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It was him. It was Sergei Tarasov. He stood there, smirking like the devil, those gray eyes flashing nothing but sheer evil. “What’s the matter, my love? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he said, his voice smooth but laced with menace.

“What the hell is this?” Father growled, stepping forward, fingers clenched into fists. “What’re you doing here? Where is Lucas?!” he demanded.

Murmurs rose from the crowd, and before I knew what was happening, a bullet was fired in the air. The guests screamed and dropped to the floor as chaos erupted.

I was right. The black-suited men were Russians—Sergei’s men.

Oh, God, no. This can’t be happening.

Two heavily built men rushed at my dad, punching and kicking until he was down on the floor, groaning in pain. Our guests were held at gunpoint, as were our family.

This wasn’t some impulsive last-minute move to ruin my wedding. No. It was a coordinated attack, one that was carefully thought through. That’s why the Russians took over the place within seconds. They must have infiltrated Father’s security details and switched our men with theirs.

They kidnapped Lucas so Sergei would take his place. Fuck! This was his plan all along.

“You invited me to your wedding,” Sergei said, looking right at me. “Well, here I am.” His lips curled into a dangerous smirk.

Frozen in shock, I stood there, unable to move a muscle, my body trembling with absolute fear. He walked over and yanked me by the wrist, forcing me onto the altar, where the priest was shaking like a leaf.

“Let her go, you son of a bitch!” Dad objected, trying to stand, but a few more heavy blows knocked him back down.

Guns were aimed at my brothers, and so there was nothing that any of them could do at the moment. They just boiled with anger.

“What’re you waiting for?” Sergei snarled at the priest. “Join us now,” he commanded.

The priest, shocked and disoriented, swallowed hard.

“Sergei, please, please,” I whispered to him, my lips quivering, tears stinging my eyes. “Think about what you’re doing. Let’s talk about this,” I pleaded with my words and my eyes.

“This is madness, Sergei, and you know it!” Father declared from the floor, held down by those men.

“Madness?” Sergei turned around to face him. “Is that what you think this is?”

“What else could it be? You infiltrate a wedding, hold the guests at gunpoint, and force the bride to marry you—a girl who doesn’t even know you!” Dad barked, his eyes blazing with fury.

Sergei turned to look at me, that twisted grin playing on his face.

At that moment, I knew exactly what was going on in his head; I knew what he was thinking and what he was going to do.

Shit.

No, no, no, no. This is bad, this is very bad.

I threw my hands to my head, praying that the ground would just open up and swallow me.

“You don’t even know me, huh?” he snickered.

I shook my head, tears streaming down my cheeks. “Don’t do this. I’m begging you,” I muttered, feeling the gazes cast on me.

My family had no idea that I’d been seeing him secretly, and he was aware of this. Sergei just wanted to punish me in the worst possible way ever.

“What’s going on here?” Mom chipped in from where she stood with a gun to her head, her eyes fixed on me. “Ayla, what is he talking about?”

“Do you know him?” Father asked, rising to his feet after the men let go of him.

I could see the anticipation in everyone’s eyes, their stares deep and intense.

Oh, God, this can’t be happening.

My hand flew to my rapidly heaving chest, my heart threatening to explode. The pressure was too much to bear, and now my legs could no longer carry my weight.

“Go ahead, Ayla, tell them,” Sergei said, his voice calm but menacing. “Tell them the truth.”

My lips trembled, my chest constricting as I shifted my gaze across this large crowd, their faces etched with anticipation.

Sergei signaled his men, and two of them whisked my sister off her feet. Her husband tried to fight them off, but he was beaten to the ground. Maeve struggled and screamed as they dragged her to Sergei.

“Let her go,” I begged, knees half-bent.

“I will,” he said, “as soon as you tell everyone the truth.” Sergei withdrew a pistol and aimed it at Maeve’s temple. “You have three seconds before I pull the trigger and paint this floor with her brains.” His words were solemn, eyes blazing red.

He wasn’t kidding. I knew this for sure.

I shook my head, pleading with this monster who wouldn’t even blink.

“One…” the countdown began, “...two….” He cocked the damn thing, his grip tightening around the gun.

My sister closed her eyes and whimpered, probably saying a prayer she already assumed was her last.

“Okay, okay—stop!” I yelled.

He looked at me, still aiming at Maeve’s temple.

“We had an affair,” I confessed, my heart heavy, weighed down by pain, regret, and guilt.

Gasps and murmurs rose from the crowd, judgmental glares directed at me like those aimed at an adulterous woman awaiting stoning. They might as well have done that because my life had just ended in that moment. I was essentially as good as dead anyway.

“You were sleeping with the enemy?” Dad asked, his voice weak, laced with anger and disappointment.

Now that he put it that way, his words pierced my heart like a fucking bullet. I lowered my face in shame, unable to meet his intense gaze.

“Answer me!” he thundered.

I flinched. “Yes. But it was only once—I swear!” My explanation didn’t matter; what mattered was that I had slept with the enemy.

Dad’s shoulders grew tense, his eyes dark and hollow. Mom was speechless, watching me with nothing but disappointment in her eyes. The Bianchi family members glared at me, furious, like if they had the chance, they’d put a bullet in my skull, right where I stood.

I’d never been more ashamed in my whole life—never been more afraid and helpless.

The silence that followed my confession was suffocating. And if by a miracle I survived today, this memory would haunt me for the rest of my life. My wedding would go down in history as the worst and most shameful wedding ever.

I had just destroyed everything my father spent years building: his name, his reputation, the alliance he struggled to secure with the Bianchis. It was all gone now. Just like that, puff!

“Well, now that the cat’s out of the bag, let’s carry on, shall we?” Sergei broke the silence, tucking the gun into the back of his pants. He looked at my father and said, “Marriage is the least I owe the woman I claimed, wouldn’t you agree?” A dangerous smirk tugged at the corners of his lips.

Sergei winked at me and spun me around to face the altar. Then, he ordered the priest to join us in holy matrimony. The old man, pale and shaking, proceeded with the vows.

Everything happened so quickly, and I repeated his words through clenched teeth. Sergei’s fingers were locked with mine the entire time as he stood across from me with that annoying, self-satisfied smirk on his face.

When it was all over, there was no applause. Only silence. Fear. Shock. And the cold steel of a dozen guns still aimed at the people who’d come to honor me and my family.

My breath became impossible to catch, and the world around me started to spin. My head swam, vision blurring fast, and before I knew it, my knees buckled, the ground rising to meet me. Everything went black. No sound. No light. Just utter darkness.

Hopefully, I wouldn’t wake up to face the mess in my miserable life.