Artists aren't usually born from the womb with creativity sprouting from their mouths. They're born screaming and crying, bleeding out the emotions they feel. All artists need to start somewhere, and for Sunflower Keynes, that meant working in her brother's liquor store during the summer. From the moment Nero and Blaise King stepped into the liquor store, Sunflower's life flipped over. As she fell deeper into the King family's lives, secrets and vengeance lurked around the corner. Would Sunflower crumble under the pressure or would she be able to conquer the darkness around and within her?

Chapter 1 Prologue

I was running out of time.

I didn't know when they would arrive, or if they would even come to rescue me. I glanced at the ticking clock and struggled against the ropes tied around my arms. The cloth in my mouth was drenched in saliva. My screams rose up but the cloth blocked all sounds out except "mmph!"

The door opened, flooding the tiny room with light and my body stilled.

I watched as my captor stood in front of me. He took a lighter out from his pocket, smiling. Calm and collected. As if this was a nice dinner meeting at a good old restaurant. Only it wasn't. I was 'dining' with a psychopath.

My captor flicked the switch on the lighter and a flame appeared.

“How about this? I'll give you a head start, see if one of your little lovers make it before you perish. Good luck," he said.

I saw the look in his eyes before he ripped the cloth from my mouth.

"Oops. Almost forgot. I'll come back, with some good old gasoline. You want to know where I'll put that, don't you? Well, you'll have to wait and see.”

I kept begging for someone to show up, anyone to rescue me. As the tears slid down my face, I thought of my impending doom.

Would this be the end for me?