Chapter One
Adria Jayce had trusted him with everything. Her heart. Her body. Her life. And now she realized that trust had been a lie, a trap crafted with precision, meant to destroy her. The dim candlelight flickered across the bedroom, casting long, cruel shadows over the polished floor. Every corner seemed to whisper her impending doom.
She had found the letters. The hidden accounts. The proof. He had been living another life, one built on lies, and she had loved him blindly. Rage coiled in her chest, but beneath it, a deeper, colder terror took root.
"You found them," he said softly, leaning against the doorframe, calm as if this were some trivial inconvenience. His eyes were sharp, dissecting her like a specimen. Every inch of his presence screamed power and control.
Adria's knees shook. "Why?" she choked out. "How could you do this? How could you…?"
He smiled, slow, deliberate. A predator's smile. "I did what had to be done. You were never meant to know. You should have stayed in your place."
Her breath caught. The room felt smaller, closing in. Every memory of laughter, every whispered promise, every tender touch became a dagger twisting in her chest. Fear coiled around her ribs. Panic struck her mind. She wanted to run, to fight, to scream but it was already too late.
He moved then, precise, merciless. Pain ripped through her chest. She fell, helpless, gasping. Blood spread beneath her, a crimson mirror of betrayal.
"You trusted far too easily," he said again, voice calm, deadly. No hesitation. No mercy.
Adria's vision blurred. Rage, despair, and grief collided inside her, a storm she had never known. She tried to push back, tried to fight, but her body refused her. Everything she had the trust, the love, the hope had been ripped away in a single, brutal instant.
Then she felt it. Something strange and alive inside her chest. Not fear. Not pain. Something ancient, warm, burning with power and defiance. A spark of herself she had never had. The pain in her chest faded into a cold emptiness. Adria lay on the floor, her breath too shallow, her body trembling. The room around her was silent now except for the faint crackle of the dying candle. She wanted to cry. She wanted to scream. She wanted to tear him apart with her bare hands. But she could not move.
The man she had trusted so completely stood over her, his shadow stretching across her like a verdict. His eyes held no remorse, no hesitation, only the satisfaction of a predator who had claimed his prize.
Every memory of their life together replayed in her mind with cruel clarity. Every touch, every whispered word, every promise now turned to ash. She had loved him completely and he had destroyed her with the same hands that once held her.
She tried to push herself up but her body refused. Pain lanced through her chest and limbs. Her vision blurred. She felt her heartbeat slow, the warmth leaving her hands and feet, as if her life itself was being stolen.
But then, deep inside, she felt something stir. A heat, a pulse of something raw and undeniable, rising from the depths of her soul. Rage. Defiance. A spark of herself she had never known. It began to glow, faint at first, a whisper against the suffocating darkness.
"I will not be weak again," she breathed, her voice trembling but strong. The words were more than a whisper. They were a promise. A vow to the universe that even in death she would not surrender.
The edges of the world grew darker. Shadows curled around her vision. She felt herself slipping, her body dissolving into nothingness. Pain, fear, and rage merged into one, filling her with a strange clarity.