❖ Prologue ❖
Lara Evans
She was eighteen...
Still soft. Still learning how to dream.
And then she became his wife.
Not by love. Not by choice.By force. By blackmail.By one signature that sealed her fate — to a man who saw hearts as weapons, not organs.
Alex Volkov.
thirty-five. Feared. Married.To her sister.
And now, somehow, to her.
The night it happened, the moon hid behind clouds. Even the stars seemed to look away.No one came for her. No one saved her.Because no one dared touch what belonged to him.
He didn’t speak when she cried.He didn’t flinch when she begged.He just watched — with eyes colder than the gun he always kept on his belt.
And when she stepped into his mansion, it wasn’t a home.It was a cage.
Rooms lined with shadows.Mirrors that only reflected her misery.Doors that locked behind her.Silence that screamed louder than any slap.
Every night, she counted the bruises.Every morning, she tried to remember who she was before he ruined her.But she couldn’t.
Because even monsters can be beautiful when they touch you like you’re theirs.
And that was her greatest sin — wanting him to be human. Hoping he could love.
Until the body of a girl was dragged from the garden.Eyes wide. Lips blue.Dead.
And they pointed at Lara.
She was the outsider.The secret wife.The shameful one they kept behind closed doors.
Now, the house watches her with sharpened teeth.Now, she’s not just his prisoner — she’s his suspect.His plaything. His possession.
And if she doesn’t clear her name...She won’t survive him.
Not this time.
