CHAPTER 1 – The Wedding That Was Never Meant to End
The ballroom fell silent.
More than four hundred guests—politicians, celebrities, CEOs, and reporters—watched as the bride suddenly stopped walking toward the altar.
Emily Carter's trembling hands tightened around her bouquet.
The orchestra continued playing for three awkward seconds before the conductor slowly lowered his baton.
Something was terribly wrong.
Standing beneath a cathedral of crystal chandeliers, Alexander Blackwood—the billionaire heir everyone admired—didn't smile at his bride.
Instead...
He grabbed both of her shoulders.
Hard.
His fingers dug into her skin just enough to make her flinch.
To everyone watching, it looked romantic.
To Emily...
It felt like a warning.
She looked into his icy blue eyes, searching for the man she had fallen in love with.
He was gone.
Alexander leaned close enough that no microphone could hear him.
Only she could.
"Smile."
His voice was calm.
"If a single tear falls before we finish the ceremony..."
"...your father won't live to see tomorrow."
Emily stopped breathing.
For a split second she thought she had imagined the words.
But then Alexander slightly turned his wrist.
Hidden beneath his tuxedo cuff was a tiny earpiece.
Someone was talking to him.
He answered almost invisibly.
"Stand by."
Emily's heart nearly exploded.
Her father had disappeared three hours earlier.
His phone had gone straight to voicemail.
Everyone assumed he had been delayed by bad weather.
Only now did she realize...
He hadn't missed the wedding.
He had been taken.
A cold shiver crawled down her spine.
"Please..." she whispered.
"What have you done?"
Alexander's expression never changed.
"I warned him not to keep secrets from me."
Emily stared at him in disbelief.
"What secret?"
He smiled for the photographers.
Flash.
Flash.
Flash.
The guests applauded, believing they were witnessing an emotional wedding moment.
No one noticed the tears gathering in Emily's eyes.
Except one woman.
Standing in the third row was Olivia Blackwood—Alexander's older sister.
Her face turned pale.
She covered her mouth in horror.
She had heard enough to understand this wasn't a loving conversation.
Something sinister was happening.
Across the room, security guards quietly locked every entrance.
No guest seemed to notice.
Champagne continued flowing.
The wedding livestream reached nearly two million viewers.
The world celebrated the fairy-tale marriage.
Only the bride knew...
She was walking into a prison.
The minister opened the ceremony.
"We are gathered here today..."
Emily barely heard the words.
Her mind replayed the last forty-eight hours.
Her father's desperate phone call.
The mysterious envelope left outside her apartment.
The unsigned message.
DON'T MARRY HIM.
Inside the envelope had been a single photograph.
A young woman wearing a wedding dress.
Standing beside Alexander.
The date printed on the back was exactly three years earlier.
But there was one terrifying detail.
Emily had searched every newspaper, every website, every social media account.
There was no record that Alexander had ever been engaged.
It was as if the woman...
...had never existed.
She wanted to confront him.
But then her father vanished.
And now...
Alexander was threatening his life.
The minister smiled.
"Do you, Alexander Blackwood, take Emily Carter..."
Alexander answered without hesitation.
"I do."
The crowd applauded.
The cameras zoomed in on Emily.
Every television screen in the ballroom displayed her face.
She looked trapped.
Terrified.
Broken.
The minister turned toward her.
"And do you, Emily Carter..."
Before she could answer...
A loud metallic crash echoed through the ballroom.
Every guest turned toward the massive entrance doors.
One of them had slowly swung open by itself.
A cold wind rushed inside.
Standing in the doorway was an elderly man in a rain-soaked coat.
His white hair dripped onto the marble floor.
In his shaking hand...
...was a blood-stained leather folder.
He looked directly at Alexander.
Then shouted loud enough for every camera in the room to capture every word.
"Don't let them say 'I do!' That man has already buried two brides!"
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The ballroom exploded into chaos.
End of Chapter 1.
