Chapter 2

The underwater bioluminescence was breathtaking, shimmering like the future I once dreamed of.

Yet, like dying fireworks, it all dissolved into nothing.

By the time we returned to Chloe's villa, dawn was breaking.

Julian cupped my face gently. "Elena... God, I miss you."

I knew I should act like Chloe, playing the version of Elena he craved.

Yet the cold, merciless face from the sacrificial altar kept flashing in my mind.

Tied to the stone slab, I had begged him with my last shred of hope: *"Julian, did our vows mean nothing to you?"*

*"Tell me what I did wrong! I can change, I swear I can! Please, don't do this to me... I'm begging you!"*

All I received was his hollow cruelty. He looked at me as if I were a piece of discarded meat.

*"Don't blame me, Elena. Blame yourself for turning into such a submissive, boring coward. Where did your fire go? Why would I love someone like that?"*

*"I still love your body, though. It’s just that right now... I love Serena's soul more."*

He caressed my cheek:

*"Elena, didn't you say you'd die for me? I'm giving you the chance to keep your promise. That way, you and Serena will stay with me forever."*

Those icy words felt sharper than the blade that ripped my soul from my flesh.

He despised me for becoming timid, forgetting that he was the one who broke me.

He said he wanted a quiet, domestic partner, so I learned to cook, clean, and swallow my pride.

He was suffocatingly possessive, forbidding me from talking to another man, so I shut myself away from the world like a caged pet.

......

And in the end, all I got was his disgust, his betrayal, and a brutal murder.

The phantom agony of that death still made my limbs tremble.

Instinctively, I shoved him away. "Don't touch me!"

Caught off guard, Julian stumbled back, nearly falling.

His eyes narrowed into a dangerous slit. "Chloe? What's wrong with you?"

A jolt of terror snapped me back to reality.

I forced my expression to calm down, desperate for an excuse, but my lips trembled too hard to form words.

Fortunately, the doorbell rang.

Relief washed over me like a wave. "I-I'll get the door," I rushed out.