LIORA'S POV
"Dad... I need to talk to you."
My stepmother's fingers wrapped tightly around my elbow.
"Liora, dear… your bag. Mr. Sterling has a business trip and doesn't want to waste any time."
Nobody commented on my ruined wedding dress. Nobody asked about the blood on my palms.
I pulled my arm away from her. "Dad, I said I need to talk to you. Alone."
"Liora," my father forced a smile. "You can talk here. He's family now."
"Family?" I laughed. "Are you serious right now?"
Damien rose from his spot by the fireplace and sat on the sofa, one leg calmly crossed.
Evelyn tugged on my arm again. "Let's go."
"Don't touch her," Damien growled. "Go change.
That dress looks pathetic."
My dad let out a forced laugh. "She's just throwing a tantrum. Come on, Liora. Don't make this any harder than it already is."
“Whatever was going on here... I wouldn't become their victim.”
Evelyn trailed behind me as I walked up to my room.
The second my bedroom door clicked shut, I changed into jeans and a simple T-shirt, locking the door behind me with trembling hands.
I rushed to my closet and pulled out the knotted sheets and clothes I'd prepared weeks ago when Oscar and I had planned to elope.
I forced the window open.
"Liora, dear? Are you ready yet?" My stepmother's sweet, fake voice echoed through the door.
"I'm coming."
I threw the rope out the window and started my descent. My palms burned and tears blurred my vision, but I kept sliding down until my feet finally touched the ground.
Then I looked up—and my blood ran cold.
Damien was standing at the window above, watching me. He had one hand shoved in his pocket while the other held a glass of whiskey.
He smiled and took a sip.
"Liora... are you not done in there?" My stepmother's voice still drifted from the room above.
He didn't move or say a word.
"Liora!" My father's voice shouted from inside the house, followed by a heavy bang against my locked door.
I ran until I reached my mother's old apartment, my lungs burning and my legs trembling under the strain.
As soon as I stepped inside, the familiar scent of vanilla and old books hit me like a warm hug.
For the first time all day, there was silence.
And in that silence... everything hurt at once.
Tears flooded my eyes as I collapsed to the floor and wept. This place was all I had left of her—the memories of her awful pancakes and the way she used to hold me during storms.
I dragged myself up, opened a bottle of wine, and drank straight from it. I desperately wanted to drown out the images of Oscar fucking Dora, my father selling me off, and Damien's suffocating gaze.
Eventually, sheer exhaustion got the better of me.
I dreamed of Damien.
Damien slammed me against the wall as if I weighed nothing.
His mouth attacked my neck with a savage hunger—hot, wet kisses mixed with bites that sent electric shocks straight to my core. My lips betrayed me, parting wide to let him in.
"You're mine tonight, Liora," he growled against my skin. "You won't breathe. You won't move. You won't exist without me."
Heat flooded between my thighs as his hard body pressed against mine, his rough hand slipping beneath my dress.
No... No.
Yet I moved closer to his touch.
He let out a loud, mocking laugh.
I opened my eyes and followed his gaze, my eyes widening in sheer horror.
A knife was buried deep in my stomach.
"What... are—"
The pain tore me apart. Blood spurted out, hot and slick, as he twisted the blade, watching me while I choked on my own scream.
I jolted upright, scrambling backward into the headboard. My hands tightened around the sheets, my body drenched in sweat as I stared down at my stomach.
Nothing. No blood. No knife.
Only the broken wine bottle that had spilled dark red liquid across the white sheets like fresh blood.
I exhaled shakily, running my trembling fingers through my hair.
"Is anyone in here?" A heavy bang shook the front door.
I hurried over and opened it. Two large, rough-looking men stood in the hallway.
"Miss Liora? You need to vacate the property immediately."
"What? What do you mean? I own this apartment. My mother left it to me."
"Not anymore," the tallest one shrugged. "The Sterlings just bought it."
"What do you mean?" I looked back at the room in panic. "Wait, let me get the deed—"
"It doesn't matter anymore," the man cut me off. "You have two days to pack up. This whole block is being demolished for a new Sterling development."
The ground seemed to disappear beneath my feet. The last piece of my mother's legacy... gone. Just like that.
As the men turned to leave, the taller one paused.
"Mr. Sterling left you a message. You have a choice: go to the Sterling mansion tonight, and he'll decide what happens to you from there."
They walked away, but my legs remained frozen to the floor, my knuckles white against the doorframe.
My father had sold the last piece of Mum's legacy to her enemies.
And Damien hadn't chased after me when I ran because he already knew. He had already taken everything... and now he was just waiting for me to walk straight into his hands.
Buzz. Buzz.
My phone rang in the quiet room.
I raised it to my face.
UNKNOWN NUMBER
