Alle Kapitel von Rise Of The Abandoned Bride: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 7

~Serah POV~The bells of the Crimson Court tolled, slow and heavy, echoing across the marble hall. Every sound seemed to mock me because each note reminded me I wasn't walking into a marriage of love, but into a cage."Raise your hand," the priest commanded his voice boomed.My fingers trembled as I lifted them. The silk sleeves of my gown slipped back, revealing pale skin I had powdered to perfection. It didn't matter, no one was looking at me, not even Lord Jethro Veylen, my husband-to-be and my master.He stood tall beside me, draped in his dark ceremonial robes, eyes glowing faintly red under the chandeliers.He was everything a vampire lord should be... handsome, powerful, terrifying and yet, at that moment, he may as well have been a statue carved of ice.His gaze wasn't on me, not even once, but instead, it was fixed on her. My stepsister, Lydia, who was sitting in the front row, dressed more elegantly than the bride, black velvet clung to her figure, and her lips curled in a s

~Serah POV~The rain had eased by dawn, leaving the streets slick with mud, my gown clung heavy and wet, the hem torn where I'd stumbled over cobblestones. I hadn't slept, I hadn't eaten, but I kept moving.I whispered to my stomach as though the child could hear me. "We'll survive this somehow."The tavern keeper at the city's edge sneered when I begged for shelter. "No coin, no roof, get out!" He slammed the door in my face.So I walked through alleys and markets where merchants jeered, through crowds that parted like I had carried the plague by nightfall, I collapsed on the riverbank, the world tilting around me."Pathetic sight, isn't it?" a voice drawled. I jerked upright and saw a tall man leaned against a tree, half-hidden in shadowy black cloak, eyes gleaming red in the moonlight like a predator's gaze.I stumbled back. "Stay away from me!"He smirked. "If I wanted you dead, little bride, you'd already be bleeding."His words chilled me. "Wait, you… know who I am?""Oh, everyo

~Serah POV~The camp was chaos as men grabbed blades, women snatched their children, horses shrieked in panic, then Tristan's voice cut through the uproar. "Move! Take only what you can carry." He turned to me, eyes sharp. "Stay closer to me."My stomach twisted, and the baby fluttered as though sensing danger. "What if they catch us?" I asked."They won't," Tristan said flatly, shoving a cloak around my shoulders. "Not when I'm alive." His words chilled me as we fled into the forest, branches clawed at my gown, mud s*ck*d at my shoes and behind us, the campfires dimmed, swallowed by night. Then, faintly, the sound of horns came"They're close," Tristan muttered.I stumbled. "They're here for me and the baby."He gripped my arm, steadying me. "Then we'll make them regret coming."Hours later, when the hunters finally caught us, the moon was high, shadows moved between the trees, half a dozen men in black armor, the Veylen crest gleaming on their chests. The leader sneered. "By order o

~Serah POV~Branches tore at my gown as Tristan dragged me through the woods and behind us, hooves pounded and men shouted as I heard my father's voice cut through it all like a whip, steady, cruel, detached. "Bring her back alive! The child is proof. Don't fail Lord Veylen." My chest tightened, he didn't even say my name."Keep moving," Tristan's breath was rough, his grip like an iron on my wrist. "Don't look back!""You don't understand," I stumbled over a root, nearly falling. "That was my father!""I know who it was, and I don't care! He made his choice, now make yours and live.""I can't outrun them," I gasped. My thigh throbbed where the blade had cut me and blood was soaking through the makeshift bandage. "They'll catch us, Tristan."He spun on me, eyes blazing. "Do you want me to carry you?""Uhn?" My eyes were wide with surprise, "No!""Then run! Because I swear Serah, if you stop now you're handing Jethro exactly what he wants." His words hit harder than the pain and I forc