Chapter 1 Who Are You

The stars silently twinkled in the still night sky.

Euralia Ou's eyelids slowly fluttered open. "Are you awake?"

A low and deep voice sounded beside her ear. Her heart started to race in fear.

The bed she was sleeping on was different. 'W...where am I? Why am I not at home?'

Looking around, she saw a tall man sitting in the shadows not far away. In the darkness of the night, she could not see his face clearly. Slowly, Euralia Ou propped herself to a sitting position, keeping her eyes locked on the strange man.

It was so quiet in the room that she couldn't tell whether all of this was a dream or reality.

"Who are you?

Where am I?"

The man stood up slowly. His tall figure walked out of the shadow. As he passed by the window, the soft moonlight fell on him. A silver mask was on his face, making him look like ghost.

"Wait! Don't come any closer..." Euralia Ou cried out as she moved farther away from him.

But the man kept moving towards her, his silver mask reflecting the cold light. Slowly, he approached her with an outstretched arm, a threatening atmosphere surrounding his presence.

"Don't be afraid..."

the man hushed. With a gentle hand, he stroked her hair. "I won't hurt you, as long as you do what I say." Euralia Ou flinched.

Although his voice was as soft as butter, Euralia Ou couldn't help but tremble.

She looked away, not daring to look into the eyes of the man behind the mask. With tears in her eyes, she looked around to see if there was a way for her to escape.

Little by little, her eyes adapted to the dim light. To her surprise, she was not in a bedroom. It seemed to be a broken warehouse. Abandoned machineries were scattered all around, thick with dust.

'I've been kidnapped!'

Euralia Ou thought. Her heart was beating so loudly that she could hear it in her ear. She looked over to the man, who now became even more terrifying.

"Why? Why did you kidnap me?" Euralia Ou stammered. With all her might, she tried to keep calm and not move an inch for fear of displeasing this mysterious man. "What do you want? Money?"

The man let out a light laugh, which sounded particularly broken and sad in the quiet darkness. "What do you think I want?"

He sighed as his slender fingers slid from the top of her hair and down to her chin, his fingertips as cold ice.

Trembling, Euralia Ou moved backwards. "Don't touch me!" she shouted at him.

The warehouse looked like it was run down -- there were many cracks and holes on the roof and on the walls. A gust of cold wind blew through her clothes, sending a shiver up and down her entire body.

The man next to her suddenly became a little irritable. "Stop crying!" he said as he grabbed her shoulders.

It was not until now that Euralia Ou realized that tears had quietly slipped from the corners of her eyes.

"Can you please just let me go?" she asked him in a trembling voice, with her eyes filled with pleading tears. "My brother can get you anything you want as a 'thank you' just for letting me go, I promise. He loves me very much, as long as you..."

"I don't need anyone to thank me," he interrupted in a low voice, the corners of his mouth turning up to a slight smile. "I already have what I want -- you." His voice was low and his thin lips were so close to her ear.

'What... what did he say? He wants me?' Euralia Ou thought, her eyes widening in shock.

"Cancel the wedding tomorrow," the man continued.

"Why? What does my wedding have to do with any of this?" Euralia Ou asked, feeling utterly dismayed.

"You don't need to know that." The man shook his head. "As long as you are willing to cancel the wedding, I will send you back right away, otherwise..."

He took a step closer to Euralia Ou, his face just inches away from hers. "I have a variety of ways to prevent the wedding from going on. For example, I can turn you into my woman," he threatened in a brash tone.

Out of anger, Euralia Ou quickly reached out to pull of his mask. But the man was much quicker, and tightly caught her wrist in his hand.

"Who the hell are you?! Just be a man and show yourself!" There was so much anger in her heart right now that she completely forgot about the possible danger she was in. "You're so boldly threatening me like this despite the fact that you're hiding behind a mask! What can a man like you do?" Euralia Ou snapped back at him.

The man's eyes darkened, and his grip on Euralia's wrist got tighter.

"You will soon know what I am capable of."