Chapter 1
Chapter 1 Everything for Her
Audrey Watson died at 22.
She was disfigured. Her legs were broken. Before she died, she had been confined to the basement for a year.
Abuse and torture happened to her every day. When she died, she was scrawny, her face unrecognizable.
Her b*dy was dumped in a mountain. She died with her eyes open. But someone looked for her b*dy day and night until he found her.
It was a man wearing a black overcoat. He appeared in the dark, creepy woods and strode over.
In the shadows under the night, Audrey, who had become a ghost, couldn’t see the man’s face. But he emitted an overbearing and menacing aura.
He bent and went down on one knee before the stinky b*dy.
His slender and well-shaped fingers gently caressed Audrey’s unrecognizable face.
Audrey’s ghost went closer to him. Her gaze went upward from the man’s Adam’s apple.
With chiseled features, his face was impeccable, like a heavenly work.
Audrey looked at him in disbelief.
It was Sterling Howard!
In Audrey’s senior year in high school, she had seen him as her archenemy.
Who would have thought that Sterling would be the one collecting her b*dy?
Back then, Audrey was foolish and did unforgettable harm to him. She had thought Sterling must hate her guts.
Sterling stared at Audrey’s swollen, rotting face with his black, intense eyes. Suddenly, he reached out and gathered the b*dy in his arms.
Sterling took her to an island with chirping birds and blooming flowers. It was a resort called Dream Island, Audrey’s favorite vacation destination when she was alive.
Then, it became personal property and was no longer open to visitors.
Now, the lively ambiance was gone. A patch of lilies and sunflowers, Audrey’s favorite flowers, were grown before the fancy villa.
The b*dy was so hideous that even Audrey was too frightened to look, but the tall and upright Sterling didn’t seem to mind. Holding Audrey’s b*dy, he walked straight into the house.
After a moment of hesitation, Audrey also entered the villa.
A piece of news was being broadcast on the large liquid crystal display in the living room.
“An explosion took place in Soulpath Church at 10 a.m. on June 20, 2020. The bridegroom Corbin Howard and the bride Kelsey Cole died on the spot. The police have investigated the case. Sterling Howard, the new young head of the Darnell clan and the richest man in the world, is considered the main suspect…”
“Sterling is said to have suffered from severe depression. He’s cold, eccentric, paranoid, and grumpy…”
Learning about the death of Corbin and Kelsey, Audrey shivered all over. She clenched her fists so tightly that her fingernails stuck deep into her palms. Now that revenge had been taken, the pent-up hatred in her chest vanished, replaced by excitement and happiness!
The venomous Corbin and Kelsey, who tore her family apart and tortured her to death, finally got what they deserved!
It served them right!
But did Sterling kill them?
A commotion came from the basement. Audrey moved over.
Sterling had taken off his overcoat. He was wearing a neat, exquisite black shirt, the top two buttons unbuttoned. Audrey had been put in a glass casket. Bending, Sterling was changing her clothes and combing her hair.
The back of his shirt became taut when he bent, accentuating his aloof, sturdy, and tall figure.
Audrey hadn’t seen him again after high school.
Her eyes reddened as she watched Sterling slowly smooth the tangles of her dry and yellow hair with his slender, clean fingers. Her l*ps slightly trembled when she said, “I hurt you deeply. Why don’t you cut me to pieces?”
But Sterling couldn’t hear her.
Seeing that Audrey was neat, he took out a cyan ceramic bottle and raised his smooth-lined and aloof jaw.
Audrey knew it was poison in the bottle from the smell. Panic and disbelief filled her eyes. “Sterling, what are you doing?
“You already avenged my death. And now, you’re gonna commit suicide for me? I’m not worth it!
“Sterling, don’t do this. Do you hear me?”
Audrey shouted and screamed to stop him, but it was useless.
Sterling gulped the poison and slowly lay down in the glass casket.
He turned his head, looked at Audrey with his abyss-like black eyes, and held her rotten hand. Then, he whispered in her ear in a deep, husky voice, “Audrey, I kept my promise.”
To hell with the promise. When did Sterling make a promise to her?
Blood flowed out of Sterling’s mouth. Audrey’s head seemed to explode. A sharp pain seized her heart. She cried out in despair like a beast, “Sterling!”