THE VOW MADE IN HATRED
The mountain lodge wedding hall glowed with amber light as dusk settled over the snowy pines. Through the tall triangular windows, the sky was turning blue-gray, soft and cold, while inside, warmth spilled across polished wooden floors, white aisle flowers, and rows of stunned guests dressed in black tie and silk. It should have been a perfect wedding. Instead, it felt like the final scene of a secret war.
Ethan Hale stood in a black tuxedo near the altar, jaw tight, dark wavy hair falling slightly loose across his forehead. His hand gripped the bride’s arms hard enough to stop her from backing away, but not hard enough to leave new damage. He had spent months preparing for this moment. Months feeding himself a single purpose: revenge.
The bride, Lila Ashford, trembled in front of him. Her brunette hair was pinned into a messy bridal updo, and her white lace gown shimmered softly under the amber lamps. Her eyes were wet. A small, non-gory scratch marked her forehead. She looked like a woman barely holding herself together.
“I married you to destroy your father,” Ethan said in a low, shaking voice.
The guests behind them fell into shocked silence.
Lila stared at him as if she had expected cruelty, but not this. For a moment she could not speak. Then her lips quivered, and she whispered, “You don’t know what he did to me.”
Ethan’s anger did not leave him then. He had spent too many years hating Victor Ashford—the powerful businessman who had destroyed Ethan’s family, bankrupted his father, and driven his mother into an early grave. Marrying Victor’s daughter had seemed like perfect justice.
But Lila’s voice did not sound defensive.
May you like
It sounded broken.
And still, Ethan did not yet understand that he was standing in front of another victim, not an enemy.
