Chapter 1 The Wedding that Wasn't

The chapel smelled of roses and sin.

Her hands trembled as she clutched the silk of her gown, not from nerves, but from the weight of secrets pressing down on her chest. She wasn't supposed to be here - not as a bride, not standing beneath crystal chandeliers, not waiting for him. But she had sacrificed everything: her youth, her pride, even her soul, for this man.

Her brother's best friend.

The man who had taught her what love felt like.

The man who was about to betray her.

"Why do you look so pale, darling?" His voice was smooth, teasing, but she heard the steel beneath it as he stepped closer. He looked devastating in his tailored suit, dark eyes glittering like obsidian. To everyone else he was charming, untouchable - but she knew the monster behind the mask.

She smiled bitterly. "Because you're walking away from me."

His jaw tightened. "You knew this was never meant to last."

Her chest burned. "I gave you everything. I lied for you. I covered your sins. And now, on the day you swore to stand beside me, you're choosing her?"

He didn't flinch. "This isn't about love. It's about survival. My family demands the alliance. I marry her, or I lose everything."

She laughed, sharp and broken. "And what about me? Do I just disappear? Pretend you never touched me, never swore I was the only one?"

His silence was louder than any answer.

Rage and desperation tangled inside her. "No. If you walk away from me, I'll tell them. All of them. My brother, your family, your precious fiancée. I'll tell them what we've done. I'll ruin you."

The temperature in the room shifted. His eyes darkened, stripping away the last shred of warmth. When he spoke, his voice was ice.

"Then you leave me no choice."

Her heart stuttered. "W-what do you mean?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he raised a hand. A shadow moved from the corner - a man in black, face hidden, gun gleaming under the light.

Terror clawed her throat. "No. You wouldn't."

But he did nothing to stop it. He just watched her, eyes burning with something she couldn't name. Regret? Anger? Or was it simply indifference?

The gun fired.

Pain bloomed across her chest like a crimson flower. The world tilted, her knees buckling as blood spilled across the white of her gown. She gasped, choking, reaching for him.

"Why?" Her voice cracked, raw, broken.

For the first time, he looked away.

The last thing she saw was the man she loved turning his back, leaving her to drown in roses and silence.

Darkness swallowed her whole.

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