the hotel before the ceremony, I repeatedly reminded the staff to keep it separate from everything else.

And now… it was wrinkled. And stained with another woman’s lipstick.

The makeup artist looked embarrassed, “Would you like me to try to fix it?”

I stared at that tiny splash of red. Suddenly, even breathing hurt.

After a long moment, I shook my head, “No. Just leave it.”

The dressing room door opened.

Tristan walked in wearing a black suit.

He looked handsome, refined, and gentle.

If I hadn’t already learned the truth, my heart probably would have skipped a beat at the sight of him.

He stopped behind me and met my gaze in the mirror, “Felicity, you look beautiful today.”

He reached out to straighten my veil. Then he gently cupped my face and leaned in to kiss me.

The moment our breaths mingled, darkness swept across my vision.

Another memory appeared.

It was a private lounge.

Cora was draped in my veil, her lipstick was badly smeared.

“Tristan, have you lost your mind?” she whispered. “In an hour, you’re supposed to seal the mate bond with Felicity.”

Tristan lowered his gaze to her.

His voice was rough and low, “That’s exactly why this has to be the last time.”

Tears rolled down Cora’s cheeks.

“You always say it’s the last time. But every time you see me, you can’t help yourself.”

Tristan didn’t argue. He simply reached up and wiped away her tears.

Cora wrapped her arms around his neck.

As they fell onto the couch together, the veil slipped from her shoulders and drifted down beneath them.

My entire body froze.

In that instant, it felt as though something inside me collapsed completely.

They both knew exactly what that veil meant.

They knew my mother had sewn it by hand while lying on her deathbed.

The day my mother died, both Tristan and Cora had been standing beside her hospital bed.

She had been little more than skin and bones, yet she still held Tristan’s hand and pleaded over and over again,

“I won’t be here to see Felicity get married. Promise me you’ll take good care of her.”

With red-rimmed eyes, Tristan had nodded, “You have my word. I’ll never let Felicity suffer.”

Cora had cried too.

Holding my mother’s hand, she had said, “Don’t worry. I’ll always stay by Felicity’s side. On the day she seals her mate bond with her mate, I’ll walk her down the aisle for you.”

Yet before the ceremony had even begun, they had pinned my mother’s veil beneath them while they had sex on it.

The vision abruptly ended.

I was back in the dressing room.

Tristan was still adjusting my veil as if nothing had happened.

A knock sounded at the door.

Elder Grace’s voice came from outside, “Alpha, Felicity, the ceremony is about to begin.”

Tristan extended his hand toward me, “Ready?”

I looked at that hand.

It was the same hand that had spent entire nights changing cold compresses on my forehead whenever I had a fever.

But now it was also the hand that had caressed Cora.

The hand that had crushed every ounce of my love and devotion into a cruel joke.

Slowly, I placed my hand in his.

Tristan smiled and led me outside.

The grand doors of the ballroom opened.

On the stage, Elder Grace smiled warmly and addressed the crowd.

“Before the ceremony begins, the bride, our future Luna, has requested a special vow-reading.”

“Let’s all hear what she wishes to say to her Alpha.”

Tristan glanced at me, surprise flickering in his eyes, “When did you add that?”

I smiled, “Last night.”

I reached into my clutch and pulled out the sheet of paper.

In the front row, Cora sat watching me with misty eyes.

She probably thought the wedding would proceed exactly as she and Tristan had planned.

What neither of them knew was that the vows I had prepared contained far more than love.

They contained everything I needed to destroy them.

Under the watchful eyes of Tristan’s entire pack, the allied Alphas and Lunas, and all their friends and relatives, I slowly stepped forward and began to speak.

“Today, I am not standing here to become Alpha Tristan’s Luna.”

I paused. A faint smile touched my lips.

“I am standing here to offer my thanks.”

“I want to thank Tristan…”

My gaze shifted to the front row.

“And my best friend, Cora Holt.”