Chapter 1

"Happy christening, baby Astrid!"

A wide smile spread across Dominic’s face—my husband Dauxfer’s cousin—as he greeted his niece. Astrid smiled back at him, seemingly delighted by his presence.

"Thank you for coming with Lydia. I honestly thought you wouldn’t make it. Good thing your flight from New York arrived early?" I asked Dominic.

"I booked the flight early when Lydia told me about the christening date," Dominic replied.

"Wait, where’s Lydia? I thought she wanted to see her niece?" I asked again.

"She’s chatting with her friends. You know Lydia, she never runs out of stories," Dominic joked, and we both laughed.

"Honey, here you are," my husband Dauxfer said as he approached us with his cousin.

"Yes, Dominic’s teasing our daughter. Look how happy she is with your cousin’s face," I teased my husband and laughed.

"I see. Dom’s face does look really funny," my husband teased back.

"Oh, come on! I’ll just go eat. You two really enjoy picking on my handsome face, don’t you?" Dominic said in mock annoyance before walking away. Dauxfer and I laughed again before facing each other.

"Why were you looking for me, honey?"

"Honey, you know I don’t like it when you’re out of my sight," my husband said sweetly. I couldn’t stop myself from blushing, so I rolled my eyes at him.

"We already have a child, and you’re still flattering me," I said.

"Honey, I’m just telling the truth. Anyway, let me take care of our daughter. I’ll handle Astrid for now so you can rest," my husband said.

Carefully and gently, I handed baby Astrid to her daddy. The moment Dauxfer held our daughter again, his lips automatically curved into a smile.

"My daughter is truly beautiful. She takes after her mommy," he praised.

"I’ll go ahead for a bit..." I said, suddenly remembering something. "Oh right, I’ll bring down Astrid’s milk so if she gets hungry, just feed it to her, okay? I’ll be quick."

"Okay, honey," my husband replied, and I hurried inside the mansion.

Using the elevator, I went up to the second floor, head to Astrid’s room. There was already pasteurized milk prepared for her, so I wouldn’t have any trouble.

As I busied myself, I couldn’t help but smile with joy because I felt like my life was already perfect. Who wouldn’t be happy if you had a kind and handsome husband, a beautiful daughter, a joyful family, and a prosperous life?

It felt like only yesterday when I used to wish that when I had my own family, it wouldn’t be like the one I grew up in.

I came from a middle-class family. Even so, there were frequent conflicts at home because my family could never agree with one another.

It was heartbreaking.

That was why I promised myself that I would love and take care of the family I would build.

While I was lost in both sad and happy thoughts, I suddenly jumped in shock when I heard a loud explosion.

"W-What was that?!" I asked myself in alarm.

I was just about to leave the room when a series of gunshots echoed outside.

Wait... that sounded like it came from...

Although I was terrified of guns, I gathered my courage to look for my husband and daughter. My heart pounded violently in my chest.

W-Where are they?!

I could hear the guests screaming in terror because of what was happening. When I stepped outside the compound where we were celebrating, I saw guests lying on the ground.

My knees trembled in fear as I saw their bodies riddled with bullets, red liquid spreading from them.

W-Where's my husband and my daughter?!

"Don’t move if you don’t want something bad happen to you!"

My knees gave out completely and I fell to the ground when a man dressed in full black pointed his gun at me.

"P-Please... have mercy... don’t hurt me," I pleaded despite my fear.

"Where is Dauxfer Monrovia? Bring him out and we won’t hurt you," he demanded.

"W-What do you need from my husband? W-We haven’t done any—"

"DON’T ASK QUESTIONS!" the man shouted and fired his weapon in another direction.

"S-Sorry... s-sorry..." I said immediately.

"You, guard Mrs. Monrovia. We’ll handle finding her husband."

Though I wasn’t looking directly at them, I noticed the group in front of me split up. I knew a gun was still pointed at me, so I remained silent, quietly praying that nothing would happen to my husband and daughter.

"Come here!"

Suddenly, an armed man grabbed me and dragged me away from the compound. I cried as I longed desperately for my husband and daughter.

Who are these people?

And what do they want from Dauxfer?

"We’ve got Mr. Monrovia!"

My world stopped for a moment when I heard those words. I quickly turned to see my husband.

He had bruises...

He was being held by what seemed to be the leader of the group.

Wait, where’s Astrid?

"Sorry, we were just ordered to do this," their leader said as he pointed his gun at Dauxfer.

After cocking the weapon, he aimed it directly at my husband.

I don’t know how, but without thinking, I broke free from the men holding me and ran toward my husband.

Everything slowed down... why is this happening?

"Dauxfer!" I screamed as I embraced him. At that very moment, I heard a loud gunshot.

My eyes slowly widened when I felt something painful strike my back.

Hot and searing...

"I-I love you," I said with a faint smile to my husband as my entire body began to weaken.

I could hear what sounded like police sirens in the distance. My surroundings were growing dark.

"R-Radiant, d-don’t... please?! D-Don’t leave us! H-Honey! Honey, wake up! Honey!"

Those were the last words my husband said before everything went black.