Chapter 1 The Runaway Bride (TESSA)

“Look at you, sister, wearing the finest wedding gown by a renowned designer, yet you don’t look the least bit happy.”

“She’s just like her dead mother, ungrateful.”

I shot Clara and my stepmother a cold glance through the mirror. I didn’t expect them to appear in the bridal lounge because I knew they would only mock my misfortune. If my father hadn’t married that greedy woman after my mother died, I wouldn’t have ended up as the bride of that cruel old mobster. My father owed Anthonio Ferhaag a huge amount of money because my stepmother and stepsister squandered his money on pleasures. They didn’t even care when the bank seized half of my father’s assets. In exchange, Clara persuaded my father to sell me to Anthonio, so he could get a cash injection to rebuild his bankrupt company.

“Mom, what do you think will happen after Tessa exchanges her wedding vows with Anthonio?”

“Of course, Tessa will be Anthonio’s wife. She’ll be sleeping with that old man who likes to abuse women.”

Their laughter howled loudly like the howling of vicious wolves.

I clenched my fists tightly in my lap. I couldn't stand the insults they hurled at me any longer.

"You were the one who came up with the idea of ​​handing me over to Anthonio Ferhaag as payment," I pointed at Clara angrily.

"I helped our father. You should be proud of me for helping think of a solution to his problem, and not just sitting around like you."

"You and your mother were the ones who drained Father's money for fun. You should be the one marrying Anthonio, not me."

Clara sneered sarcastically. She crossed her arms across her chest.

“I’m engaged to Kenzo.”

She showed off her engagement ring arrogantly.

“That old man couldn’t possibly marry another man’s fiancée.”

“Kenzo was my boyfriend before you seduced him and stole him from me.”

Life was truly unfair. After losing my mother in a car accident, I also lost my father. He was no longer mine since he married Cassandra and had Clara. I’ve had to constantly give in to Clara since she was born. Dad didn’t hesitate to hit me if I didn’t give her what she wanted. When Clara openly seduced Kenzo, he supported her, even though he knew Kenzo and I were dating at the time. He even asked me to break up with Kenzo and let Clara be happy with her true love.

Bullshit!

There’s no true love for a greedy woman like her.

“Do you still love Kenzo? Forget him. He never loved you. He’s just been playing with you all this time.”

I smirked.

“Tch, not at all. I’m glad our relationship is over. I’m not going to waste my life on a jerk like him.”

“He’s definitely better than old Anthonio,” Clara laughed evilly.

“I heard that old man has a weird fetish. He married you just to be his sex slave.”

I knew that. I knew everything about Anthonio because I did some research before this wedding. There was no way I was going to marry a man without doing a background check. But the more I learned about Anthonio’s dark side, the more I was afraid to marry him. He was notorious for being abusive to his dates. I even found some old articles that mentioned that Anthonio had killed two women in a particularly crazy orgy. Despite his age, Anthonio had a very strong sex drive. And he didn’t hesitate to torture the women to satisfy his desires.

“Why? Are you afraid, Tessa? You’re not just marrying an old man, but he’s a cruel old man.”

“Get out, both of you. You’ve made fun of me enough, Clara.”

“Ouch, are you mad?”

I ignored her chatter and turned my back on her. I walked to the large window that overlooked the churchyard. Men in black suits stood guard at every corner. A copper-haired man walked up to a guard near the gate. His gaze was sharp, and his jaw was firm. He was a handsome man, a stark contrast to his adoptive father. I could tell that young Anthonio wasn't as handsome as his adopted son. In fact, Anthonio had no trace of his handsomeness left in his aged face, but I saw something different about his adoptive son. He was Zeal Ferhaag. I hadn’t heard much about him, but from his gestures, he wasn’t much different from Anthonio. He was cruel and cold-blooded. I was sure those hands had been used to kill hundreds of people.

I frowned as I watched the men in suits leave the church grounds in a hurry after Zeal had said something to them. The courtyard was empty, without any guards. I glanced back. I was alone in the room. My stepmother and Clara had already left minutes ago. I lifted my heavy tutu and headed for the door. The hallway in front of the bride's waiting room was empty. I didn't see any guards standing there. Wasting no time, I fled through the back door of the church. I ran as fast as I could, clutching my tutu tightly.

"Hey, you, stop!"

The sound of footsteps behind me made me panic. I'd been caught. They were chasing me.

“Stop, bitch. You can’t escape!”

I ran haphazardly along the busy sidewalk. People gave me strange looks, but none of them made a move to help me. They knew the men in suits chasing me weren’t just anyone.

“Move.”

I pushed a man who had just come out of a café. His coffee spilled, and he shouted angrily behind me.

“Sorry.”

I kept running towards the intersection. I saw a yellow taxi had just dropped off an old woman in front of a theater. The pedestrian light had just turned green. I ran toward the yellow taxi that was parked across the street. But a white sports car suddenly sped toward me and stopped right in front of me. The screeching sound of its tires rubbing against the asphalt was dramatic. I fell to my knees on the hot asphalt. My heart was pounding in my rib cage. The car’s nose was right in front of my face.

“You think you can escape, huh?”