Chap 1
The Salvon Estate had never looked more beautiful.
Crystal chandeliers illuminated every corner of the mansion.
Fresh roses filled the grand ballroom with fragrance.
A string quartet performed while politicians, judges, business leaders, and close family friends mingled over champagne.
Tonight was supposed to celebrate one thing.
Isabella Salvon's twenty-eighth birthday.
Victor Salvon, founder of Salvon Global Holdings, had spared no expense.
His only daughter deserved the perfect evening.
At least...
That was what everyone believed.
Hidden away inside the mansion's enormous kitchen...
A different story was unfolding.
Pink balloons floated above a marble island.
A magnificent three-tier birthday cake sat untouched, its candles still glowing.
Wrapped presents lined the counters.
But the birthday girl wasn't smiling.
She stood trembling near the sink, desperately trying to cover the left side of her face.
A deep purple bruise surrounded her eye.
Blood stained the corner of her lips.
Fresh fingerprints marked her wrist where someone had grabbed her moments earlier.
Tears streamed silently down her cheeks.
Across from her stood her husband.
Nathan Reynolds.
Well-dressed.
Perfectly groomed.
Holding the silver cake knife as though nothing had happened.
He looked annoyed rather than guilty.
"I told you to stop crying."
Isabella whispered,
"I tried..."
Nathan took another step closer.
"You embarrassed me in front of everyone."
"It was my birthday..."
She barely managed to say.
He laughed coldly.
"And?"
Standing beside Nathan was his mother, Gloria Reynolds.
Elegant in a cream-colored designer gown with diamonds around her neck.
She wasn't comforting Isabella.
She was cleaning the evidence.
She grabbed a black trash bag and hurriedly collected the broken wine glass Nathan had smashed against the wall.
She stuffed bloody paper towels into the bag.
"Hurry."
She snapped at Isabella.
"Fix your makeup."
"Your father cannot see you like this."
Isabella looked at her with disbelief.
"You watched him hit me."
Gloria rolled her eyes.
"And?"
"A marriage isn't a fairy tale."
"A good wife keeps family problems inside the house."
For nearly two years...
Isabella had hidden every bruise.
Every insult.
Every apology.
Every lie.
Whenever Victor asked why she looked tired...
She smiled.
Whenever friends questioned the bruises...
She invented another accident.
She couldn't bear the thought of her father blaming himself.
Nathan knew that.
He used it against her.
Every single time.
Tonight, the violence began over something unbelievably small.
During family photos...
Isabella wasn't smiling enough.
Nathan whispered,
"Smile."
She couldn't.
Her migraine had been worsening all day.
The photographer asked for another picture.
Nathan squeezed her arm harder.
Still no smile.
When guests walked away...
He dragged her into the kitchen.
One slap became two.
Two became five.
By the time Gloria entered...
Isabella was already on the floor.
Instead of helping...
Gloria handed her tissues.
"Clean yourself up."
Footsteps echoed outside the kitchen.
Heavy.
Confident.
Victor Salvon searched every room carrying the birthday gift he had personally chosen.
A vintage music box Isabella had loved as a little girl.
He smiled while calling out,
"Sweetheart?"
No answer.
He walked toward the kitchen.
The doors slowly opened.
Everything stopped.
The music from the ballroom suddenly felt impossibly distant.
Victor looked at his daughter.
The gift slipped from his hands.
It shattered against the marble floor.
His breathing stopped.
Then he noticed the bruises.
The blood.
The tears.
His daughter's terrified eyes.
For one horrifying second...
He couldn't move.
Then he whispered,
"Who..."
"...did this?"
Nathan answered before Isabella could speak.
"I did."
Victor slowly looked up.
Nathan folded his arms arrogantly.
"So what?"
"She's my wife."
"She stays where I tell her."
Victor stared at him.
Then quietly reached into his jacket.
Not for a weapon.
For his phone.
He pressed one button.
A single sentence appeared on the screen.
SEND.
Within seconds...
More than a dozen police vehicles began racing toward the Salvon Estate.
May you like
Nathan had no idea.
His life had just changed forever.
