It was one day to the wedding, and dawn arrived at the Blackwood estate without warmth or joy.

The sky was pale, drained of color, as though even the morning knew something was wrong. Serena sat by the window, knees drawn to her chest, staring blankly at the horizon.

Twenty-four hours had passed since Roman disappeared. Not a call, not a message—nothing.

Sleep never came. This wasn’t normal; Roman would never disappear like this.

Her mind kept circling back to the bruises she had seen on his body, the way he had flinched when she touched them. The unease she had felt in Italy, the strange certainty that someone had...