Chapter 1

"Nancy! F-Fucking Nancy again! All you ever seem to care about is Nancy-bloody-Love!" Arya snarled in panicked rage as she threw up a hand to hail a taxi.

She had to get to the airport now, or she might lose her daughter forever.

She could not count on Armie suddenly coming to his senses and getting their daughter out of there. That man was a psycho, full stop. He would do anything for Nancy, even things no sane person would ever consider.

The last time Nancy complained about sharing a car ride with someone else, Armie abandoned Arya and their daughter on the side of the freeway in the middle of a snowstorm.

Another time, Nancy mentioned she was allergic to dogs. In response, Armie took Millie's pet dog, her loyal companion for years, straight to the meat grinder without so much as blinking.

If Nancy so much as complimented Arya's dress, Armie would demand that Arya take it off in public so Nancy could wear it instead.

And now, because he believed Millie had trapped Nancy in an elevator for an hour, he had already locked his own flesh and blood inside a suitcase overnight.

Arya could not take her eyes off her phone for more than a second. The live camera feed showed the suitcase rocking less and less. Through the microphone, her daughter's cries were growing weaker.

She could feel the cracks in her heart spreading.

She could no longer hold back her panicked sobs. "Armie, please, listen to me! Please... I'm begging you... Let Millie out! Just let her go… She's your own daughter! Don't you feel anything for her?

"I'll do anything if you'll just let her out. Please! I'll... I'll even agree to a divorce! Nancy can take my place. She can marry you, just like you've always wanted!"

All it earned her was a sneer. "You think I'm that naive, Arya? Say we get divorced. Then what? You'll just fill my grandma's head with lies so she'll make Nancy's life hell, won't you?"

He snickered. "Regretting it now, Arya? Why didn't you think about this on the day you forced me to marry you as compensation for saving her life?"

He ended the call before Arya could correct him, but that was not the coldest silence she faced.

It was her daughter.

She could no longer hear Millie's cries through the surveillance feed.

Despair swallowed Arya whole. She had never regretted marrying Armie Simmons more than she did at that moment.

…

Arya Alexander had grown up in a welfare home. She worked tirelessly to earn a place at one of the capital's elite high schools before gaining admission to the nation's top university.

She had planned to apply for a state scholarship to pursue her master's degree until she accidentally saved a wealthy old woman who had suffered a sudden heart attack.

Gloria Simmons had been so overjoyed and grateful that she insisted Arya marry her grandson.

"I'm sure you've seen him before, child. He went to the same high school and university as you! This has to be fate!"

Arya had intended to refuse. She appreciated the old woman's gratitude, but she had never planned to accept such an offer.

She was about to explain that she already had feelings for someone else when she discovered that Gloria's grandson was Armie, the man she had secretly loved since high school.

That changed everything.

When the old woman tried to bring them together, Arya could hardly contain her happiness. She abandoned every hope and dream she had built for herself and threw herself headlong into the promise of marriage.

She never imagined she would spend her wedding night alone in their bedroom.

A few days later, she tracked him down at a club and found him dancing with Nancy Love. His hands rested possessively on Nancy's waist as they swayed against each other.

It was the first time Arya had ever confronted him in anger.

"You told me you had an emergency at the office!"

Armie sneered, "Why are you acting like this is news to you, Arya? You knew the truth from the beginning. Everyone in this city knows Nancy is the woman I love. But you weaponized my grandma's gratitude and forced me into this marriage. That's all this farce has ever been.

"So I decided I'd give you exactly what you wanted. Wealth? Prestige? The ridiculous title of 'Mrs. Simmons'? Fine. You can have all of it. But in return, you stay out of my life, and I don't have to care about yours."

It was a brutal night.

Arya realized she had never been anything more than a tool.

There was a reason an experienced matriarch of an elite family had insisted her grandson marry a stranger over a single act of kindness.

Gloria had acted out of spite because Nancy's family had been the Simmons family's rivals for generations. It had never mattered who saved Gloria that day. Whoever it was would have become Armie's bride, regardless of what he wanted.

It had never been pre-destined. It had been rotten luck.

…

The plane touched down.

Arya braved the snowstorm and ran all the way home without even thinking about hailing a cab.

She burst through the front door and raced upstairs. Her trembling fingers fumbled with the suitcase locks.

"Millie! Millie..."

The moment she opened the suitcase, a wave of foul stench hit her.

The tiny body inside had gone stiff, frozen forever in an unnatural position. Tear tracks still streaked her cheeks like shallow scratches.

Arya felt as though she had been struck by a train.

She gathered Millie into her arms and sobbed until sunrise. Through her tears, she demanded to know why none of the maids had freed her daughter.

"My apologies, but Mr. Simmons said no one was allowed to release Miss Millie without his permission," came the indifferent, almost mechanical reply.

It was the second most brutal night of Arya's life.

She had endured Armie for eight long years. In return, she had received no kindness, no humanity, no gratitude, not even the smallest measure of respect.

The only thing she had gained was her daughter's cold, lifeless body in her arms.

She wiped away her tears with mechanical movements. She prepared a simple farewell for Millie, a child whose life had ended far too soon, then armed herself with a knife.

She stormed into Armie's office.

He did not even bother to look up. "So, did the brat learn her lesson?"

Arya laughed as tears streamed uncontrollably down her face. "Lesson? She's dead, you fucking monster! Her greatest mistake was having you as her father! My greatest mistake was marrying you!

"You're not human, Armie! You're the fucking Devil who's been stalking this Earth for far too long! And now, I'm sending you back to where you belong!"

Armie's expression finally changed.

He frowned and looked up just as Arya lunged at him, the knife flashing in her hand.

The office door flew open.

Nancy threw herself forward and caught the blade with her bare hands.

Blood immediately spilled onto the floor.

Armie panicked. "Nancy!"

He shoved Arya away with all his strength. Her lower back slammed into the sharp corner of the desk, and a burst of agony shot through her spine.

He pulled Nancy into his arms and growled, "You'll pay for this! If anything happens to her... you'll pay with your life!"

He sprinted out of the office carrying Nancy in his arms. He did not spare Arya so much as a glance.

Arya sucked in a sharp breath through the pain, but it was nothing compared to the agony of losing her daughter.

'Monster.' She could not stay there for another moment. She had to leave this city, leave that monster behind, and take Millie's ashes with her.

Arya was calm in the way only someone driven beyond reason could be. She ignored the dark bruise spreading across her waist and the blood slowly trickling down her side as she made her way to the Simmons estate.

"Madam Simmons, I am getting a divorce."