All Chapters of The Master's wife : Chapter 1 - Chapter 3

PROLOGUE “Hold her down!”“She’s cursed!”“No, please, please don’t take me there!”Leah woke to screaming, the sound tore through the girl's dormitory before sunrise, pulling every girl from sleep, wooden beds creaked as frightened bodies sat upright beneath thin blankets, someone started crying in the darkness, another girl whispered prayers under her breath, Leah’s heart pounded instantly because she recognized the voice screaming outside.Abigail.The dormitory doors burst open so hard they slammed against the walls.“Line up!” Mother Ruth shouted. “Now!”The girls scrambled out of bed immediately. No one dared move slowly when one of the Mothers used that tone. Bare feet hit the cold wooden floor while the younger girls shook with confusion, Leah hurried beside her closest friend Naomi, whose hands trembled so badly she nearly tripped over her nightdress.“What happened?” Naomi whispered fearfully.Leah swallowed. “I don’t know.”But deep down, she already did, another scream ec

~Leah pov~“Bride, walk slowly.”Mother Ruth’s sharp whisper barely reached me beneath the violent pounding of my heartbeat, the heavy veil softened the world into pale shadows as I stood at the entrance of the Sanctuary chapel, my trembling hands locked tightly together beneath layers of white silk, candles flickered against ancient stone walls, casting wavering gold across rows of bowed heads. White flowers lined the aisle in perfect arrangements, their sweet scent mixing with incense thick enough to choke on.Every seat inside the chapel was filled, they were all waiting to witness the sacred union, waiting to watch me become the Master’s fifth wife, nausea twisted painfully inside my stomach.Soft music began somewhere behind me, low and haunting, and the giant chapel doors creaked open with agonizing slowness, hundreds of heads turned toward me at once, Mother Ruth smiled beside me, pride glowing in her eyes.“Go,” she whispered.My body nearly refused, every instinct inside me s