SAMHAIN

"Where is this?"

When Chloe Bishop woke up, she found herself in an unfamiliar room. Her head was spinning, and her whole body felt terrible.

She immediately tried to get out of bed and leave. Tomorrow was her wedding to As—she had waited six years for this day, and it was finally almost here. Nothing could go wrong now.

Outside the door, Liam Martin leaned against the wall and lit a cigarette. His face was expressionless as he looked at the man before him. "Go in. Just don't kill her."

The man hesitated and asked once more, "Mr. Martin, are you sure about this?"

The woman inside was New York City's top socialite. She was also this man's fiancée—and they were getting married tomorrow!

"Go in. I won't say it a third time."

Liam Martin's voice was calm, pleasant to the ear, but his words cut like shards of ice.

Soon, screams erupted from inside. "Who are you?! Stay back... what are you doing... let go of me... help...!"

Outside the door, Liam Martin listened to Chloe Bishop's desperate cries for help. He stood there cold and unmoved, his mind filled with images of another woman—bruised and broken.

Chloe Bishop, don't blame me. You're not innocent either.

He didn't believe for a second that she knew nothing about what Charles Bishop had done.

A few hours earlier.

"Liam Martin, we found the one who imprisoned Sara."

"Who is it?"

Liam Martin stood beside the bed, his tall frame casting a shadow as he gazed at the woman sleeping quietly. Her face was pale, her body gaunt, and bruises covered her from head to toe. It was clear what she had endured.

Brandon Jay gritted his teeth and spat out two words: "Charles Bishop."

Him. The father of Liam Martin's fiancée, Chloe Bishop.

"I see."

Liam Martin's voice remained soft, but beneath it lurked a storm of blood and vengeance. "You're Sara's brother. What do you want to do?"

"Drag Chloe Bishop out here. Whatever Charles Bishop did to Sara, I want to take it back tenfold, a hundredfold—from his daughter."

When Liam Martin didn't answer right away, Brandon Jay's voice turned sharp with anger. "Having second thoughts? Of course you are—you and Chloe Bishop are getting married tomorrow. Naturally you'd hesitate. Too bad Sara suffered so much for you."

"There won't be a wedding tomorrow."

Liam Martin's reply was cold and final. "I'll give you and Sara an answer."

From the day Charles Bishop imprisoned Sara Jay, every kindness the Bishop family had shown him over the years meant nothing. He should never have crossed that line.

Inside the room, Chloe Bishop struggled with all her might, but her body grew weaker by the second. Her clothes were being torn from her. She screamed in despair, "Help me... As, help me...!"

Tears streamed down her cheeks and soaked into her hair.

Why is this happening? Tomorrow I'm supposed to marry As. I wanted to give myself to him completely—all of me. Why?!

Hearing her call his name, Liam Martin drew faster on his cigarette, smoke curling through the air. After tonight, Chloe Bishop would be ruined beyond repair.

His mind drifted back to six years ago. That day, a girl like a princess had walked toward him with unwavering steps, pointed at him, and said, "I choose him as my fiancé."

Everyone knew that the gifted eldest grandson of the Martin family had lost a leg in a car accident—but she chose him anyway. From that moment on, the boy cast aside by his family finally had something to rebuild his life with.

Liam Martin stubbed out his cigarette and pulled out his phone, dialing a number. "Stop. Get out now."