Wedding Night, He Called My Sister’s Name

"James..."

Sophia Grey's voice came out barely above a whisper, his name caught in her throat as pain shot through her body.

This was supposed to be her wedding night. The moment she'd dreamed of a thousand times.

But the man behind her reeked of alcohol. His movements were rough and careless, without a trace of tenderness.

He didn't respond. Through his drunken haze, his lips brushed her ear, his breath was hot and unsteady. Then he murmured a name—but not hers.

"Ray..."

Sophia went rigid. That was her younger sister's nickname.

The love blooming in her chest shattered in an instant.

She'd always known James had carried feelings for someone. She just never imagined it would be her missing sister, Raina Grey.

Was he using her as a stand-in? As if he was looking right through her to be with someone else?

Her heart felt as if it were being crushed in a fist. She couldn't breathe.

Eventually, James finished. He pulled away and stood over her, looking down with eyes devoid of warmth.

"Take the pill."

A box of emergency contraception pills landed on the pillow beside her head.

Sophia's heart sank. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the sheets, voice shaking. "James, I'm your wife. You can't—"

"Are you?" James let out a cold laugh. "Don't forget how you got into this marriage in the first place."

A sharp pain shot through her chest.

He was right. She had forgotten.

The car accident three years ago had stolen most of her memories. The only thing burned into her mind, clear as day, was that she loved James.

"I..."

She tried to explain, but he cut her off.

"Take it. Then get out and sleep in the guest room." His tone left no room for argument. "Don't make me say it twice."

He had a thing about cleanliness—he never let outsiders touch his bed.

And she, apparently, was just that. An outsider.

Sophia closed her eyes. She swallowed the bitter pill along with her tears.

Her stomach cramped violently. She curled up, enduring the pain in silence.

She dragged her battered body to the cold guest room and collapsed onto the bed, pulling the covers over her head.

In the darkness, despair engulfed her completely.

Then her phone on the nightstand buzzed.

Sophia fumbled for the drawer and pulled out an old, worn phone. It was the phone she used before the wedding. James had said it was outdated and told her to get a new one, so she'd quietly tucked it away.

On the screen: a real-time location share. A red dot on the map marked stopped an abandoned art district on the city outskirts.

Sophia's heart skipped a beat.

Then a text message appeared. It was from Raina.

[Help me... someone's following me... I'm so scared...]

Her missing sister suddenly suddenly asking for help? It had to be a trap.

Sophia wanted to throw the phone across the room and pretend she had never seen it.

But what if Raina really was in danger?

She hesitated. This was a human life at stake. She couldn't just turn a blind eye.

Sophia bit her lip, grabbed her car keys, and drove to the location.

The night was as dark as ink. The abandoned art gallery on the outskirts looked like a scene from a horror movie.

Following the map, Sophia stepped into a dilapidated studio. The air smelled damp and moldy.

"Raina?" she called out cautiously.

A faint sob came from the corner.

Sophia turned on her phone's flashlight. The beam swept across the room and landed on Raina, curled on the floor with disheveled hair and a tear-streaked face, her clothes torn and barely covering her.

"Raina, what happened?"

Sophia's chest tightened as she rushed forward.

The moment she got close, Raina lunged and grabbed her hand with shocking strength.

Before Sophia could react, her hand was yanked forward and forced around something cold and hard.

A knife.

In the next second, Raina tightened Sophia’s grip on the handle and plunged the blade into her own abdomen without hesitation.

The sickening sound of steel piercing flesh echoed in the room.

Blood spread across Raina's white dress.

"Sophie... why..." Raina's face twisted in agony, her voice weak and trembling. "Stealing Jimmy wasn't enough... you had me raped... and now you won't even let me live?"

"I didn't—Raina, why are you lying?"

Sophia's mind went blank. She stared at her own hand gripping the knife, at the blood pouring from Raina's stomach. She couldn't move.

She had known it was a trap. She just hadn't expected Raina to risk her own life.

The studio door burst open.

A tall, imposing figure stormed in, radiating lethal fury.

James.

"Sophia, you killed me! I'll make sure you live with the guilt for the rest of your miserable life!"

Raina forced out her final words before her eyes fluttered closed.

"Raina!" James roared.

He rushed forward and kicked Sophia in the chest.

Her back slammed into the wall. It felt like her organs shifted out of place. Blood filled her mouth.

She ignored the pain and crawled forward, desperate to explain. "It wasn't me! She did it herself! She grabbed my hand—"

A sharp slap cracked across her face.

Her head snapped to the side, her ears ringing.

"Shut up!" James's eyes were bloodshot. "You're disgusting."

He scooped Raina into his arms, holding her with a tenderness that was the complete opposite of the violence he had just shown Sophia.

Sophia's heart shattered completely.

The ambulance arrived and took Raina away. She'd been brutally assaulted and then stabbed herself. Her condition was critical.

"You evil bitch. You should die for this."

James wrapped his hand around Sophia's slender throat and lifted her off the ground, murder blazing in his eyes.

She couldn't breathe. Her face turned red as she clawed desperately at his hand.

"...It wasn't me. You can check my... phone!" She forced the words out with what little strength she had left. "There's a message from Raina... asking for help..."

James froze.

He released her.

Sophia collapsed to the floor, gasping for air.

"Owen, check it."

He gave the order coldly to his assistant, Owen Smith.

Owen immediately examined Sophia's old phone.

Sophia's heart clenched. This was her last hope.

If they found the location data and the message, it would prove everything was Raina's setup.

But Owen's expression grew stranger as he worked.

He walked over to James and spoke quietly. "Mr. Russell, the location records and files have been wiped. The cloud backup's been cleared too."

How?

Sophia's blood ran cold. This had been planned in advance, a trap waiting for her to walk into it.

Without proof of her innocence, she didn't dare imagine what would happen next.

"However..." Owen paused. "I recovered a recently deleted draft message."

James's gaze turned glacial. "What does it say?"

Owen read it aloud. "Send a few men to the abandoned art district on the outskirts. Teach Raina a lesson."

Sophia's mind went blank.

She slowly looked up and met James’s cold stare.