CHAPTER ONE: THE MAN I SWORE TO HATE
The man standing at the altar was the last person I wanted to marry.
Damian Black was handsome, wealthy and dangerous.
And I believed his family had destroyed mine.
Yet there I was, holding his hand while hundreds of guests watched us exchange wedding vows.
“Do you take Damian to be your husband?” the officiant asked.
I looked into Damian's dark eyes.
Three months ago, I had promised myself I would never forgive him.
Today, I was marrying him.
“I do,” I whispered.
Damian slipped the ring onto my finger.
Then he leaned close enough for only me to hear.
“Congratulations, Mrs Black. You have just made the biggest mistake of your life.”
I smiled for the cameras.
“Don't worry, darling. I intend to make yours even bigger.”
His lips curved into a dangerous smile.
For the first time that afternoon, I wondered whether marrying him had been a terrible idea.
But I had a reason.
My father's death.
Three years earlier, my father had died in a car accident. The police called it unfortunate. My relatives called it fate.
I called it a lie.
Two weeks before his death, my father had discovered something terrible about the Black family. Before he could explain, he was gone.
Then my older sister, Sofia, disappeared.
And Damian Black was the last person who had seen her alive.
I had spent three years searching for answers.
When Damian offered to marry me, I accepted because I believed living beside him would finally expose his secrets.
I never expected to feel anything for him.
Especially not when he looked at me like that.
That evening, we arrived at his mansion overlooking the ocean.
The house was beautiful, but it felt more like a prison than a home.
Damian loosened his tie as we entered our bedroom.
“Let us establish some rules,” he said.
I folded my arms. “Go ahead.”
“Don't enter my private office. Don't investigate my family. And don't ask questions about Sofia.”
My heart skipped.
“Why?”
His expression hardened.
“Because some truths are more dangerous than you understand.”
I stepped closer.
“Did you kill my sister?”
He stared at me.
Then he reached into his jacket and pulled out a photograph.
My breath caught.
It was Sofia.
Alive.
Standing beside Damian in front of a building I had never seen before.
The photograph was dated just three days ago.
I snatched it from his hand.
“Where is she?”
Damian looked away.
“That's the problem, Isabella.”
He took a deep breath.
“I don't know.”
Before I could respond, someone knocked on the bedroom door.
A housekeeper entered, carrying a small silver tray.
“There is a package for the bride, sir.”
I opened it.
Inside was a black envelope.
My name was written across it in handwriting I recognised immediately.
Sofia's.
With trembling fingers, I unfolded the note.
ISABELLA, RUN. YOUR HUSBAND KNOWS WHAT REALLY HAPPENED TO FATHER.
I looked up.
Damian was staring at the note.
His face had gone completely pale.
Then the lights went out.
In the darkness, someone whispered from behind me.
“Welcome home, Isabella.”
It was a voice I had not heard in three years.
My sister's voice.
END OF CHAPTER ONE
Would you stay in Isabella's position or run away immediately? Comment STAY or RUN.
CHAPTER TWO: SOMEONE WAS IN MY ROOM
“Who is there?”
My voice trembled as I turned towards the darkness.
The lights flickered once, twice, and finally returned.
Nobody stood behind me.
The bedroom door was still open, but the hallway was empty.
I turned towards Damian. “Did you hear that?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you standing there?”
He grabbed my hand. “Come with me.”
I pulled away. “I'm not going anywhere until you explain that photograph.”
“Isabella, someone has entered this house without permission.”
“And you think that is more important than my sister?”
His jaw tightened.
“Your sister is the reason you are in danger.”
Before I could answer, an alarm sounded downstairs.
Damian immediately called his security team. I watched him issue instructions, his expression growing darker with every passing second.
When he ended the call, I stepped in front of him.
“Tell me everything you know about Sofia.”
He hesitated.
“Three years ago, she came to me with evidence against my father.”
“What evidence?”
“She believed my father was responsible for your father's death.”
My knees weakened.
“And you believed her?”
“Yes.”
I stared at him. “Then why didn't you tell me?”
“Because the night she disappeared, she called me and said she had made a terrible mistake.”
“What mistake?”
“She asked me to meet her at an abandoned hotel outside the city. When I arrived, there was blood on the floor. Her phone was beside it. Sofia was gone.”
I covered my mouth.
“Why didn't you call the police?”
“Because someone had already called them.”
“Who?”
“My father.”
The room fell silent.
I had married into the very family I suspected of destroying mine.
I stepped away from Damian.
“I hate you.”
He looked at me sadly. “You have every right to.”
Then he walked to his desk and opened a drawer. From inside, he removed a small silver necklace.
I recognised it immediately.
It belonged to Sofia.
“She left this with me,” he said. “Along with a message.”
I took the necklace with trembling fingers.
“What message?”
Damian looked directly into my eyes.
“She told me to protect you.”
Tears blurred my vision. For three years, I had believed my sister had abandoned me. Now I was beginning to wonder whether she had been trying to save me.
“Why did you agree to marry me?” I whispered.
“Because yesterday, someone sent me a photograph of you leaving your apartment.”
He showed me his phone.
The picture had been taken from across the street. Beneath it were five words.
SHE DIES BEFORE THE MONTH ENDS.
My stomach twisted.
“Who sent it?”
“I don't know.”
I examined the photograph again. In the background stood a man beside a black car.
I recognised him.
Nathan Cross.
Damian's best friend.
The same man who had smiled at me throughout the wedding.
I handed the phone back.
“Your best friend is following me.”
Damian zoomed in on the photograph.
Then his face changed.
“No,” he whispered.
“What?”
“Nathan has been missing since yesterday.”
A loud crash came from the hallway.
We both turned.
Someone had slipped a second envelope beneath our bedroom door.
Damian picked it up and opened it.
Inside was a photograph of Nathan, his eyes closed and blood staining his shirt.
On the back, someone had written:
ONE OF YOU WILL BE NEXT.
Damian's phone suddenly rang.
The caller's name appeared on the screen.
NATHAN CROSS.
Damian answered.
A distorted voice spoke through the speaker.
“Congratulations on your marriage, Damian.”
A pause followed.
“Now tell your beautiful wife what you did to her sister.”
The call ended.
I slowly turned towards my husband.
“Damian?”
He said nothing.
And in that silence, I realised the most frightening possibility of all.
Perhaps my husband wasn't trying to uncover the truth.
Perhaps he was trying to keep me from discovering it.
END OF CHAPTER TWO
Do you think Damian is protecting Isabella or manipulating her? Comment PROTECTING or LYING.
CHAPTER THREE: THE SECRET IN HIS PHONE
I did not sleep that night.
Every time I closed my eyes, I heard the voice from the phone.
Tell your beautiful wife what you did to her sister.
Those words kept repeating in my mind.
Damian had gone downstairs to speak with his security team. I remained in our bedroom, staring at the silver necklace Sofia had left behind.
Why had my sister trusted him?
And why had she warned me not to trust him?
At six in the morning, I made a decision.
I would find out what my husband was hiding.
The Phone on His Desk
When Damian returned to the bedroom, he looked exhausted.
“I'm going out,” he announced, adjusting his watch.
“Where?”
“To find Nathan.”
“Take me with you.”
“No.”
I laughed bitterly. “You really enjoy giving orders, don't you?”
His eyes narrowed.
“Isabella, this is dangerous.”
“So is being married to a man who refuses to tell me the truth.”
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Damian picked up his jacket.
“Stay inside the house. Don't open the door for anyone unless my security team confirms who they are.”
He walked away without another word.
I waited until I heard his car leave the driveway.
Then I went straight to his private office.
I knew I was crossing a line.
But my sister was missing, someone had threatened my life, and my husband was hiding something.
I couldn't afford to remain innocent.
His office smelled of expensive leather and the faint scent of his cologne. Everything was perfectly arranged: books lined the shelves, documents sat in neat piles, and a large photograph of Damian with his father stood on the desk.
I searched the drawers.
Nothing.
I checked the cabinet.
Nothing.
Just as I was about to give up, I noticed a small black phone tucked beneath a folder.
It wasn't the phone Damian usually carried.
The screen lit up when I touched it.
One message appeared.
UNKNOWN NUMBER: THE GIRL DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED IN ROOM 17.
My heart began to race.
A second message followed.
MAKE SURE SHE NEVER FINDS OUT.
I took a screenshot of both messages with my own phone.
Then I opened the gallery.
What I saw made my blood run cold.
There was a photograph of Damian standing beside Sofia outside an old hotel.
Between them stood my father.
All three were smiling.
The date displayed beneath the photograph was the day before my father died.
I covered my mouth.
My father had known Damian.
Not only that, they had been together just hours before his death.
Why had nobody told me?
I zoomed in on the background. Above the hotel entrance was a sign with three faded words.
THE ROYAL MERIDIAN.
I had never heard of it.
But I intended to find it.
Suddenly, I heard footsteps outside the office.
I quickly put the phone down.
The door opened.
Damian stood in the doorway.
His gaze moved from my face to the phone on his desk.
“What are you doing here?”
I lifted my chin.
“Looking for the truth.”
He closed the door behind him.
“Then you should have asked me.”
“Would you have answered?”
He said nothing.
I held up my own phone, showing him the photograph.
“Why were you with my father the day before he died?”
For the first time since I had met him, Damian looked genuinely frightened.
“I was trying to save him,” he whispered.
My heart pounded.
“Save him from whom?”
Before he could answer, a phone vibrated inside the desk drawer.
Damian opened it.
Another message appeared on the screen.
His expression changed instantly.
He turned the phone towards me.
A video was playing.
A woman sat in a dark room, her face pale and her hair tangled.
I recognised her immediately.
“Sofia!”
My sister looked directly into the camera.
“Isabella,” she whispered. “If you're watching this, I need you to listen carefully.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“I'm sorry I disappeared. I'm sorry I left you alone.”
She glanced over her shoulder, terrified.
Then she leaned closer to the camera.
“Your husband is the reason I'm still alive.”
I turned towards Damian.
He looked just as shocked as I felt.
Before Sofia could say anything else, the video went black.
A message appeared beneath it.
YOU HAVE TWENTY-FOUR HOURS TO BRING YOUR WIFE TO ROOM 17.
OR HER SISTER DIES.
I could barely breathe.
Someone was holding Sofia captive.
And they wanted me.
Damian grabbed his phone and immediately called his security chief.
“Find out where that video came from,” he ordered. “I want every available detail about the Royal Meridian Hotel.”
He ended the call and turned towards me.
“We have to leave.”
I stepped backwards.
“Why?”
“Because whoever sent that message knows where we live.”
“And what exactly happened to my father?”
His expression hardened.
“I will explain everything when we're safe.”
“No!” I shouted. “You have had three years to explain!”
He reached for my hand, but I pulled away.
“Don't touch me.”
For a moment, pain crossed his face.
Then he said something that silenced me.
“Isabella, your father didn't die in a car accident.”
The room seemed to spin around me.
“What did you say?”
Damian swallowed.
“The accident was staged.”
I stared at him, tears slipping down my cheeks.
“Who killed my father?”
He opened his mouth to answer.
Suddenly, the office door burst open.
A security guard stumbled inside, blood running down his forehead.
“Sir!” he gasped. “We've got a problem.”
Damian rushed towards him.
“What happened?”
The guard looked at me.
Then he whispered the words that made my heart stop.
“Someone has been found inside the east wing.”
“Who?” Damian demanded.
The guard's eyes filled with fear.
“Your missing sister.”
I ran towards the door.
But Damian caught my wrist.
“Isabella, wait!”
I turned on him furiously.
“That's my sister!”
He looked directly into my eyes.
“There's something you need to understand.”
His voice dropped to a whisper.
“The woman they found in the east wing isn't Sofia.”
My entire body went cold.
“Then who is she?”
Damian released my wrist.
“A woman who was buried three years ago.”
END OF CHAPTER THREE
READER QUESTION: If you were Isabella, would you trust Damian after everything he has hidden? Comment TRUST HIM or NEVER AGAIN.
The truth about Room 17 is coming in Chapter Four.