ered was the cold, dust

d stopped hur

ness now, a hollow space

cold as he watched me starve, his voice a cr

child die inside me as I knelt before a shrine

I wok

flying to my stomach. It was flat, but not with the emptiness of st

n't a nightmare.

s my wedding

iliar. It was happening again. The grand hall of the Stone family estate was filled with the most powerful p

ard press of a bla

pered softly. We were both on our knees, cap

ripple through the c

ll Liam

s mistress. He named that new sh

ted this arranged marriage anyway. Maybe he'

iliar tune, one I ha

k of stone. His expression was impossible to

" he said, hi

y. She was the woman he loved, the one he flaunted despite his family' s disapproval. Our engagement wa

d said "I do" to the arran

d me for it

middle of our conversations. A single text from her, a tear she shed, a smile she gave hi

knife to my back laughed

hundred million dollars each. You can only

r into my back. It was

a faint cry. "Li

s all i

red at the edges. He looked at me then, for the first time in what felt like

were explaining a simple business decision. "Brittany

ing the words h

arents. I' ll make sure the Kingston Corporation is looked aft

m was a chilling sense of entitlement. He was offering my fa

y. I stared right back at him, the man

family if you don' t choose me today?" I asked, my voice clear and steady.

m like a physical bl

?" he asked, his voice dro

chilling

dream was to marry Liam, even knowing he loved someone else. She w

n a cold basement, he

awak

be warmed. The boy I thought I was going to marry,

ut today is our wedding. The security is extremely tight. If Brittany' s presenc

a fortress. Not even a fly was supposed to get in without an invitati

concern for Brittany, now turned wary and fierce. He was looki

s in the cr

get in without

have planned this? To f

ybe.

ice boomed from the side.

tion, the elders and family heads, and one for us, the younger peers. T

oom, touching up my makeup.

ears in her eyes. "You' re a Kingston. You have

in our past life, begging her to leav

ll pain exploded in the bac

on my knees, a k