Chapter 1

DAWSON MANSION

CAROLINA'S MANSION~~~ NIGHT

The noise downstairs was deafening to Carolina.The laughter, music, clinking glasses, voices calling her name everything blended into one unbearable sound.

Maids had been knocking on her door for over an hour, begging her to come downstairs, but Carolina refused to move an inch. Because why would she?

Tonight was supposed to be her bridal shower. Tomorrow, she was supposed to marry a sick maniac.

Carolina Dawson had been born into wealth, elegance, and power. Everyone called her lucky. They saw the expensive dresses, the luxurious mansion, the perfect family name, but none of them knew the truth.

She had not been raised like a daughter, she had been raised like an investment.

After her mother died when she was ten, the only parent who had ever loved her disappeared too. Her father remained, but the man he became was nothing like the one she used to know.

He never hit her, he never needed to, his words were enough. His coldness was enough. The way he looked at her like she was something to be traded, something to be used, was enough.

He stopped treating her like a person and started treating her like a weapon for business. She was never allowed to choose anything for herself. Not her school. Not her future dream. Not even the man she was supposed to marry tomorrow.

At twelve, her father sent her away to the States. When she returned two years ago, she discovered that her life had already been planned without her consent.

She was engaged.To him, the one person she hated more than anyone. The one person who had stolen every ounce of peace she ever had in her life.

Jeong Woo Jin.

The son of her father's Korean business partner. They had met in the States, and from the very beginning, he had been like a storm she could never escape, he was cruel, possessive and worst of all he was violent.

She had prayed she would never see him again, but Instead, she was being forced to marry him and the wedding was tomorrow.

Carolina sat on the edge of her bed, trembling as she stared at her mother's picture across the room.

“Mom” she whispered, her voice breaking. “Please help me.” The smile on the woman's face in the frame only made the ache in Carolina's chest worse.

She stood and walked toward the window, she glanced outside, guards moved around the mansion. Her father had practically turned the house into a prison.

She had locked herself in her room since yesterday. She had refused to speak to anyone, not even her father.

Suddenly, her gaze shifted to her wardrobe and without thinking twice, she pulled out dresses, bedsheets, scarves anything she could use. Her hands shook as she tied them together into a rope.

When she lowered it out the window, it almost reached the ground, a tiny smile touched her lips, it was enough.

She just needed to leave, she would rather die than marry Jeong Woo Jin.

She was looking around for something strong enough to tie the rope to when the doorknob suddenly twisted.

Her heart jumped and she quickly yanked the rope back inside and shoved it beneath her bed.

“Carolina, open the door.” Her father's voice came through but she said nothing.

“Carolina, stop behaving like a child." He said and she clenched her fists.

“I'll open this door when you call off this cursed marriage!” she shouted and silence followed, then another voice.

“You can go, Uncle. I'll talk to her.” She heard the voice and her entire body stiffened.

It was him, Woo Jin, the sick bastard she was supposed to marry tomorrow. She heard her father's footsteps retreat before his voice came again from the other side of the door.

“You really don't want to marry me, do you?” He said and she stayed silent.

“You don't have a choice, Carol.” He said again.

“Don't call me that!” she snapped. “Only people I love get to call me that.” She half yelled and a low chuckle came from outside.

“Then I guess I'll earn it tomorrow. I'm going to be your husband.” He said and before she could react, the door flew open with a loud crack. He had kicked it in.

“You bastard!” Carolina screamed as Woo Jin stepped into the room like he owned it.

“You won't be needing that door after tomorrow anyway,” he said with a smirk. “You'll be living with me, wifey.” He completed and rage exploded inside her.

He started moving closer to her so she kicked him as hard as she could, He groaned and stumbled back.

“You're insane!” She said and he laughed.

“You're strong as hell. One of the things I love about you.”

She raised her hand to slap him, but he caught her wrist before she could and he twisted it behind her back. Pain shot through her arm and she groan.

“Let go, You're hurting me!” She cried but he held her still.

“I'll never marry you,” she spat through tears. “Never. I hate you. I hate you for what you did to me in the States. I'll make you pay for it for the rest of your life." She said and his expression darkened.

“Come on, Carolina,” he said. “I've apologized a million times. I know what I did was wrong.” He said and her face changed immediately

“Wrong?” She laughed bitterly. “You call that wrong?”

He loosened his grip slightly and turned her to face him. “I was drunk,” he muttered. “It was a mistake." He said and her heart shattered.

“A mistake?” she whispered as tears rolled down her face. “You taking advantage of me was a mistake?” Her voice rose, cracking with pain.

“I begged you to stop, Woo Jin! I cried! I told you no over and over again!” She hit his chest weakly with her fragile hands

“But you didn't care. You didn't listen. You had your way, and you left me alone to live with it.” She cried and for a second, something like guilt flashed in his eyes.

“I'm sorry,” he said quietly. “I did it because i love you. You kept pushing me away and I didn't know what else to do.” He explained and Carolina stared at him in disbelief.

“You loved me?” She muttered. “No,people don't do that to the people they love.” She yelled and he reached for her, but she shoved him away.

“Don't touch me!” She backed away from him, breathing hard as she cleaned her tears. “I swear to God, if my father finds out what you did” She started but Woo Jin suddenly smiled making her stop mid way.

“You think he doesn't know?” He asked and the room went silent. Carolina entire body froze.

“What?” She asked out of disbelief, not wanting to believe him.

“He knows,” Woo Jin said simply, to make her more assured.

“No” she whispered, the tears she thought had stopped, started flowing again.

“He knows everything.” Woo Jin completed and as if summoned, her father stepped into the room.

“I know,” he said behind them and Carolina world stopped, she stared at her father, unable to breathe.

“Dad” Her voice came out small. Broken. “You knew?”

Her father sighed as though she was the one making things difficult.

“He told me after the engagement,” he said. “He admitted what he did and apologized. He knows he was wrong.”

Carolina looked at him like she had never seen him before. “Apologized?” she whispered. Then louder.

“Apologized?” Tears streamed down her face as she walked closer to her father.

“He raped me!”

The word echoed through the room but her father didn't even flinch.

“He took away everything from me!” she cried. “I'm your daughter! I'm the victim!”

“You are still going to marry him,” her father replied coldly. “So what difference does it make whether it happened then or after the wedding?” He said and everywhere seem to go silent.

Carolina felt something inside her break. Not crack. Not bend. Totally Broken.

Because in that moment, she realized the truth, her father had never loved her.

A man who loved his daughter would have protected her. A man who loved his daughter would have held her while she cried. A man who loved his daughter would have destroyed anyone who hurt her, But her father was standing beside the man who ruined her. Choosing him over her feelings.

“Get out,” she whispered and they all face her.

“Carolina, listen to me" Her father tried to talk again but she screamed at them.

“i said get out!” Her scream shook the room. Her father looked annoyed and Woo Jin looked frustrated. But eventually, they left.

The moment the door shut, Carolina collapsed onto the floor, she cried until she could barely breathe.

Her chest hurt. Her heart hurt. Everything hurt. “I won't do it,” she whispered through sobs. Then she looked toward the bed.

She picked up the rope and slowly, she stood up, With trembling hands, she tied it to her makeup table and threw it out the window.

She didn't take anything. Not clothes. Not money. Only her phone and the little locket her mother had left her.

She pressed the locket to her chest and face the face her mother picture for the last time. “I love you, Mom,” she whispered to the picture one last time, then she climbed out the window.

The rope burned against her hands as she lowered herself. Every step made her ankle ache. Every sound made her heart race.

When she finally reached the end, she realized the rope still wasn't long enough but she had no choice so let go.

Pain shot through her ankle the moment she hit the ground and she bit down on her lip to stop herself from screaming. She forced herself to stand and ran.

She ran past the guards. Past the lights. Past the music. Past the life that had never really been hers and nobody noticed.

Because inside the mansion, people were too busy celebrating a wedding. A wedding she would never return for.

ROADSIDE

The rain started not long after she left the mansion as if the universe had decided she had not suffered enough.

Within minutes, she was soaked. Her hair was clung to her face and her ankle throbbed with every step. She had nowhere to go. No friends. No family. No one.

“Guess I really didn't think this through,” she whispered bitterly. “Where am I supposed to go now?” Her voice was swallowed by the storm as she kept walking until she couldn't anymore.

Then she dropped to her knees in the middle of the empty road.Rain mixed with her tears. Her perfect life was gone. The illusion was gone.

Now she had to choose between returning to the father who betrayed her or facing the world completely alone.

She has had enough, she buried her face in her hands and started crying, she was crying so loudly that she didn't notice the man walking toward her.

The first thing she saw was a pair of polished black shoes stopping in front of her, then slowly, she lifted her head.

Before she could speak, another figure appeared behind her, hand clamped over her mouth and a cloth pressed against her nose.

Her eyes widened as she struggled, kicked and tried to scream but she was already weak, exhausted and broken.

The world around her blurred and then everything went dark, her body fell against the man behind her and she lost consciousness.