Chapter 4

"I came here today just to marry you!" Dorothy's expression hardened into a mask of grim determination.

My icy tone and murderous glare transported her back to the blood-soaked nightmare two years ago. Dorothy had leveraged my family's immense influence to seize control of numerous competitors' assets and market share, inevitably provoking deadly retaliation from those she had ruined.

Every single bodyguard stationed there was slaughtered without mercy. The entire estate was soon engulfed in roaring flames. In the end, only Dorothy and I remained alive amidst the carnage.

I had shielded her severely injured body with my own, my eyes bloodshot with rage and desperation as I faced down the attackers, ready to fight to my last breath.

With that same look and in the same tone, I had whispered, "Dorothy, close your eyes. I'm going to fight them to the end."

The Hoyle family was noble and untouchable, and I was never short of loyal protectors willing to lay down their lives for me. Yet that night, warm blood had dripped steadily from my fingertips, pooling on the marble floor.

To this day, I couldn't recall exactly how I managed to hold them off until the police finally arrived. All I remembered was the piercing wail of sirens cutting through the smoke.

Besides Dorothy and me, not a single soul in that inferno had survived.

Dorothy's furious shout yanked me violently back to the present. "Are you marrying me or not? If you dare hurt Rob, I'll never forgive you."

The metallic tang of fresh blood hung thick in the air. My eyes blazed red with fury as I lunged forward, seized her slender throat in an iron grip, and slammed her backward into the dressing room with brutal force.

Mirror after mirror shattered into a cascade of glittering shards. Dorothy's body crashed heavily against the far wall, her face instantly congesting to a deep, livid purple.

But before I could tighten my hold, her guards burst into the room and delivered a series of powerful kicks that sent me sprawling onto the jagged carpet of broken glass.

Blood streamed from the deep gashes on my elbow, soaking through my white suit.

The injuries I had sustained during that night two years ago had not only left me with chronic internal damage but had also significantly diminished my overall physical strength and resilience.

Looking at Dorothy's grotesquely twisted, rage-contorted face, I mustered a bitter smile.

From the very beginning, every sacrifice I had made for her had been built on nothing but her endless web of lies. An investment this misguided was doomed from the start to yield nothing but ruin.

"Dorothy, are you okay? Did he hurt you?" Rob rushed forward in a frantic display of concern, clutching at her arm and fussing over her.

"Finn Hoyle!" Dorothy snarled, rubbing her bruised neck. "Don't test my limits! If you still want to marry me, then behave yourself! Do I make myself clear?"

"Marry you?" I sneered, pushing myself up against the wall. "I already told you, I will never marry you."

Her eyes flared red again, and I continued, "Quit dreaming. There's only one thing that's happening tonight. You're not leaving this place alive!"

"Big words!" she hissed, veins bulging in her neck. But then, she unclenched her fists and scoffed, "Who else could you marry? I'm the richest woman in the city. Name one woman in this world who could be more accomplished than I am."

"More accomplished?"

A face flashed through my mind—a girl who used to make me cry as a kid, yet always stood up for me at critical moments.

I laughed, "The richest woman? Next to my wife, you're nothing."

The groomsmen finally managed to force their way into the corridor to escort me to the ceremony, only to be blocked by Dorothy's wall of bodyguards.

She raised one hand in a lazy, mocking gesture. "Let him go. I'd like to see how his little wedding goes without me. A woman more accomplished than me? Good luck with that."

I ignored her taunts, pulling my blood-soaked jacket back into place. Step by step, I walked away, my groomsmen trailing behind in uneasy silence.

Dorothy and Rob followed close behind, their confidence and arrogance practically radiating as they trailed me like victors.

"Finn, you can't escape me today," Dorothy declared with a smirk. "You can scream about reducing me to nothing all you want, but we both know this entire spectacle is just an elaborate act to force me into marrying you."

I tuned out their incessant gloating, my focus fixed solely on the grand double doors of the banquet hall ahead.

I waited patiently as the seconds ticked by, but the doors remained firmly closed, showing no sign of opening.

Dorothy threw her head back and let out a triumphant peal of laughter. "Well, well, where is that perfect bride of yours? In the end, it seems you have no choice but to settle for me."

She adjusted her dress and began to stride confidently toward my side. "As long as you promise to coexist peacefully with Rob from now on, I'll go through with the ceremony and help you manage the household."

Her words were cut off by a deafening sound. The massive banquet hall doors flung open, and framed perfectly in the glowing backlight stood a woman of breathtaking, almost otherworldly beauty.

My eyes instantly burned with unshed tears. I stepped toward her, my voice breaking but firm. "Savannah, you're late."

The instant our hands connected, we turned together to face the dumbfounded pair.

"You two are so desperate to claim the Hoyle family empire for yourselves?" I said quietly. "Then prepare to die."