Chapter 2: The Shattered Mirror
The groom, Julian, stopped mid-step, his eyes searching his mother’s face. "Mother? What is it?"
The entire room fell into a heavy, suffocating silence. Clara, sensing the shift, turned, her confusion deepening as she saw Eleanor’s terror. Eleanor stepped forward, the socialite mask falling away to reveal a woman haunted by two decades of ghosts.
"Julian," Eleanor said, her voice piercing the silence of the cathedral. "Stop. You cannot do this."
"Stop?" Julian asked, his brow furrowed. "Mother, sit down."
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"I cannot let you marry her," Eleanor sobbed, the sound raw and unpolished. She walked up to the altar, not looking at the guests, not caring about the reporters, not caring about the social standing of the Vance name. She looked at Clara—her daughter—and then at Julian—her son. "Because you share the same father. She is your sister."
The impact was physical. Julian staggered back as if he had been struck. Clara’s hand went to her throat, her face going pale. The realization didn't just break the wedding; it broke the very foundation of their lives.
