The Engagement's End, A New Beginning

“Tonight was supposed to be the most important night of my life, the official announcement of my engagement to Mark Landon. But as we stood on the dais to make our toast, another woman-Isabel-let out a theatrical cry and crumpled to the floor. Before I could process what was happening, Mark shoved me. He pushed me aside to get to her, his arm connecting with my shoulder with brutal, dismissive force. The shove sent me stumbling backward off the platform. I landed hard on the polished marble floor, a collective gasp echoing through the stunned ballroom as my world shattered. He didn't even glance at me. He helped a perfectly fine Isabel to her feet, tucked her protectively against his side, and then glared down at me, his face a thunderous mask of fury. "Look what your jealousy has caused!" he snarled, his voice echoing in the silence. "This engagement is over! I will not be bound to a woman so consumed by petty envy!" The words were a physical blow. The pain in my soul was so intense it stole my breath, a searing agony as the bond I thought we shared was violently ripped away. The room spun as the pain dropped me to my knees. Kicked out a service exit, I collapsed in a filthy back alley, my body finally succumbing to a strange illness that had been draining me for weeks. Just as darkness closed in, a sleek black car screeched to a halt. A man emerged, impossibly tall and radiating an aura of power that made Mark seem like a spoiled child. He knelt, his stormy eyes locking onto the silver locket our family doctor had pressed into my hand moments before. His voice was a low, resonant rumble that vibrated through the very ground. "I have found her." He paused, his gaze sweeping over my face, his expression a chilling mixture of triumph and ice. "My true fated mate... and the daughter of the woman who destroyed my family."”