Chapter 1

My brother's legs were crushed in a horrific car accident. I knelt before my fiancé, Silas Montgomery, the lead surgeon, begging him to save them.

He whispered a soft promise, "Don't worry, Paige. I've got him."

After a night of agonizing prayer, all I received was the news of my brother's death.

Silas approached me with bloodshot eyes, sighing, "I did my best. I'm so sorry for your loss."

I begged to see Enzo one last time, but Silas had already sent his body to be cremated.

At the funeral, I fainted from grief. Silas never even showed up.

When I finally tracked him down, I found him wrapped in the arms of Scarlett Linley, the charity student he had been sponsoring for years.

Scarlett giggled, "Thank you, Silas, for using Enzo's kidney to save me. I feel like a new woman."

Silas whispered back with a dominant possessiveness, "It's my promise to you. Keep it safe, or I'll have to punish you."

"Punish me now, then," she teased.

Watching their bodies intertwine, my world turned to ice.

My brother didn't just die. Silas murdered him.

I went on a legal crusade, desperate for justice.

But Silas used his power to throw me in prison instead, whispering, "Be a good girl. Once your spirit is broken, I'll come collect you."

Six months in a cell was a living hell.

The day I was released, I was a shell of my former self. The first thing I did was dial a number I hadn't called in years―my childhood friend from the underworld.

"Make them disappear," I rasped. "And then, I'm yours."

1

I stepped out of the prison gates, clutching my meager belongings. Silas Montgomery was standing a few yards away, waiting.

He draped a designer coat over my shoulders. "It's windy today. You need to stay warm."

His movements were slow and gentle, his expression filled with a fake tenderness. If I didn't know the truth about my brother's death, I might have fallen for it again.

I would have stayed trapped in his web of lies forever.

I stood my ground, my voice flat and cold. "Silas, I want a divorce."

Silas stiffened. Then, he chuckled. "What kind of nonsense is that? Are you still holding a grudge over what happened?"

"I know Scarlett and I owe your brother a debt, but we already hired a priest for a high-end memorial. We've prayed for his soul."

"He's in a better place now. It's time to let it go."

My eyes burned as I screamed at him. "Let it go? Silas! That was my baby brother!"

"He survived the crash. He could have lived. If you hadn't delayed his surgery just to harvest his kidney for Scarlett, he'd still be here!"

Silas's gaze darkened. He glanced at my mangled pinky finger and spoke softly.

"Why is your temper still so sharp? Didn't six months in that hole teach you how to behave?"

Half a year ago, Silas sent me to prison personally to "soften my edges."

He pulled every string, telling the guards that he didn't care what methods they used as long as I learned my lesson.

That was the beginning of my nightmare.

I endured back-breaking labor and was constantly bullied by inmates who had been paid off by the guards.

My pinky was stepped on and crushed until the bone turned to dust.

Silas grabbed my arm and leaned down to look me in the eye, pretending to be the bigger person. "Paige, let's end this here."

"If you stop digging into the past and treat Scarlett with respect, I'll spend the rest of my life making it up to you. Deal?"

"Go to hell," I said, before slapping him across the face.

The veins in Silas's forehead bulged.

Just then, Scarlett Linley came running toward us.

Silas's expression flipped instantly to one of worry. "I told you to wait at home. Your health is fragile."

Scarlett's cheeks were flushed. "Silas, don't worry about me. I just missed Paige so much and wanted to see her."

She noticed the red mark on Silas's face.

Her eyes welled up with tears in a second.

"Paige, please don't fight with him. He did everything for me."

"If you're angry, hit me instead. Do whatever you want to me, just don't be mad at Silas."

Then, she started slapping her own face, over and over.

Silas looked heartbroken and rushed to grab her hands.

He turned to me with a look of pure malice.

"Since you clearly haven't learned your lesson, you can walk your way home and think about what you've done."

He scooped Scarlett up in his arms, got into his car, and drove away.