Chapter 1

My parents were gone.

Their last wish, a heavy weight on my shoulders, was for me to marry into the Hamilton family.

They said it was for my protection.

An old family understanding, they called it.

They were Lifeweavers, part of a New England folk tradition almost forgotten.

I was the last one.

They left me with hushed warnings about my abilities, about a "life-or-death trial" I would face.

They hinted at a way to "survive through dire straits."

But their words were like mist, hard to grasp.

So, I agreed to marry Ethan Hamilton. He was the heir. It seemed straightforward.

Then, the wedding day came, but it wasn' t my wedding.

Ethan stood at the altar, but Chloe Vance was beside him, not me.

Chloe, with her strange illness and her talk of seeing the future.

A murmur went through the guests. I felt my face burn.

Liam Hamilton, Ethan' s younger half-brother, found me in the chaos.

He was always the charming one, the one with an easy smile.

"Sarah," he said, his voice low and concerned. "This is a disgrace. Ethan has lost his mind."

He stayed by my side, a supposed champion.

Later, things got blurry.

There was a party, a drink I didn't remember finishing.

Then accusations, a staged scene where I looked guilty of something, I don't even know what.

Liam was there, seemingly defending me, yet somehow, I was made to look compromised.

He whispered about needing to protect my reputation, about how he' d always cared.

His words, his apparent self-control in the face of the "scandal," it all worked.

I was disoriented, ashamed, and he was the only one offering a hand.

So, I married Liam Hamilton.

It felt like falling into a deep, dark well, hoping he was the rope.

I didn't know then that he was the one who pushed me.

I didn't know about Chloe, not really.

Not about her desperate need, or what Liam would do to satisfy it.

My parents had warned me about my Lifeweaver blood, its power to subtly shift lives.

They never told me it could be a beacon for monsters.