My best friend and I married into the same powerful family on the same day—I married the uncle, Mike Pei, and she married his nephew, Adrian. At the wedding, our fathers were brutally beaten by bodyguards. We begged Mike and Adrian to stop, but Mike accused them of harassing his beloved Elara. I insisted it was a misunderstanding, but he called me a liar. Defeated, I knelt and apologized to Elara. My friend was slapped by Adrian and blamed for ruining everything. We rushed our fathers to the hospital, but it was too late. The wedding cost us our families and futures. Overcome with regret, we tried to leave—but they came after us. 1 The light above the emergency room door went dark. My father and my best friend’s father were wheeled out, covered in white sheets. The moment the doctor shook his head, my best friend and I collapsed to the floor, sobbing into each other's arms. Nurses hurried past us, their voices low but clear. “Did you hear? The Pei family is paying millions to have the hospital’s top psychiatrist treat their precious Elara’s trauma.” “I heard she was harassed by two old men at the wedding.” The words struck me like a physical blow. My nails dug into my palms, drawing blood that dripped silently onto the polished floor. Elara Jiang. The woman Mike and Adrian had always loved but could never have. And the monster responsible for our fathers’ deaths. At the wedding, Elara’s screams had drawn everyone’s attention. We’d rushed over to find our fathers cornering her against a wall. She was a picture of distress—tear-streaked, the collar of her dress pulled down to her shoulder, her skirt hiked up in disarray as she struggled to break free from their grasp. The guests gasped. Mike and Adrian exploded with rage. They didn't give our fathers a chance to explain. They just ordered the bodyguards to attack. My friend and I knelt at their feet, pleading, telling them those were our fathers, begging them to stop. But Elara just cried harder. “I already gave Mike and Adrian to you. Why won’t you leave me alone? Why did you have to hire two old men to assault me?” “They even took pictures… Are you claiming they’re your fathers just to protect them? To get those photos and ruin my reputation?” That sealed it. Mike and Adrian were convinced we were lying. They forced us to watch as our fathers were beaten unconscious. By the time they reached the hospital, there was nothing to be done. A wedding had become a funeral. Suddenly, my phone buzzed. It was a video, sent from the wedding photographer who had caught it by chance. In the clip, Elara deliberately mussed her own clothes before throwing herself into our fathers' arms, clinging to them so they couldn't push her away. A second later, she started screaming. My vision went red. I looked up and saw her across the hall, being coddled by Mike and Adrian like a precious jewel. Rage surged through me, a hot, blinding wave. I charged toward them, my eyes burning. “Elara, you liar! It was all an act! You set it all up!” Mike stepped in front of me, his eyes cold with impatience. “Sienna, when are you going to stop this nonsense?” “If you hadn’t hired those men to attack Elara, the wedding would never have been canceled. You brought this on yourselves.” The mixture of disappointment and anger in his eyes was a dagger to my heart. Tears streamed down my face. I held out my phone, playing the video for him. “Mike, I didn’t do this. Please, you have to believe me.” Elara’s eyes filled with fresh tears, and she let out a soft sob. “Sienna… you even forged a video just to frame me…” Seeing Elara’s wounded expression, Mike and Adrian’s faces softened with pity. Mike snatched my phone and smashed it on the floor. He then slapped me, his voice dripping with disgust. “Sienna Yang, you are the most vile, venomous woman I have ever met. You sicken me.” I stared at him in disbelief, the blood freezing in my veins. My best friend was draped over her father’s body, her cries echoing in the sterile hallway. “Our fathers are dead, don’t you understand? Elara killed them! Why won’t you believe us?” Annoyed by her wailing, Adrian strode over and kicked the gurney, sending it rattling against the wall. “What an act,” he sneered. “You almost had me believing they were really your fathers.” He kicked my father’s covered body. “Stop playing dead. Tell us how much these two paid you to harass Elara and put on this little show.” When there was no response, a vicious glint entered his eye, and he kicked again, and again. “NO!” I screamed, my eyes bloodshot, and threw myself over my father’s body to protect him. Adrian’s boot slammed into my back with such force that I nearly vomited blood. Mike’s brow furrowed for a split second. But Elara spoke first, her voice a gentle balm. “Mike, Adrian, please don’t be angry with them because of me. I’m just an outsider. It’s okay if I’m treated unfairly. I’m sure Sienna and her friend won’t do something like this again.” Adrian’s face was a mask of fury. “They dare to have a ‘next time’?” Mike’s expression darkened. “Elara, you are not an outsider.” “And don’t worry. Once you’ve recovered, I will make them pay for what happened today.” His cold, menacing gaze sent a shiver down my spine. I bit my lip until the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, the pain sharpening my senses. My voice trembled. “I’m not marrying you.” My friend looked at Adrian with utter despair. “I’m not marrying you either.” For a moment, their expressions flickered. Then, indifference settled back in, as if they were certain we’d come crawling back. “Suit yourself,” Mike said coolly. Adrian scoffed. “You were the ones begging to get married, not me.” With that, they escorted Elara away, brushing past us without another glance. The moment they were gone, my friend’s tears started anew. I gently wiped them away, my own heart aching. We were from ordinary families. The Peis of the capital were a world away, a dynasty we could never have touched. But we had saved Mrs. Pei’s life by chance. She was Mike’s mother, Adrian’s grandmother. She was the one who had arranged our marriages. I had felt that Mike liked me, at least a little. But that affection was meaningless next to Elara, his first love who had just returned from abroad. In fact, that affection had cost me the only family I had left. And against the power of the Pei family, we couldn't even get justice for our own fathers. I held my friend close. “Let’s go. Let’s get as far away from them as we can.” We took our fathers to the funeral home to be cremated. With their ashes in hand, we went to the Pei family estate to see Mrs. Pei one last time. Seeing us standing there, holding the urns of our fathers, her voice caught in her throat. Any words of apology for her son and grandson died on her lips. She took our hands, and after a long moment, she spoke, her voice bitter with regret. “I’m so sorry.” “The Pei family is prepared to compensate you.” I gave a hollow laugh. “Mrs. Pei, please, just let us go.” Her expression was complicated. In the end, she returned the marriage contracts to us. The Peis were a traditional family of old money. A legal marriage certificate meant less than a formal pact, acknowledged by the head of the family. I remembered how Mike and Adrian, to show their sincerity, had written the vows in their own blood, a symbol of a bond that transcended life and death. They had been sincere then. But that sincerity was a fleeting illusion, a mirage that vanished as quickly as it appeared. Now, without these contracts, they were free. After returning to our rooms, we changed out of our wedding dresses. As we were packing, Mike and Adrian returned. With Elara. Mike’s eyes fell on the suitcase at my feet, and his face darkened. “Where do you think you’re going?” “I haven’t settled the score with you for what you did to Elara.” I ignored him, taking my friend’s hand and walking toward the door. I knew nothing we said would change their minds. I just wanted to escape this suffocating place. As we reached the door, Elara’s plaintive voice drifted over. “Mike, Adrian, if they don’t want to apologize, don’t force them. I don’t want you fighting with them because of me again.” The words had their intended effect. Adrian slammed the door in our faces and locked it. My heart seized. Mike’s gaze hardened, a glacial coldness radiating from his eyes. “Get on your knees. Apologize to Elara.” His command was a blade that carved a hole in my chest, the pain making it impossible to breathe. Adrian didn’t even bother to speak. He kicked the back of my friend’s knees, forcing her to the floor in front of Elara. Before I could react, Mike grabbed a fistful of my hair. The searing pain in my scalp blinded me. When I could finally breathe again, I was kneeling like a lamb for slaughter before the woman who had murdered my father. Elara leaned in close, her words a poison whispered in our ears. “Did you know? You killed your own fathers.” Our eyes shot wide. She smiled. “They didn’t die from the beating.” “Mike and Adrian decided they weren’t worthy of being saved. They ordered the doctors to stop the surgery. They let them bleed out on the table.” “Can you imagine what that was like? Lying there, conscious, feeling your own life drain away?” “It’s all your fault. You two daughters sent your own fathers to hell.” The color drained from my face. My best friend completely shattered. With a wild scream, she launched herself at Elara, slapping and clawing at her. “You’re a monster!” Elara didn’t fight back, just collapsed into a heap of sobs. Everyone was stunned. Adrian reacted first, kicking my friend away. Mike gathered Elara into his arms, cooing and comforting her. Adrian tenderly wiped the tears from her cheeks. Seeing the red handprints on her face, his own face contorted with rage. He spun around, grabbed my friend by the hair, and yanked her head back. “I’ve been too good to you,” he snarled. “And it’s made you bold.” SMACK! “That was for being born without a heart.” SMACK! “That was for being a woman who would destroy another woman’s honor.” SMACK! “And that was for all the times you’ve schemed against Elara…” My friend’s face swelled, becoming a grotesque mask of bruises. But Adrian didn’t stop. I tried to help her, but Mike held me back. The relentless sound of the slaps echoed in the room, a hammer pounding against my heart, making my entire body tremble. One hundred slaps. My friend finally went limp, blood trickling from her mouth as she collapsed against a suitcase, unconscious. The fall knocked her marriage contract onto the floor. Only then did Elara speak. “Adrian, stop. I didn’t want to make things worse.” “But they are your fiancées, chosen by Mrs. Pei. With that status, they feel they can do anything to me without consequence.” “It’s better to be clear today, so they won’t bother me again.” Mike’s face was stone. “Elara, if they were capable of listening to reason, they wouldn't have targeted you again and again.” “They think being my fiancée gives them power? Fine. I’ll make sure she never gets to be my wife.” He snatched the marriage contract from my luggage. In front of my eyes, he set it on fire. He grabbed my chin, his eyes like chips of ice. “From now on, you’re nothing but a kept woman. A pet. Do you understand?” The ashes of our contract drifted into my eyes, extinguishing the last flicker of love I ever had for him. Fine. Without that paper, we were both free. Adrian, following his uncle’s lead, burned his contract with my friend as well. Numbly, I helped my friend to her feet as she stirred, my expression blank. “Can we go now?” Mike’s eyes darkened for a moment. “Where will you go?” Adrian just waved us away impatiently. “Let them go, uncle. They’ll come crawling back on their own.” Their condescending smirks met a dead, silent pool in my heart. We will never come back. I stumbled out, supporting my friend. As we passed Elara, I spoke, my voice devoid of emotion. “You think you’ve won? You think you can marry into the Pei family now?” “You will never be anything more than a dirty little secret.” A flash of anger crossed her face. I took my friend and left the Pei estate. We found a clinic to patch up our injuries. Even hearing that Adrian had burned their contract, my friend’s face remained blank. Neither of us had ever imagined our wedding day would become our fathers’ funeral. We had both lost our mothers when we were young. Our fathers were all we had. Now, all we wanted was to bring them home. We took their ashes back to our hometown and began preparing for their burial. Even far from the city, news of the Peis reached us. Mike and Adrian publicly bidding against each other for jewelry that Elara admired. Tabloids publishing stories of the three of them living together. Paparazzi photos of Elara kissing Mike one day, and Adrian the next. None of it touched me. My heart was numb. I focused only on the funeral. But on the day we were to bury our fathers’ ashes, Mike and Adrian found us. They arrived like a storm. “Come back with me,” Mike demanded. “I need you to tell my mother that I have no intention of marrying Elara. I’m only being kind to her because I owe her.” I gave him a dead-eyed stare. Mrs. Pei despised Elara. Years ago, Mike and Adrian had nearly destroyed each other fighting over her. It was Mrs. Pei who had sent Elara abroad to end it. Now that the scandal was public, they were afraid of history repeating itself. They needed us as a shield to protect Elara. I used to love him enough to endure any humiliation. Now, I just found my past self pathetic. I turned away, muttering, “Get lost.” My friend, however, found her voice. “Isn't everything in the papers true? If you have nothing to hide, why don't you explain it to Mrs. Pei yourselves?” “Besides, we have nothing to do with you. You’re both CEOs, used to getting your way. Are you really so shameless that you have to cling to us now?” Adrian snapped first. “If my grandmother didn’t only trust your word, do you think we’d be here?” “Just come back with us. Do this one thing, and we’ll allow you to move back in.” His tone was one of magnanimous charity. They had no idea that Mrs. Pei had already investigated everything. Seeing my continued silence, Mike’s face hardened. “Sienna, how long are you going to keep this act up?” “I promise you, we can have another wedding. Didn’t your father say it was a custom in your hometown to have a ceremony here as well? Fine. I agree.” “If you’re worried, we can do it right now.” “But after the wedding, you are coming back to the Pei estate with me.” At the mention of my father, a hot rage surged through my veins. I stopped what I was doing and spun on him. “You have no right to even say his name! I’ve told you a hundred times, my father is dead! Elara killed him. You both killed him! You’re murderers!” Mike’s brow creased in annoyance. “What is wrong with you? Do you think your father would want to hear you cursing him like this?” Adrian sneered. “He must have been a real sinner to have a daughter who wishes him dead.” I didn’t want to argue anymore. I raised the shovel in my hands. “Get out! Today is my father’s funeral. Don’t you dare disturb his peace.” Mike’s patience was gone. He glared at the fresh graves. “You’d rather attend some pathetic funeral than have your own wedding?” Before I could react, he snatched the shovel from my hands and plunged it into my father’s grave. Adrian followed his lead, grabbing my friend’s shovel and starting to dig. I screamed, and we lunged at them, but their bodyguards held us back. We were forced to watch as they desecrated the graves we had dug with our own hands, exposing the simple porcelain urns that held our fathers’ ashes. With cold sneers, they smashed the urns before our eyes. A cloud of dark ash scattered in the wind. The shock was too much. My best friend fainted in my arms. Mike strode toward me, looking down his nose at me. “Be smart. Come back with me now. Don’t force me to prepare a grave for your living father.” Just then, the village elder came running toward us with the police. “Who are you people? How dare you desecrate Sienna’s father’s grave! You’re breaking the law!”
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "386685", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel