Chapter 1 - The Corpse Who Opened His Eyes
“A corpse and a homeless girl...”
The cruel whisper traveled through the chapel just as Willa Hayes slipped a wedding ring onto the finger of the man everyone believed would never wake again.
Everett Kane lay motionless beneath the flickering candlelight.
His dark hair was perfectly still against the white pillow. His face was pale. A heart monitor beside the bed showed the same steady rhythm it had shown for three months.
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Around him sat members of the Kane family, business associates, and people who had come less to mourn than to witness the humiliation.
Willa could feel their eyes on her.
She was twenty-eight, wearing a simple dark dress that had cost less than the shoes of the women sitting in the front pew.
She had arrived at the Kane family chapel with nothing.
No family.
No money.
No reputation.
And now she was being forced to marry the most feared man in the city while he lay unconscious.
She leaned closer to Everett.
“They brought me here to humiliate both of us.”
Her voice trembled.
“But I won't laugh at you.”
She took his warm hand between both of hers.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then Everett's smallest finger moved.
Willa froze.
She looked down.
The movement was so slight she wondered if she had imagined it.
Behind her, Sterling Kane smiled.
He was Everett's cousin and the man who had arranged the wedding.
To everyone else, he looked like a grieving relative.
To Willa, he looked satisfied.
The minister continued.
“Do you take this man as your husband?”
Willa swallowed.
She looked at Everett.
“I do.”
Sterling's smile widened.
He believed everything had gone according to plan.
Everett's empire would soon belong to him.
His rival would be legally tied to a powerless woman.
And the man on the bed would never speak again.
Willa lowered her head.
“I'm here now.”
For several seconds, there was only the sound of the monitor.
Then—
Beep.
Beep.
Beep.
Everett's eyes opened.
Not slowly.
Not weakly.
They snapped open with terrifying clarity.
His gaze was sharp.
Focused.
Fully awake.
The heart monitor suddenly flatlined.
A continuous warning tone filled the chapel.
Guests screamed.
Sterling stood so quickly that his chair struck the marble floor.
Everett turned his eyes toward him.
Then toward Willa.
His voice was barely audible.
Perfectly clear.
“Then let the slaughter begin.”
May you like
Willa stared at him.
And for the first time, she realized the man everyone had buried alive had been listening the entire time.
