Chapter 1

I used to think my life was a fairy tale.

At twenty-five, I married Liam Thorne, the boy I had loved since we were kids. He was my entire world, the sun my life orbited around. I watched him, supported him, and helped him build his tech company from a small startup into a massive empire. We had everything. A beautiful home, success, and our two perfect children, Leo and Lily.

They were twins, with Liam' s dark hair and my blue eyes. They were the center of my universe.

The night before their third birthday, I tucked them into their beds, their small faces peaceful in the dim light of their matching race car and princess lamps. They were excited, chattering about the party we had planned, the cake, the presents. They begged for one more story, then another, their giggles filling the quiet room. They stayed up half an hour past their bedtime.

Just half an hour.

I was cleaning up in the kitchen when Liam came in. His face was a hard mask.

"Where are the children?" he asked, his voice cold.

"They' re in bed, darling. They were just a little excited about their birthday tomorrow."

He didn' t answer. He walked past me and went upstairs. I heard the bedroom door open. A moment later, I heard the children start to cry. I ran up the stairs, my heart suddenly pounding in my chest.

Liam was pulling them out of their beds, their small bodies lost in his strong grip. Leo was wailing, and Lily was sobbing, her face buried in her teddy bear.

"Liam, what are you doing? You' re scaring them."

He ignored me. He dragged them down the stairs and toward the front door. Outside, a blizzard was raging. The wind howled, and thick snow was plastering itself against the windows. It was freezing, a bitter, dangerous cold.

"They need to be punished," he said, his voice flat. "They disobeyed the rules. They need to learn discipline."

He opened the front door, and a blast of icy air swept into the house. The children shrieked, a sound of pure terror.

"No, Liam, please!" I screamed, grabbing his arm. "They' re just babies! It' s their birthday tomorrow! You can' t do this!"

He looked at me then, and his eyes were empty. There was nothing in them. No love, no recognition, just a chilling void.

"They will stand outside for half an hour," he said, prying my fingers from his arm. "To cool down."

He pushed the crying, terrified children out onto the porch and closed the door. I heard their small fists banging against the wood, their screams swallowed by the storm. I lunged for the doorknob, but Liam was faster. He grabbed me, his fingers digging into my arms like steel clamps.

"Let me go! Liam, for God' s sake, they' ll freeze to death!"

He didn' t say a word. He dragged me, kicking and fighting, down the hallway to the basement door. He threw it open and shoved me inside. I tumbled down the hard, wooden steps, my body hitting the cold concrete floor at the bottom. The door slammed shut above me, and I heard the heavy bolt slide into place.

Darkness. Complete and absolute.

"LIAM!" I screamed until my throat was raw. I scrambled back up the stairs and pounded on the door. "LET ME OUT! PLEASE, LIAM! THE CHILDREN!"

I heard his footsteps approach the door.

"Liam, please, I' m begging you. Whatever I did, I' m sorry. Just let the children in. Please."

His voice came through the thick wood, low and clear, each word a shard of ice.

"This isn' t about you, Ava. Not really. It' s about your parents."

I froze, my fist still raised to bang on the door.

"What are you talking about?"

"My father," he said, his voice laced with a hatred so deep it made my blood run cold. "Do you remember how he died? A car accident. Fleeing the city after your father threatened to ruin him. Your family pushed us to the brink of bankruptcy, and then they had the gall to offer a solution."

His words made no sense. My parents had always been kind to the Thornes.

"What solution?" I whispered, my voice trembling.

"Me. Marrying you. The perfect, loving union to merge our families and save the Thorne name. I was forced into it, Ava. Forced to marry the daughter of the man who killed my father."

"That' s a lie," I sobbed. "It was an accident. My parents helped your family!"

"You believe what you want to believe," he said, his voice moving away. "My father is dead because of your family. Tonight, I' m making a sacrifice to him. Your children. My children. A fitting tribute, don' t you think? An eye for an eye."

A terrible, animal sound tore itself from my throat. I threw myself against the door again and again, screaming his name, screaming for my babies, until my voice was gone and my shoulder was a mass of pain. The only answer was the muffled howl of the blizzard outside.

I don' t know how long I was in that darkness. Hours bled into each other. I prayed, I begged, I cursed. I imagined my children, their small bodies shivering in the snow, their lips turning blue, their cries growing weaker. The thought was a physical agony that ripped through me, leaving me gasping on the cold floor.

Eventually, a different sound broke the silence. The bolt sliding back.

The door creaked open, and light spilled down the stairs. It was Liam' s mother, Mrs. Thorne. Her face was pale, her eyes red and swollen.

"Ava," she whispered.

I didn't wait for her to say more. I pushed past her and ran, my bare feet slapping against the cold hardwood floors. I threw open the front door.

The storm had passed. The world was blanketed in a pristine, silent layer of white.

And on the porch, curled together under the thin dusting of new snow, were two small shapes.

Leo and Lily.

They were still. Their faces were pale blue, their lips a dark purple. A delicate frost covered their eyelashes. They looked like two beautiful, broken dolls.

I fell to my knees beside them. I touched Leo' s cheek. It was as cold and hard as stone. I gathered them both into my arms, their frozen limbs stiff and unyielding. I rocked them back and forth, a low, keening sound echoing in the silent morning air.

They were gone.

My babies were dead.

The world went white, then black.