Chapter 1

The whispers in Havenwood never really stopped, not for eight long years.

They called it the "Thorne Curse."

Julian Thorne was the "Groom of Death."

Eight women, all engaged to him, all dead.

Each one on the night before her wedding.

Found the same way, brutal, like some sick ritual.

They said their hearts were cut out.

My sister, Emily, was the first. Eight years ago.

The police said she went crazy, killed herself. I never believed it.

Today, I told Havenwood I was going to marry Julian Thorne.

I would be the ninth.

I had to know what happened to Emily.

My father, Dr. Miller, the town doctor, looked at me.

His face was like stone.

He didn't yell, not at first.

Then the words came out, cold and sharp.

"You are no daughter of mine."

It was the same coldness he showed when Emily died.

No tears, no comfort. Just... nothing.

Emily was found in her wedding dress, torn.

The report said she clawed at her own chest, that her heart was... gone.

I remembered her laughing, full of life, excited to marry Julian.

It didn't make sense.

The anger for Emily, for the truth, burned in me.

Father just said, "The coroner was clear. Suicide."

He turned away. That was it.