Chapter 1
"James..."
Sophia Grey's voice came out barely above a whisper, his name catching in her throat as pain shot through her body.
This was supposed to be her wedding night. The moment she'd dreamed about a thousand times.
But the man behind her reeked of alcohol, his movements rough and careless, without a trace of tenderness.
He didn't respond. Through the haze of drunkenness, his lips brushed against her ear, his breath 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 carried a torch for someone. She just never imagined it would be her missing sister, Raina Grey.
Was he using her as a stand-in? Looking right through her to sleep with someone else?
Her heart felt like it was 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 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 this marriage in the first place."
A sharp pain lanced 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—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 in on herself, enduring it 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 swallowed her whole.
Then her nightstand buzzed.
Sophia fumbled for the drawer and pulled out an old, worn phone. It was her pre-wedding cell. James had called it outdated and ordered her to replace it, so she'd quietly tucked it away.
On the screen: a real-time location share. A red dot on the map, stopped at an abandoned art district on the city outskirts.
Sophia's heart lurched.
Then a text popped up. The sender: Raina.
[Help me... someone's following me... I'm so scared...]
Her missing sister suddenly reaching out for help? Obviously a trap.
Sophia wanted to throw the phone across the room. Pretend she never saw it.
But what if Raina really was in danger?
She hesitated. This was a human life. She couldn't just ignore it.
Sophia bit her lip, grabbed her car keys, and headed for the location.
The night was thick as ink. The abandoned art gallery on the outskirts looked like something out of a horror movie.
Following the map, Sophia stepped into a dilapidated studio. The air smelled damp and moldy.
"Raina?"
She called out tentatively.
A faint sobbing came from the corner.
Sophia turned on her phone's flashlight. The beam swept across the room and landed on Raina, huddled 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. 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, forced to grip something cold and hard—a knife.
In the next second, Raina squeezed Sophia's hand around the handle and, without hesitation, plunged the blade into her own abdomen.
The sound of steel piercing flesh echoed sickeningly.
Blood bloomed 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'd known it was a trap. She just hadn't expected Raina to bet her own life.
The studio door crashed 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 used her last ounce of strength to get the words out before her eyes fluttered closed.
"Raina!"
James roared. He lunged forward and drove his foot into Sophia's chest.
Her back slammed into the wall. It felt like her organs had shifted. Blood filled her mouth.
She didn't care about the pain. She crawled forward on her hands and knees, 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, ears ringing.
"Shut up!" James's eyes were bloodshot. "You're disgusting."
He scooped Raina up gently, cradling her with a tenderness that was the polar opposite of the violence he'd 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 injuries were 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, and 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 text from Raina... asking for help..."
James froze.
He let go.
Sophia crumpled 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 text, 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 was clearly a trap set in advance, just 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 guys to the abandoned art district on the outskirts. Teach Raina a lesson."
Sophia's mind went blank.
She looked up slowly and met James's icy stare.
