Chapter 2

"Everyone, remember—pick a house and lock in your identity before sunset."

That was Holly Wade. She said she'd played before and knew the rules.

The other players had clearly done their homework too. Before she even finished talking, they were already rushing to grab their picks.

Which left me with Ironhart Manor—the estate of the highest-ranking figure there, and the farthest away.

Meanwhile, I was secretly hyped.

Years of dodging haters and harassment had trained me without me realizing it. Long-distance? Sprints? I had stamina for days.

Grinning, I grabbed General Ironhart's hand. "Then I'll listen to you. Let's go see your mom."

[Is Naomi actually dumb, or is she pretending? Three people already died. Why isn't she scared?]

[I heard she just did a romance game endorsement. Wait...]

[This is insane. She's treating a horror game BOSS like her boyfriend? Forbidden romance arc?!]

[She'll be lucky if she makes it through the night.]

General Ironhart and I walked side by side. The setting sun painted the blood on the ground a vivid red.

Good thing this was a game. Otherwise, my husband would've bled out by now.

"Oh right. I don't even know your name."

I facepalmed.

Wow. Wife of the year.

He slowed down. After a long pause, he shook his head.

"I don't remember. Everyone calls me General Ironhart."

You don't remember?

I froze for a second, then figured the designers probably hadn't even given him a real name yet. I squeezed his hand.

"It's okay. I'm here with you. You'll remember someday."

As we talked, we stopped in front of a tightly shut door.

His mom's room?

I got it and was about to knock when General Ironhart suddenly pulled me back.

"Stay behind me."

I blinked.

Right. Fancy family rules. The daughter-in-law wasn't supposed to outshine the son.

The door creaked open.

Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh.

General Ironhart threw an arm in front of me. Out of the corner of my eye, silver streaks shot past.

Then a sharp, grating laugh drifted out from inside.

"My son has changed. He actually knows how to protect someone from my pins."

An old woman stepped out.

Dressmaker's pins covered her body. Both hands were twisted out of shape. She looked terrifying, but she had this intense presence around her.

Like mother, like son.

I dipped into a polite curtsy.

"Madam Ironhart, I'm your son's wife, Aveline Ashford."

My head was lowered, so I missed General Ironhart going completely still.

Then slowly—really slowly—he turned to look at me.

[General Ironhart's pissed. Naomi's dead!]

[Did he just realize she was disrespectful? Who greets the mom this late?]

[Wait—he moved!]

His mangled hand shot out and wrapped around my throat.

"Say that again. Who are you?"

"Ave...line..." I choked out.

Very few people knew Naomi Nash was just my stage name. Aveline Ashford was my real one.

My manager said my real name had zero star power, so she hired some celebrity branding guy to repackage me. He promised the new name would launch my career.

Instead, it launched me straight into cursed territory.

To stop sabotaging my own love life, I switched back to my real name in the game.

The pressure on my throat suddenly vanished.

I stumbled back, coughing hard, then glared at him.

"With that grip strength, are you trying to become a widower?"

He said nothing. Just stared at me without blinking, his expression dark and unreadable.

His mother cleared her throat first.

"It's getting late. We should have dinner."

I immediately followed her with a bright smile.

About an hour later, I stared at the pitch-black blobs on my plate and completely lost the courage to take a bite.

"It's a special day. I made all of this myself. What, not your thing?"

Madam Ironhart's lips curled up, but her eyes stayed cold.

At the same time, the pins covering her body started trembling, giving off low, excited hums.