Chapter 1

"Rowena, could you put the phone down for just five minutes? It's our fifth anniversary."

My husband, Alaric, stepped into the room.

He wore a perfectly tailored suit, though the fabric across his back strained slightly against the bulky, custom-made spinal brace he had to wear.

I looked up at his handsome face.

Three years ago, during a horrific car crash, he had shielded me. His spine took the brunt of the impact. Ever since, he could only stand with the help of that cumbersome brace.

I was consumed by guilt.

That was the only reason I had walked away from a ten-billion-dollar corporate merger, choosing instead to accompany him to this secluded villa for a getaway.

"I'm sorry, honey," I said, finally tearing my eyes away from the screen and rubbing my temples.

"Let's just leave the damn work aside for tonight, alright?" Alaric said, raising his glass of red wine.

"Tonight, you are just my wife."

I managed a faint smile, lifted my own glass, and took a sip.

Alaric gazed at me with deep affection.

"Rowena, having you by my side these past five years has been the greatest blessing of my life. I love you."

"I love you too."

I leaned in and kissed him.

The wine-tasting kiss quickly heated up. His hands slid down to stroke my waist, his breathing growing heavy.

Just as things were heating up, my phone buzzed.

I froze. Looking into his eyes—so full of love and rising desire—I decided: to hell with work tonight.

I draped my arms around his neck, ready to resume.

But the phone rattled violently against the table, buzzing relentlessly like a death knell.

The spark that had just ignited was instantly snuffed out. I let out a defeated sigh, pulled away from him, and grabbed the device.

An anonymous Reddit link popped up on the screen.

The glaring title read: Tonight at 11:00 PM, Aetheria Tech CEO Rowena will have her throat slit. This is a livestream.

If this were an ordinary cyber threat, I wouldn't have batted an eye. I was a billionaire; the line of people who wanted me dead could stretch down the entirety of Wall Street.

But what made my blood run cold was the attached photo.

The first image was an overhead shot of the Eagle Cliff Villa's dining room.

In it, I was wearing the burgundy velvet evening gown I had just changed into, looking down at my phone, while Alaric held his wine glass.

The angle of the shot was taken from directly above the dining room's crystal chandelier!

"What’s wrong? You look pale." Alaric set down his glass and tried to stand up in concern, but his brace let out a heavy clack, making him pause.

"It's nothing... I'm probably just a little tired," I said, taking a deep breath to force myself to stay calm.

The time on my screen read: 10:32 PM.

Excusing myself to the restroom, I walked briskly out of the dining room.

As soon as I stepped inside the bathroom, I deadbolted the door. With trembling hands, I tapped the link again.

The post had just been updated with a second photo.

It showed an empty bathtub. Resting on its edge was a blood-stained military hunting knife.

The caption read: "She thinks she's safe hiding in the bathroom, but the countdown continues."

An icy wave of sheer terror shot from the soles of my feet straight to my scalp.

That bathtub was the exact same one sitting right behind me! Even the placement of the bespoke scented candles on the rim matched perfectly!

How did they know? Was the killer inside the house right now, watching me?

"Thorne!" I hissed into the phone, having immediately dialed my head of security. "Get your men up the mountain right now! Lock down the villa! Someone breached the perimeter!"

"Boss? That’s impossible. The perimeter infrared grid hasn't been triggered at all..." Thorne's voice was laced with shock.

"I said now!" I growled.

"Understood. We'll be there in under five minutes!"

I hung up, allowing myself a fraction of relief.

Five minutes. I just had to survive for five minutes.

I was the CEO of Aetheria. I had survived countless cutthroat corporate battles. I wasn’t going to let some theatrical psycho intimidate me.

"Rowena? Who are you talking to in there?" Alaric’s muffled voice suddenly came through the door.

"It's nothing, just an emergency at the company!" I yelled back, pressing my weight against the door while my hand gripped a pair of sharp eyebrow scissors from the vanity.

The time read: 10:55 PM.

Five minutes left.

"Honey, come on out. I have a surprise for you," Alaric coaxed from the hallway.

"I'll be right out," I deflected.

Suddenly, every light in the villa died without warning.

Absolute darkness swallowed the room.

"Damn it! Where's the AI backup generator?" I cursed under my breath, frantically fumbling with my phone to turn on the flashlight.

Right then, I caught the faintest squelch—a soft, wet sound.

This was immediately followed by the distinct, rapid patter of bare feet slapping against the tile floor.

The sound wasn't coming from the hallway. It was coming from inside the bathroom!

"Who's there?!" I whipped the flashlight's beam across the room.

But in the next split second—

A hand reeking of metallic copper and rot lunged from the shadows, clamping brutally over my mouth.

The texture of the hand was grotesque—the fingers thick and stubby, yet possessing terrifying, inhuman strength.

I thrashed wildly, stabbing the air with my eyebrow scissors, but the blades only struck empty, frigid space.

"Mmph... Alaric! Help..."

From the hallway, I heard Alaric's panicked shouts and the frantic thudding of his body throwing itself against the heavy door.

"Rowena?! What's happening?! Rowena, open the door!!"

Yet inside, a glint of silver slashed through the darkness.

An icy, stinging sensation sliced across my throat. A fraction of a second later, a torrent of warm liquid spurted down my chest.

Every ounce of strength vanished from my limbs. My body collapsed like a broken doll onto the freezing tiles.

Through my rapidly blurring vision, I caught a final glimpse of my phone screen.

The time read: 11:00 PM.