Chapter 3

"What are you saying?" The turn caught me completely off guard.

"I'm saying..."

The man shoved me aside and dropped to his knees in front of my sister, devout as a worshipper.

"If you'll have me, we can go get our marriage license right now!"

My mind went blank with a roar.

If Joel had fallen for Evelyn at first sight, then what was this man's excuse?

She hadn't even taken off her face mask.

"Dad, Mom, you heard that, right!" Evelyn suddenly held up her phone.

"We heard it!" My father's voice came through the line.

"Vicky, you lost again. Get home and get ready to marry. Stop making trouble!"

My mother cut in, fighting for her turn to speak.

"You wretched girl, what's so wrong with Mr. Finch? So he's a little older."

"An older man knows how to treasure you!"

"Way better than these broke nobodies you keep finding out there!"

"Besides, he's over eighty. He won't be that strong in that department, so it won't be like it was with his last wives!"

My sister put on her wronged face.

"Mom, Dad, I'm willing to marry Mr. Finch."

"But my little sister insisted on going out to find a man. I only came because I was worried about her."

"How was I supposed to know her date would fall for me instead?"

Right. She hadn't done a single thing.

And these men, one after another, were dead set on marrying her.

"Come home with me, sis. A bet's a bet, and you lost!"

She grabbed my arm. I flung her off.

She stumbled, nearly went down, and the man lunged to catch her.

I flagged down a passing cab and jumped in.

As the door shut, I could still hear the man on the curb, aching with concern.

"Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Your sister is so rough! She's not worth a fraction of you."

I never agreed to any bet. Why should I honor one I never made?

If I couldn't find a reliable man to marry, fine. I'd stop looking.

The driver took me all the way to the next city over.

I booked a hotel room and settled in to plan my next move.

That same night, in the dead of it.

Bang! Someone broke through the door.

I opened my eyes.

Dad, Mom, my sister.

And behind them, Joel and the blind-date man.

"You wretched girl, you think hiding out here means you get out of marrying!"

"Vicky, listen to your father. Come home with us! You're getting married tomorrow!"

"I'm not going! How did you even find me!" I grabbed the lamp off the nightstand and held it up to defend myself.

"You lay a hand on me and I'll call the police!"

"Wretched girl! Watch your mouth! We're your parents!"

"When your parents give an order, you obey!"

My father barked out his final command.

My sister gave a signal with her eyes.

Joel and the blind-date man rushed me together and hauled me off.

She laughed softly against my ear.

"Mom and Dad found you by filing a missing-person report."

"See? Every man you'd marry is dead set on me. Give up. However many you find, you'll lose every time."

"You're a runaway daughter with a rebellious streak. No one will believe you."

The five of them tied me up while the hotel staff watched.

"Our daughter isn't right in the head. She likes to run away from home."

"She's trained in taekwondo. We're just afraid she'll hurt someone."

Mom and Dad explained it away to everyone around while they stuffed me into the trunk.

The moment we got home, they locked me in the bathroom.

"Take the rope off. If it leaves marks, Mr. Finch won't be pleased tomorrow."

"No window in the bathroom, so she can't smash the glass and hurt herself."

My sister was all smiles, as if every move was made with my welfare in mind.

But she underestimated me.

The moment they burst into the hotel room, I'd slipped the key card into my pocket.

Opening a lock with a card was something I'd learned back in school, whenever I forgot my dorm key.

I don't know how much time passed before everything fell quiet around me.

I eased the lock open, careful and silent.

I meant to slip out through the storage room window.

Standing at the window, my heart climbed into my throat.

"Evie, this succubus system of yours really does the trick."

It was my mother's voice, kept low.