Chapter 1

On our wedding night, my husband plotted to have me gang-raped by five men.

At that wedding night, Felix Cruz was suddenly passionate. He was rough, wild, insatiable. I woke up sore and smiling, convinced that our new life together had begun.

For ten years, I had loved him from a distance. Ten years of waiting, of hoping, of telling myself that one day he would see me. When he finally agreed to marry me, I thought it was because he had finally realized how much I loved him.

I was wrong.

Fifteen days later, I found out I was pregnant- its confirmed twins.

I drove to the private club where he spent most of his evenings, my heart bursting with the news to share the joy.

But at the door of the private room where he was laughing with his friends, I stopped. I heard Mina's voice first — that syrupy, girlish lilt that made every man in his circle melt.

“You guys are too much,” Mina Moore giggled. “I made a joke—whoever gets Zara pregnant on her wedding night gets a million dollars from Felix. And you actually went through with it? Five men, all night?”

Laughter exploded around him. Male laughter. Five distinct voices.

I couldn't move. My blood turned to ice.

Felix’s cold voice cut through: “Five of them took turns. If she still doesn't get pregnant after that, I should ask for a refund.”

“I heard virgins get pregnant easily,” one of them snickered. “That million is mine.”

“The taste was amazing. We were so thorough that night. The baby is definitely mine.”

"Please — I lasted the longest. If she's carrying anyone's, it's mine."

Mina took a slow sip of her drink, her eyes flicking toward the door. Toward me. She knew I was there.

"Stop fighting, boys. It's not like any of you are short on cash."

One of Felix’s friends laughed. “Who needs the money? We just want to know who’s the best among us.”

Mina turned her smile to Felix. “Would you be angry if she really got pregnant?”

Felix shrugged. “Why would I be angry at a whore who spreads her legs for five men and moaned like she was enjoying it. She was disgusting that night. And she begged me for more.”

They laughed again.

"Besides —" he paused, "— you boys kept the HD footage, didn't you? Something to revisit on a slow night."

The room erupted.

"The princess of Kingsley, writhing underneath me— I'll replay that till I'm old."

“She wouldn't dare say anything. We were just following Felix’s orders.”

Every word reached me through that gap in the door. My body was shaking. My lungs had forgotten how to expand. My vision tunneled to a single bright point — Mina's face, watching me through the crack with the faintest curl of a smile.

"Zara!" She waved me in, voice dripping with warmth. "When did you get here? You should have said something!"

Felix glanced at me. No shame. No guilt. Just irritation.

“We were just joking. Don't take it seriously.”

I looked around the room at the faces of the five men who had taken turns raping me on the night I thought I was becoming Felix’s wife.

I gathered what was left of my voice.

"What kind of joke involves *that*?"

One of them walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder. His eyes crawled over my body. His eyes traveled down my body with a familiarity that made my stomach lurch.

“Don't be mad, Zara. It was just a kidding.”

Felix’s voice hardened. “That’s enough. Everyone’s watching.”

Felix's voice not at him. At me.

I turned and walked out. The tears came before I reached the elevator.

We were an arranged marriage — a business alliance between the Kingsley and Cruz families. But I had loved Felix Cruz since I was fifteen. Ten years of quiet, stubborn devotion before he finally agreed to the wedding.

He hadn't been moved by my love. He'd been moved by leverage.

That night — our wedding night — the champagne had tasted slightly off. I'd drunk it without suspicion, because why would I suspect my own husband?

I had been unconscious while they took turns. I had woken up with bruises and thought it was passion.

I had tried so hard to please him. I had watched those stupid videos, learned those degrading positions, forced myself to be the woman I thought he wanted. And all of it—every humiliating second—was because Mina had made a bet with them.

Back at the house, I found the camera first.

High-definition. Hidden in the corner of the bedroom. I ripped it off the wall and smashed it.

My tears wouldn't stop.

*I don't deserve to be alive. I'm filthy. I'm disgusting.*

Felix appeared in the doorway. "What are you doing? I told you, it was just a joke.”

My voice cracked. “Then why did you put a hidden camera in our bedroom?”

He sat on the edge of the bed, looked at the shattered remains on the floor, and said without blinking: "That's for your safety."

*My safety. Or your collection?*

He took my cold hand. “You went to the hospital today. Where’s the test result? You've always wanted a baby. You should be happy.”

My throat was scraped hollow. "You really want me to have your child? Felix — you haven't touched me once since the wedding night."

He softened his voice. “I was worried you were too tired, Zara. You’re my wife. Do you think I would hurt you? And that night, I was so ‘hard’ that you couldn't have been left unattended—how could you not be pregnant?”

I pulled my hand back.

But the ultrasound printout slipped from my bag and fluttered to the floor between us.