CHAPTER 1

SIENNA BLAKE

The white lace of my wedding dress hung from the closet door, staring at me like a mockery. Tomorrow was supposed to be the best day of my life. I was supposed to marry Tristan, the man I loved for three years, the man I sacrificed my savings for so he could jumpstart his business.

I smiled, holding a box of his favorite red velvet cupcakes. I wanted to surprise him at his apartment before the big day. Using my spare key, I unlocked the door quietly, keeping my footsteps light.

"Harder, Tristan... god, right there."

The heavy, breathless gasp cut through the silence of the hallway. It didn't sound like a stranger. It sounded exactly like Chloe, my own sister.

My chest tightened. My hands started to tremble so violently that the cupcake box slipped, hitting the floor with a soft thud. I pushed the half-open bedroom door wide.

There they were. Tangled in the sheets.

Tristan’s eyes widened in panic as he scrambled off her. "Sienna! Wait, it’s not what it looks like!"

It was the most pathetic, cliché line in history.

"Sienna, don't be mad," Chloe chimed in, completely unbothered, pulling the blanket over her naked chest. She actually smirked. "It was going to happen sooner or later. You’re too boring in bed anyway. Tristan needs a real woman."

"Shut up, Chloe!" Tristan snapped, looking back at me as he pulled his jeans on. "Look, Sienna, we can still get married tomorrow. The guests are invited, the media is ready. My company needs the positive publicity from this wedding. Once the stocks stabilize, we can figure things out."

My jaw dropped. The betrayal was a physical blade twisting in my chest, but his words injected pure, icy numbness into my veins. He didn't care about me. He never did.

"You used me," I whispered, my voice cracking. "My money, my connections... it was all just for your company?"

"Let's be realistic, Sienna. Your family’s inheritance money was just sitting there," Tristan said, his tone turning cold and dismissive when he realized I wasn't buying his excuses. "You should be glad someone like me even wanted to marry an ordinary girl like you."

I didn't scream. I didn't throw a tantrum. I just turned around and ran.

I ran down the stairs, out into the pouring rain, the cold water drenching my clothes and washing away my tears. The world around me blurred into a smear of neon city lights. I felt utterly hollow. Empty. Everything I had built, everything I believed in, was a lie.

I ended up at The Velvet Room, a high-end lounge downtown. I needed to drown the noise in my head. I didn't care about the price; I just pointed at the strongest liquor on the shelf.

One shot. Two shots. Four. Five.

The burning liquid numbed my throat but did nothing to stop the agonizing ache in my heart. The bass from the speakers vibrated through my bones, mixing with the heavy fog rolling into my brain. I was completely wasted. My surroundings began to spin, the faces of strangers distorting around me.

I needed to leave. I needed to find a place to lie down.

Stumbling away from the bar, I took the elevator up to the hotel section of the establishment. My vision was swimming. I wandered down a dimly lit, carpeted hallway on the VIP floor. My hand fumbled with the handle of a door that was slightly ajar.

With a weak push, the door swung open. The room was dark, smelling faintly of expensive cologne, cedarwood, and a strange, heavy heat.

I staggered toward the massive king-sized bed, collapsing onto the edge of the mattress. "Just a few minutes," I mumbled to myself, burying my face into the silk pillows.

Suddenly, the mattress shifted. A heavy, muscular arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me firmly against a broad, scorching chest.

I gasped, my eyes flying open in the dark. "Who—"

A hand caught my chin, tilting my face up. I couldn't see his features clearly, just the sharp outline of a jaw and eyes that burned with a dangerous, feverish intensity. His breath was shallow and uneven, brushing against my lips. He was burning up, his skin radiating an unnatural heat.

"Don't move," a deep, commanding voice growled against my mouth. The sound was rough, laced with a strange desperation, as if he was fighting a losing battle against his own body.

Before I could process anything, his lips crashed onto mine.

The kiss was demanding, explosive, and entirely overwhelming. It wasn't gentle. It was a chaotic storm of pure electricity that ignited something feral inside me. My intoxicated mind completely short-circuited. For a split second, the image of Tristan and Chloe flashed in my head, fueling a sudden, reckless surge of anger and spite.

Why should I care? Why should I stay pure for a ghost?

I didn't push him away. Instead, I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

He groaned deeply, the sound vibrating against my chest as he flipped us over, pinning my body beneath his massive frame. His touch was scorching, stripping away my damp clothes until there was nothing left between us but raw, breathless heat. Every touch made me forget the pain, burying the betrayal under a wave of intense pleasure. In the shadows of that silent room, we consumed each other, completely lost in a wild, unbridled madness.