Page 2 of Twisted Love

This wedding is lavish, but it’s all smoke and mirrors, an illusion created on borrowed time. Charles pulled every string, cut every corner, and scraped the bottom of the barrel to make this grand wedding happen. All for her. To keep her. To fool her into thinking he’s still the big cheese she thinks he is. Ha, ha, Raven is about to experience the biggest disappointment of her life.

I should allow her to walk right into her own version of a nightmare. Marry a man who can’t give her the rich life he promised, and who will disappoint her every day for the rest of her life. But no. That’s not enough pain for her. No, Raven Moore must suffer brutally and at my hands.

Watching her realize she traded me for a useless fool won’t fill the void. I am here to wreak havoc. For Charles, it’ll be the humiliation of everyone knowing he’s nothing but a spoiled brat who has squandered away a great fortune. For Raven, it’ll be a longer, slower revenge, and I’ll have the front-row seat to every moment of it.

The priest’s voice echoes through the church.

“If anyone has an objection to this union, speak now or forever hold your peace.”

My chest tightens. It’s time.

The priest smiles and clears his throat, the small sound amplified by the silence of the room. His voice is steady as he speaks, ready to move them another step closer to saying their vows.

“Since no one has an objection to this union…

My heart pounds, steady and deliberate. My breath slows.

This is it.

I push to my feet, the pew beneath me creaking softly. All at once, the air shifts. A collective gasp ripples through the congregation. Every head swivels in my direction.

The tall, dark man in black. That’s what they’ll whisper later, the stranger who stood at the back of the church and shattered a perfectly beautiful illusion.

My voice is calm, clear and deliberate. “I object.”

The words hang in the air, thick and heavy, settling over the crowd. Raven’s head snaps up and her spectacular gold-speckled green gaze rushes towards me. How long I’ve waited for this moment? They widen in shock as her lips part in a gasp of dismay.

And in that moment, for the first time in years, she sees the monster she has created.

CHAPTER2

RAVEN

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrO4YZeyl0I

-bad romance-

Until he spoke, I was trapped in a suffocating, slow-moving dream.

I stare at him in confusion, my heart racing. Unable to believe he is real. He is standing at the back of the church, tall and broad, the dark lines of his suit cutting sharply against the white-grey walls. His hair is longer, his stance still, but his dark eyes cut through the church like shards of glass, locking onto mine. Is it really him? It can’t be.

But it is.

It is Earl James Jackson.

I blink with shock. I want to rush to him. Throw my arms around him and tell him since he left, I’ve been dead inside.

Then he moves and my breath catches. A jolt of alarm goes through me. His movements are deliberate, controlled, and somehow menacing. Like he is untouched by the chaos he’s just unleashed.

He walks up the aisle, his black shoes crushing the rose petals, the sound of his footsteps echoing in the stillness. Panic and fear swirl inside me.

He’s not happy to see me.

He hasn’t come to claim me.

As if from far away I hear Charles mutter, “What the fuck?” The scandalized murmurs of the guests fade into a distant hum. My chest tightens, each step of his polished shoes on the hard floor hits like a hammer against my ribs. The memories flood in, unbidden. The way he used to smile, that big grin full of confidence and mischief. His eyes, so black and shiny with so much love. The delicious sound of his laugh. The wonderful feel of his touch…

This cold stranger radiating wrath and fury isn’t him.

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