CHAPTER 1.
THE BRIDE WHO DIDN'T SHOW UP.
Lilith Vanderwoodson ran from everything she was raised to protect.
The veil tore from her head, caught on the spiked iron gate as she slipped out of the hotel’s side entrance, heels snapping against cold marble. Behind her, the world she was meant to inherit screamed her name.
“Lilith!” her mother wailed. “Don’t you dare embarrass this family!”
But Lilith was already gone.
She didn’t care about embarrassment. Or the whispers. Or the cost. Or even her reputation. All she knew was that she couldn't continue with the wedding.
She cared about truth — and she’d just learned hers was built on blood.
Her supposed to be husband, Alec Hargrove, wasn’t just a cheater. He was a trafficker. A wolf decorated and adorned in sheep clothing provided by her father.
He was the wolf , and her a father , a traitor where she was concerned.
She’d found it all: the encrypted files on Alec tablet, the messages from faceless girls begging to be released, the late-night calls to ports her father owned.
And instead of confronting them, she’d walked.
No…escaped, disgusted and betrayed by their actions.
Now she was just a woman in a white dress, running from power, from corruption, from her own name and her family empire.
The city air bit at her skin as she disappeared into the night.
New York swallowed her easily — another broken soul looking for something real in a city built on masks and deceit.
She didn’t know where she was going. Only that she needed distance.
From her father. From Alec. From the legacy that dripped with secrets she’d never agreed to bear. Secrets that were unbearable.
But fate has a cruel way of circling back.
Because that’s when she saw it — the black doorway glowing like a pulse. No signs. No music. Just shadows. A place meant for sinners.
Perfect.
She thought as she held the hem of her wedding dress and walked over to the bar.
The bouncer barely looked at her before moving aside.
Inside, the club was hell wrapped in cotten. Dark corners, grinding bodies, a mix of desire and danger filled the air.
And then her gaze stopped wandering and fell on him.
Tall, dark brown hair, black suit and grey eyes that were watching…….
Her.
He stood at the far end of the room, drink in hand, posture relaxed, eyes locked on her like he’d been waiting.
Her breath caught.
Everything about him screamed danger. From the way he looked and the way he stared at her so intensely.
There was no logic in the way he looked at her ,like he already owned her.
Her mind screamed for her to turn away and leave. But she didn’t turn away.
Something in her, something wild and self-destructive, made her walk toward him.
“You’re not from here,” he said, voice sounding so masculine but yet alluring. Like a lullaby.
“No,” she said, lips dry. “But I needed… escape.”
He eyed the wedding dress still clinging to her like a second skin. “Rough night?”
“The worst.”
He tilted his head. “Or maybe the best, depending on what you do next.”
She laughed softly. “And what would you suggest that I do next?”
“Why don't you make a mistake…,” he said, fingers brushing her bare shoulder. “With me.”
A reasonable person should have left after his statement. She should have left running for her life, interacting so intimately with someone she's met for just a few minutes.
He was a stranger…..a HANDSOME….wrong . A HOT stranger.
But she knew nothing about him .
He didn’t ask for her name not did She offer it. They didn’t speak of his family, or hers.
This was wrong and she ought to get going.
She should have left, but Lilith just wanted to live carefree for once. Away from family exceptions and social pressures. Besides it wasn't like they were going to do something of a lifetime. It will just be a mistake like he had said.
Having made her mind, she spoke softly. "Show me how to make a mistake".
That was all it took for the night to unravel.Just mouths and hands and shadows.
The man , whoever he was ,took her apart with sinful patience. The kind of touch that ruined you for anyone else. The kind that burned every name but his out of your mind.
And for the first time, Lilith forgot who she was supposed to be.
She was just a woman in the arms of someone more dangerous than even her father’s empire.
And worst part was that….. she craved it.
~~~~~
Morning came with a different kind of silence. The bright rays of the sun reflected into the room. A reminder that her little adventure had ended and it was time to go back to being Lilith Vanderwoodson, the wealthy heiress.
She woke up alone in silk sheets. No note. No name. Nothing but an empty side of the bad. Leaving her with only an aftertaste of madness and fire.
Until she saw it . A folded card left on the nightstand.
You saved me once. You don't remember…but I do.
This wasn't a mistake.
This was fate.
—A.
Lilith blinked…..Saved him?What the hell did that mean?
Her hands trembled as she folded the note again.
Something about his eyes last night haunted her . The way they’d searched her, as if she were a memory instead of a stranger.
But she didn’t know him.
Did she?
Had the past already started bleeding into her future? Or had she just spent the night with a good looking psychopath
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