Chapter 3

"Julian, no! Make them stop, please!" I lunged forward, grabbing his sleeve. "You can't do this!"

Julian didn't even blink. He casually brushed my hand away, as if swatting off a diseased fly.

As the heavy side door slammed shut with a sickening thud, the frantic barking of the hounds instantly turned into bone-chilling sounds of tearing flesh and desperate, blood-curdling screams.

Before I could rush forward again, two bodyguards grabbed me from behind, pinning me to the floor. I was completely immobilized.

I don't know how much time passed before I finally stopped struggling.

In that moment, the gears of karma locked firmly into place.

They dragged me into the main hall. The sickening sounds echoing from the backyard felt like they had lasted a century.

Julian and Roxy had already popped a bottle of champagne to celebrate. Nestled against Julian's chest, Roxy locked eyes with me, constantly shooting me smug, triumphant glares.

I stared at them—two monsters casually clinking glasses over blood and a human life.

"Sienna, if you dare breathe a single word about what happened here tonight..." Julian sneered, lazily pointing his champagne glass toward the backyard. "I wouldn't mind adding another corpse to the kennels."

He stared at me, clearly expecting me to break down in tears and beg for mercy out of sheer terror. Instead, I met his gaze with absolute coldness.

"Can I leave now?" I asked, my face completely expressionless.

"Leave? Go where?" Roxy suddenly giggled, swirling her wine glass. "Sienna, at tomorrow's reception, Julian is officially introducing me to high society. As the soon-to-be ex-wife, how could you not be there to witness our happiness?"

A sick thrill flashed in Julian's eyes. "Exactly. You're staying here tonight. Until the party ends tomorrow, you aren't going anywhere."

I knew this was soft house arrest. He wanted to make sure I couldn't run to the cops before the body was fully disposed of, while simultaneously feeding his own twisted, sadistic ego.

I didn't fight back. I turned, obediently walked into the guest room, and locked the door.

The next day, the casino was bustling.

Julian had invited all the elites in his circle.

Wearing a limited-edition haute couture gown, Roxy weaved through the guests like the true lady of the house, greedily soaking up their flattery.

Meanwhile, two brawny bodyguards had escorted me to the shadows in the corner of the hall, displaying me like a captured trophy for everyone to see.

"Look at her, how pathetic," several socialites openly pointed and whispered. "I heard her deadbeat mom came here making a scene last night, and Julian dealt with her personally."

"Trash like that deserves worse. Julian was more than merciful to her."

The party reached its climax.

"Thank you all for being here today." Julian beamed, his face flushed with triumph as he pulled Roxy by the waist. "Moving forward, Roxy and I will..."

The grand doors were suddenly pushed open from the outside, letting out a heavy, heart-stopping thud.

Every sound in the room abruptly died. The DJ frantically cut the music, and hundreds of eyes instantly snapped toward the entrance.

An older woman stood in the doorway. She wore a neat, humble cardigan, her hair meticulously combed.

Her gaze swept across the massive hall before finally landing on me in the corner.

"Sienna?" the woman called out, sounding confused.

She held up her phone. "You texted me out of nowhere this morning, saying you were craving pastries from that shop, and insisted I bring them to you. Why are there so many people here? Did I come to the wrong place?"

Up on the landing, Julian saw my mother. The wine glass slipped from his fingers and shattered.

He stared at her, his eyes practically bulging out of his skull. The arrogant, triumphant flush completely drained from his face in a split second, leaving him as pale as a corpse in a morgue.

"Who... who are you?!" Julian's voice caught in his throat, forcing the terrifying words out through gritted teeth. He couldn't hide his violent trembling.

My mother frowned at him. "Julian, are you drunk already? I'm Sienna's mother. Surely you haven't forgotten your own mother-in-law?"

Roxy had never officially met my mother.

Hearing this, she didn't panic. Instead, she rolled her eyes in sheer contempt, stepping forward to look the woman up and down with an expression of pure, arrogant disgust.

"Sienna, are you really that desperate? Did you just hire some random, broke old hag off the street to crash the party?"

But Julian couldn't even process Roxy's damning, self-incriminating outburst. Pure terror flooded his eyes.

Finally, Roxy noticed Julian's catastrophic, as-if-he'd-seen-a-ghost reaction.

She grabbed his arm, a sliver of panic creeping into her voice. "Julian, what's wrong with you? Why are you looking at her like that? Who is she?!"

As Julian began to hyperventilate from sheer terror, unable to form a single word, Roxy slowly turned her head to stare at my mother and me.

My mother's words finally processed in her brain, colliding violently with the reality she thought she knew last night.

She stumbled backward in horror, collapsing ungracefully onto the floor.

"Impossible..." Roxy shrieked, her finger trembling as she pointed at my mother. "That can't be Sienna's mom! I beat her mother half to death with my own hands last night! We threw her in the kennels! This is a scam! You're a fake!"

The entire hall erupted in unison with loud gasps.

"If she isn't dead..." Julian was shaking so violently he could barely stand. His voice cracked hysterically as he glared at Roxy with eyes that looked ready to literally tear her apart. "Then who the hell... did we throw to the dogs last night?!"