Chapter 1

Back in middle school, I liked a woman in my class. Her name was Alana Jeffers, and she lived in the same village I did.

Our village was called Stonebrook. Back then, if we wanted to go to school, we had to walk down the mountain to the town below.

I had always been the quiet type. I hated talking to women. My heart raced, and my face burned red every time I tried.

So even though Alana and I walked the same path to school for years, I never had a real conversation with her.

If I ran into her on the road, I pretended I didn't see her and sped up like a coward. I was too nervous to even say hello.

I liked her from the bottom of my heart, but that feeling stayed locked up in a dark corner I never opened.

In school, I was the kind of person nobody noticed. My grades were bad, my looks were ordinary, and I barely had any friends.

But Alana was the opposite. She was pretty, smart, and always near the top of the class.

We were like two parallel lines that never met. Although we stayed in the same village, we were from different worlds.

I thought that crush would fade after graduation. I thought it would turn into a quiet memory and disappear.

I was wrong. On the day of our graduation party, everything in my life shifted because of her.

Back then, graduation parties weren't held in restaurants like they were now. We just decorated the classroom a little and pooled some money to buy fruits, snacks, and a few beers. It counted as our last gathering at school.

After two bottles of beer, my head was spinning, and somehow I got braver.

I didn't know what got into me, but I actually wanted to confess my feelings to Alana while I was still drunk, thinking maybe she liked me too.

I remember she looked especially beautiful that day. Her hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and she was wearing a fitted white T-shirt. The faint curve of her figure under the fabric was impossibly captivating.

Fueled by liquid courage, I walked over to her and called her name.

"Alana."

It was the first time I had ever called her name to her face like that. She turned with a confused expression and asked, "Luca, what is it?"

The truth was that even with alcohol in my system, I was still a complete coward. I was extremely nervous, especially when she turned and looked straight at me. My mind went blank, and I couldn't think of a single thing to say.

Forget confessing; I couldn't even speak properly. In my panic, I blurted out the first excuse that came to mind.

"Oh… N-Nothing, really. It's just my granduncle's birthday this Saturday, so could you tell your dad to come a bit earlier to help out?"

She didn't find anything strange about my request. She just agreed to it.

My face burned like it was on fire. I turned around and bolted back to my seat. Sweat soaked my back, and my heart was pounding all the way up to my throat.

Back then, I felt like the biggest loser alive. I couldn't even talk to her properly, so what made me think I could confess my love? While I was still drowning in regret over my pathetic display, a lazy, swaggering voice suddenly rang out from not far away.

"Alana, be my girlfriend!"

The one who had spoken was Freddy Ford. He was from our village too, and he was also the boss of our class. Since he knew a lot of street punks, his word carried a lot of weight in our grade.

Although Freddy and I were the same age and from the same village, we never hung out growing up. I was terrified of him. Every time I saw him, I would take a detour to avoid him. He had extorted my pocket money more than once.

I never expected he liked Alana too and had the guts to confess to her openly after drinking.

The whole class started cheering, especially his little gang. They whistled, shouted dirty jokes, told Alana to accept him, and some even yelled for them to kiss.

Alana looked startled and froze in her seat. Panic was written all over her face.

Under everyone's goading, Freddy ignored her resistance and actually lunged forward to grab her face and kiss her.

I saw her struggling, but it was useless. Even with so many classmates around, not a single person stepped up to stop his ridiculous behavior.

At that moment, a surge of anger shot straight to my head. I didn't even know where the courage had come from. Before I realized it, I had already charged forward and shouted at him.

"Freddy, stop!"

The noisy classroom instantly fell silent.

Dozens of eyes were suddenly glued on me. Freddy turned his head toward me. His expression was a mixture of surprise and viciousness.

"Luca, what did you say?"

"I-I said you shouldn't do that."

"You're lecturing me? The hell with you…"

He didn't let me finish. He just slapped me hard across the face.

Normally, even if Freddy hit me, I wouldn't dare say a word. However, something in me snapped that day. Maybe it was anger, humiliation, or even stupidity, but I actually kicked him back.

What followed was, of course, a full-on beating by Freddy and his gang.

I couldn't tell how many people were hitting me. Fists were landing everywhere, like rain.

While Freddy was kicking me, he kept cursing, calling me a useless piece of trash who stuck his nose where it didn't belong. He swore that once we left school, he would get his guys from the streets to cripple me.

In the chaos, I didn't know whose desk I had reached toward, but I somehow grabbed a compass—the sharp metal kind. My mind went blank. It felt like my body was moving on instinct. I swung my hand forward.

A scream tore through the room. Something warm splattered on my hand.

I froze, and when I looked down, terror flooded through me. The compass had pierced straight into Freddy's eye.

That afternoon, the police took me away.

Later, medical assessments confirmed that I had completely ruptured Freddy's left eyeball, leaving him with a level-seven permanent disability.

Back then, my family was considered quite well-off in the village. My parents were hardworking. Dad had been running small construction jobs outside, which helped us save a decent amount of money.

However, to settle the incident, not only did my family pay all of Freddy's medical bills, but they also gave the Ford family a huge compensation, almost wiping out everything we had.

Even so, I was still sentenced to three years in prison for intentional injury.

After I was locked up, my parents visited me regularly. Every time they came, I could see they looked older than the last time.

Looking at them tore me up inside. I felt as though knives were carving into me from within.

And from beginning to end, not once did Alana visit me. She didn't even show up at my court hearing.

I couldn't even describe what I was feeling. There was disappointment and even resentment, because no matter how I looked at it, I had ended up in this mess because of her.

I asked my parents about her a few times, but whenever her name came up, Dad's face would darken with anger, and the conversation would end.

In my second year in prison, my mother passed away from stomach cancer.

She had always had stomach issues. With proper care, it wouldn't have turned into anything serious. However, after what happened to me, she lost her appetite completely. She stopped eating, her condition deteriorated, and the illness spiraled into cancer.

Dad said her final days were agonizing. She starved to death. When she died, she weighed less than 60 pounds. Her mind was already slipping, but even in her final moments, she kept whispering my name.

She was buried in Greenridge, on our family's tiny piece of land. It was a spot she had chosen herself.

She said if she rested there, she would be able to see the road I would come home on.

That night, I curled up in the corner of the cell and cried until morning.

I had never hated myself so much in my entire life. If I hadn't acted impulsively or interfered, would she still be alive? Would my family still be whole?

A year later, I completed my sentence.

The day I walked out, Dad came to pick me up. He looked even older. His back was bent like a bow.

On the motorcycle ride back to the village, he stayed quiet for a long time. Then, suddenly, he spoke. "Alana is getting married."

I froze for a second, unable to process what he had just said.

"She's marrying Freddy," Dad said softly. "It's the same Freddy you blinded."

Chapter 2

Three years in prison had already changed me. I was no longer that hot-headed brat who acted before thinking. As for Alana, I had long stopped dreaming about her.

Still, I felt shocked. She was only 19. How could she already be getting married? She wasn't even past the legal age.

She had good grades. At this point, she should have just finished senior year and gotten ready for college.

What shocked me even more was that she was marrying Freddy.

"Dad, what happened?" I asked.

Dad stayed quiet for a moment, then said that Alana had done badly on her high school entrance exam. She barely got into a low-level school in the county.

Her grades kept dropping. She picked up bad habits. Before senior year even ended, she dropped out.

Then, earlier this year, her father, Johnny Jeffers, got sick and needed expensive treatment. To get money fast, she agreed to get engaged to Freddy.

Speaking of this, I had to explain what the Ford family had become by then.

Before I went to prison, our village had already been selected by the local government as a cemetery project site. The Ford family used the compensation money my parents paid them to secure the main contract for building and managing the graves.

Once the plan rolled out, the village committee bought land from villagers at adjusted prices, and outsiders who wanted to bury their dead in our village had to pay anywhere from two to ten thousand dollars for land alone.

On top of that, they had to pay extra to have the grave built, the tomb walls laid, and the site finished. Most of those jobs were handled by the Ford family.

For every grave they built, even after deducting costs and kickbacks, they earned one to two thousand dollars. Wealthier families building large tombs could bring in several thousand more, even tens of thousands.

On the motorcycle ride back to the village, I could already see the hillside from afar. They were packed tightly with grave mounds, easily numbering in the thousands.

This meant the Ford family had made several million over those years. In the early 2000s, that was an enormous fortune.

The money for Johnny's "treatment" came from the Ford family. The condition was that she had to marry Freddy.

"Everything with Freddy is already in the past. Once you're back, don't bring it up again. Be polite when you run into anyone from the Ford family, especially Freddy. Don't start a conflict.

"And about Alana, you can't think about her that way anymore. You both are no longer from the same world." Dad warned me on the way home.

"Okay," I said, nodding.

When we finally got home, it was still the same house, but the one person I wanted most to see would never be there again.

To welcome me back, Dad made a whole table of dishes. We shared a little wine while we ate.

After dinner, he took me to Greenridge to visit Mom's grave.

As I knelt there in front of her tombstone, I didn't know what to say. In the end, I just knelt quietly for more than an hour. I stayed there until the sky dimmed, then we finally headed home.

Not long after we returned, someone knocked at the door.

When I opened the door, I found Freddy and his father, Jeremy, standing outside.

Jeremy used to be the village stonemason. He was a rough, unkempt man. But now he was wearing a suit, glasses, and holding a thermos like some kind of official.

And Freddy, who used to be a typical street punk with a long hairstyle, was now sporting a buzz cut and looked more mature, though his blind left eye still ruined the look.

The moment they saw it was me who opened the door, both of them froze.

There was no dramatic enemies-meeting-again tension. In fact, Jeremy even smiled at me and said, "Luca, you're back."

"Yeah." I nodded, but the awkwardness in my chest made it hard to say anything more.

Dad came out at that moment. When he saw Jeremy and Freddy, he greeted them with a smile and even congratulated them.

Jeremy then had Freddy hand Dad a gift box and a wedding invitation. He said that the wedding was in two days and we had to come for the celebration.

"We'll definitely be there," Dad said.

"Good. We still have a few more houses to visit, so we won't bother you."

The two turned to leave, but after taking a few steps, Freddy suddenly looked back. With his one remaining eye, he stared straight at me and said, "Luca, you must come."

...

It was the day of Freddy and Alana's wedding, and I really didn't want to go.

However, Dad insisted that I go. He said everyone lived in the same village. It was better to deal with the awkwardness now than let it drag on.

The Ford family had made a fortune and built a big new house. The wedding banquet was lavish and full of expensive dishes. Everyone was smoking a cigar.

I sat with Dad. Some villagers came over to greet me, mostly asking when I had gotten out.

Right before the meal started, a big, dark-skinned man sat down next to Dad.

"Luca, when did you get out?"

"A few days ago, Mr. Lowe."

Even after all these years, talking to Brandon still made my chest tighten with fear.

He was in his 40s now, unmarried, and the man no one in the village dared to cross. When he was younger, he had been a real street thug. He had been notorious in town.

Back in school, Freddy only managed to act like a big shot because he'd bragged that he was Brandon's nephew.

Of course, that whole "nephew" thing was made up by Freddy himself. He and Brandon weren't related in any way.

Back then, in our village, every kid addressed Brandon respectfully the moment they saw him. It wasn't out of respect but fear.

Over the years, the Ford family made a fortune off the cemetery project, and there was no way they were going to leave Brandon out of it. If he didn't get a cut, he would flip the entire village council office upside down.

Now, Brandon had become the Ford family's so-called "project supervisor". In plain terms, he was a paid enforcer. The Ford family didn't just support him. They supported a whole crew under him. Any dispute involving the cemetery project was handled by his people, usually with fists.

After giving me a brief nod, Brandon ignored me and took a cigar from behind his ear. He handed it to Dad.

"George, how about letting go of that Greenridge plot of yours?"

The moment he said that, Dad's brows tightened, and my stomach dropped.

Two days earlier, Dad had told me about the situation. A rich man from the county had taken a liking to our Greenridge land and wanted to move his father's grave there. Word was that he had offered the Ford family a very generous price.

Naturally, the Fords came to Dad, hoping he would transfer the land to them.

But Mom was buried there. Dad didn't want her resting place disturbed, so he refused.

After that, the Fords and Brandon kept coming back, trying to pressure him, but Dad refused every time. I didn't expect that on the very day of Freddy's wedding, Brandon would bring it up again.

"Brandon, that land really won't do," Dad said firmly. "My wife is buried there. You know that. I don't want anyone disturbing her."

"Move her somewhere else," Brandon said casually. "We'll find another prime spot for her."

The moment I heard that, my blood rushed straight to my head. Before Dad could speak, I cut in. "Mr. Lowe, my mom is already buried there. There's no way we're moving her. Why don't you introduce that 'prime spot' to the rich guy instead?"

Brandon's expression shifted instantly. He stared at me with a cold, flat look that made my skin crawl.

Back then, I didn't understand what that look meant. It wasn't until years later, after I had seen enough of the darker side of the world, that I finally understood. That look Brandon gave me was the look a man gave a dead person.

Chapter 3

Dad saw the look on Brandon's face and rushed to smooth things over. "Brandon, he's just a kid. He talks without thinking. Don't take it to heart. About the land, we really do have trouble with it. I hope you can understand."

"Fine."

Brandon did not argue. He stood up and went off to greet other guests. It was the Ford family's wedding day, and as their loyal henchman, he was practically half a host himself.

The wedding started soon after. When I saw Alana in a white gown walking up the aisle with Johnny, something inside me twisted.

Three years had passed. She had lost all traces of girlishness. She had grown into a stunning woman.

On her way up to the stage, she accidentally met my eyes once. It lasted less than a second before we both looked away just as quickly.

She didn't smile once throughout the entire ceremony. It was obvious that she wasn't happy.

However, it had nothing to do with me. If she was unhappy, it was probably because deep down she knew her life was never meant to turn out like this.

After the ceremony, the Jeffers and Ford families brought the newlyweds around for toasts, table by table. Eventually, they made their way to ours.

"Wishing you both a happy marriage!"

"Congratulations!"

Everyone stood up with their glasses, throwing out polite greetings. I also stood up, but I didn't say anything. I didn't even dare look in Freddy and Alana's direction.

Freddy clinked glasses with the others. Then, he suddenly called out my name.

"Luca, have a drink with me."

He held up his glass, looking straight at me. I didn't expect him to single me out. I didn't know if he or Alana felt awkward, but I sure as hell did. My heart was pounding.

Still, I forced a stiff smile and raised my glass. "Congratulations."

Alana, who mostly wore a blank expression all day, nodded lightly. "Thanks."

I raised the glass and was ready to down it all.

And just as it touched my lips, Freddy suddenly turned and slapped Alana across the face.

The entire banquet hall fell silent.

Every head snapped toward us. A bright-red handprint had already bloomed across her face. Her eyes turned glossy with tears, but she didn't say a word. She didn't even dare breathe too loudly.

Freddy exploded. "Alana, what the hell's with you today? We got married. Can't you even pretend to be happy?

"You've been pulling a long face all day, like someone died! Just now, you didn't smile at my relatives. That's fine, but now you're still acting like this in front of Luca?

"He did three years in prison because of you, and you can't even smile for him?"

My scalp went numb.

In an instant, I was dragged back to that day three years ago—the graduation party, her helpless struggle, Freddy's drunken aggression, and my blind, reckless charge that ended with a compass spike burying itself in his eye.

Now, on their wedding day, the same nightmare was repeating itself.

Since my return, the Ford family hadn't caused me any trouble. Freddy himself had even spoken to me politely, as if he had long let go of the past.

Back then, I stupidly thought maybe they had come to terms with it and that perhaps an eye was a small price for the wealth they now enjoyed.

However, watching Freddy lose control like this, I finally understood that his hatred for me had never dissipated.

"Freddy! What are you doing?"

Jeremy rushed over and kicked him. Freddy could afford to lose himself in hatred, but Jeremy could not. The Ford family cared about appearances.

Throughout the whole scene, Alana's parents watched their daughter get slapped without showing the slightest reaction. And Alana, like a puppet with its strings cut, didn't dare say a single word.

I was certain this wasn't the first time she had been hit. Before this, Freddy had probably laid hands on her right in front of her parents, and definitely more than once.

I barely ate anything after that, but I did drink a lot.

When the banquet wound down, most villagers stayed to play cards, smoke, drink, and chat. Dad and I slipped out early.

On the walk home, he didn't scold me or say much at all. He only reminded me again to keep my distance from Alana and to never provoke the Ford family.

The incident at the wedding passed without further fallout. Over the next few days, I strictly followed Dad's warning and stayed as far from the Fords as possible. If I spotted them from afar, I would immediately take another path.

I thought that as long as I kept quiet and stayed out of their way, we could coexist in peace. However, I was wrong. Some disasters didn't wait for you to step on them. They would come looking for you.

That afternoon, a short summer storm rolled in from the east. After the rain, the air became cool and fresh, so I went up the mountain for a walk.

When I was heading back, I happened to see Freddy driving in from outside. It was a black Honda. In those days, being able to drive a sedan like that meant one had real money and status.

To avoid running into him, I deliberately slowed my pace and waited until his car passed along the road ahead before I continued walking.

However, just as I reached the roadside, the car suddenly stopped less than 21 yards ahead.

I heard muffled arguing from inside. A second later, the door flew open, and Alana was kicked out of the car with a scream.

The Honda sped off, leaving behind nothing but dust and Alana crouching by the road, sobbing.

I couldn't even describe what I was feeling. For a moment, I wanted to walk over and ask if she was alright. In the end, reason crushed whatever impulse I had.

I pretended I hadn't seen anything and turned to leave.

Then, I heard her voice behind me. "Luca."

I hadn't expected her to call my name. When I stopped and looked back, she was already limping toward me.

She looked awful. There was mud all over her clothes and in her hair. There were also bruises at the corner of her mouth and a smear of dried blood.

"Are you okay?" I finally couldn't help asking.

"I'm fine." She pushed her messy hair back and forced a stiff smile. "Freddy is just an animal."

She seemed to want to vent to me, but I didn't know what to say in return.

Watching someone I had liked since childhood end up like this made something twist uncomfortably in my chest. But what could I possibly do?

"Why did he hit you?" I asked.

"He doesn't need a reason."

There was nothing but bitterness in Alana's voice. She tried brushing the mud off her clothes, but that kind of filth wasn't going anywhere.

"There's a pond over there. Go wash up," I said, pointing ahead.

"Okay."

She limped toward the water, and I followed behind.

When she reached the pond, the first thing she did was take off her heels. "Hold these for me."

"Okay."

I took the shoes without thinking. My heart was pounding. Then, she sat at the water's edge and began taking off her stockings.

I panicked and immediately turned around.

Behind me, Alana let out a soft laugh, like she was amused by how easily flustered I was.

She washed the mud off her legs and clothes while I stood there frozen like some wooden doll, barely daring to breathe.

I had no idea how long I had been standing there, but eventually she finished washing up, got to her feet, and limped toward me.

I was just about to turn around and hand her the high heels I had been holding when, in that split second, she suddenly threw herself into my arms.

"Luca, hold me."

Chapter 4

My mind exploded with a loud buzz. I never expected Alana to pull something like that.

I pushed her away at once and stumbled back. "Alana, stop. You're married to Freddy now. If someone sees this, it'll explode into something huge."

She let out a cold snort. "Luca, you've gone soft. Back then, you were bold enough to stab Freddy's eye out."

I didn't even know how to answer her.

What happened back then had nothing to do with courage. It had been a total accident, driven by panic.

Alana seemed to read every thought in my head. "Luca, you always liked me. You stood up for me that day and took the hit for me. Now you watch him beat me every day, and you feel nothing?

"Freddy is a monster. He married me to get revenge. He thinks he lost an eye because of me, so he hurts me whenever he feels like it."

Then, she did something that froze the blood in my veins. She slipped her dress off her shoulders. I was about to tell her to put it back on, but the words died when I saw her body.

She stood there in nothing but a pale pink bra. Most of her skin was bare, but none of it was beautiful.

Her chest, stomach, sides, and back were covered in bruises, welts, and scars. Some marks looked like burns from a cigarette.

It was hard to imagine what kind of twisted abuse Alana had endured during this time for her body to be covered in so many wounds.

I just stood there like a fool, forgetting even to tell her to get dressed.

Tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Luca, are you blaming me too? Are you blaming me for not visiting you in prison and blaming me for making you spend three years behind bars?

"But what did I do wrong? I was a victim too. I never asked you to help me. You're the one who rushed in. You stabbed Freddy, and because of that, look at where I ended up.

"If not for that day, I wouldn't have completely failed my exams. I wouldn't have fallen apart in high school. I should be holding an offer from a top college right now. I shouldn't even be here anymore. I should be living in a city."

Her words struck me like a blade. It was a sharp, merciless blade that tore straight through my chest.

I had hated her once. When I sat in that cell, I blamed her for never visiting me. I blamed her for the way everything fell apart. I even blamed her for Mom's death.

But could I really blame her?

She was right. She had not asked for help. I was the one who acted. I was the one who stabbed Freddy. I was the one who ruined both our lives.

Alana had every reason not to visit me. By the time I went to court, the high school entrance exams were already over, and she had completely bombed hers. She must have been in a terrible state back then, so how could she possibly have come to see me?

She probably hated me then too.

"Luca, tell me. What did I ever do wrong? Why do I have to suffer for everything? I'm the biggest victim here."

Her whole body shook as she cried harder.

I didn't know what came over me at that moment. My mind blanked out, and I pulled her into my arms.

"I'm sorry."

Alana didn't push me away. She tilted her head slightly, and those tear-filled eyes met mine. Our faces were so close that I could feel her breath come and go, and it hit me all at once. She was beautiful.

It was the kind of moment I had fantasized about since we were young, something I thought would only ever live in my imagination. Yet somehow, here it was, unfolding in front of me for real.

A thousand thoughts flashed through my mind. For a split second, I even imagined taking her far away from Stonebrook, to somewhere no one knew us, so we could start over and live a new life.

Feeling the warmth of her body against mine and looking at that face I had dreamed about for years, I couldn't stop myself from leaning in and bringing my lips close to hers.

Alana still didn't pull away. As the moment deepened, she even leaned in to meet me halfway.

She must have liked me too. I had always suspected it. If I had just been a little braver back then and confessed before Freddy did, would she have agreed to be my girlfriend?

At that moment, her breath brushed against my skin. I could almost taste the sweetness of her lips.

And then, just as our mouths were about to meet, a furious roar shattered everything. "Luca, you bastard! How dare you touch my wife?"

I barely had time to react before a sharp kick slammed into my side. The force sent me flying, and I crashed straight into the nearby pond.

"You whore! How dare you cheat on me!"

Freddy tore into her first, grabbing her by the hair and slapping her across the face again and again.

I tried to push myself up from the water to stop him, but before I could even get my footing, two big guys pinned me down and forced me back under.

They weren't from our village, but I recognized them. They were part of Brandon's crew, and now, they were working for the Ford family.

After Freddy finished beating the hell out of Alana, he finally turned and stalked toward me. His face was twisted with rage.

"Luca, you've really got some balls, huh?"

He stopped in front of me, squatted down, grabbed a river stone from the ground, and smashed it straight into my forehead.

My skull exploded with a sharp ringing. A sharp burst of pain tore through me, and warm blood streamed down my face, blurring my vision in red.

My mind went blank, and I blacked out for a second.

However, in the very next moment, I snapped awake, only to feel Freddy grabbing my head and shoving me underwater.

I choked on mouthful after mouthful of muddy pond water. Every time I managed to break the surface and gasp for air, he slammed my head back down again.

After being dunked over and over like that, I was barely hanging on. The pain in my skull and the suffocating burn in my lungs made me feel like I had already brushed past death's door a few times.

"I'm killing you today."

Freddy had completely lost it. He yanked my hair back, and at some point, a knife appeared in his hand. The gleaming tip of the knife was aimed straight at my throat.

My eyes widened. I could already picture the blade piercing through my neck.

However, right at that critical moment, a huge hand clamped onto the back of Freddy's neck and yanked him away. "Cut the crap. That's enough."

Chapter 5

Through the fog in my head, I saw a huge man standing beside Freddy. His skin was dark, his frame was massive, and he looked like a walking executioner.

I felt dizzy. My vision went blurry. My head felt foggy. I had no idea who had approached us. I only felt the heavy presence he carried with him.

He did not come to help me. He walked right up to me and grabbed my collar before dragging me out like I was roadkill.

That was when I realized it was Brandon.

I passed out quickly. I had no idea how long I was out. When I woke up, I was in a dark room.

The sky outside was pitch black. A foul smell filled the air.

My body stung from the cuts made by gravel. Every scrape burned. The gash on my forehead had scabbed over, but the pain still hit so hard that I almost cried.

I did not know where I was. The place looked like a dungeon. Fear crawled up my spine. I was also worried about Alana. Nothing had happened between us, but Freddy would never let her go.

I limped to the door. The door was not even locked. I pushed it, and it opened at once.

The moment I stepped out of the room, loud barking blasted through the air. Five or six huge guard dogs rushed at me with glowing red eyes.

"Oh hell."

My heart almost stopped. I jumped back into the room and slammed the door shut. That was when I knew where I was.

This was Brandon's house.

He was a loner. He drank all the time. His only hobby was raising vicious guard dogs. If I went out there in my state, those animals would tear me apart.

My hands shook as I shoved the bolt in place. I never thought Freddy and the others would throw me into Brandon's house. I had no idea what they wanted.

Fear sat heavy in my chest. I did not know how bad this could get.

I sat in the room for almost an hour, but no one showed up. I snapped and yelled toward the door. All I got back was more wild barking.

I did not dare go out. I must have yelled too hard because the cut on my head split open again. Warm blood streamed down my face.

I felt cold and hungry. My head started to swim.

Right then, I suddenly heard someone hit the wall next door. I had no idea if I had heard it right, because my head felt packed with lead, and I could barely tell what was real and what was not.

I dragged myself toward the wall and looked through a tiny gap.

There was another dark room. Moonlight slipped in just enough for me to see faint shapes.

The sight knocked me right off my feet.

A woman sat inside. Her hair hung wild over her face, and her right ankle was bound in chains. She looked like something from a nightmare. When she raised her head to look at me, I saw two glaring red eyes.

Terror froze me. I had no idea what I was looking at.

When I calmed down and tried to look again, sharp barking exploded outside the door.

The door flew open, and Brandon stepped inside.

He walked in without saying a word. He just curled a finger at me, and I shot to my feet at once and followed behind him.

The dogs swarmed again when we stepped out, but Brandon barked, "Back off." They stopped at once and moved aside.

As we walked past the yard, I glanced at the room next door. I swear I felt a pair of eyes on me. They clung to me until my skin crawled.

We walked through the front gate. Dad stood there in the moonlight. His face looked pale, and his lip was swollen. A bruise sat on his forehead. Someone had hit him.

"Dad."

My chest tightened, and I rushed toward him. I tried to ask if someone had hit him, but he stopped me at once.

He turned and walked off, and I had no choice but to follow him. We had only taken a few steps when Brandon's voice came from behind us. "Luca, if this happens again, it won't end this easily."

It was a warning and a threat. Dad did not answer. He just kept walking.

When we got home, I stepped into the front room and ran straight to him. I asked if Brandon and Freddy were the ones who had hit him.

Dad did not answer. He slapped me across the face.

"Dad."

"On your knees."

I dropped to the floor with a thud.

He reached for his belt. He pulled it free and raised it like he was about to hit me.

My heart sank. Pure fear rushed up inside me. The last time he hit me with a belt was back in fourth grade. My cousin and I stole a watermelon from someone's yard. When we got home, Dad beat me so badly with a belt that I hid under the table and refused to come out.

I could feel the anger rolling off him. I stayed on my knees and waited for him to hit me.

However, when he saw blood still running from my forehead, he stopped. He put the belt down and grabbed clean water and gauze. He started to clean the cut on my head.

"When you came home, I told you over and over not to mess with Freddy. I told you not to get close to Alana. Why won't you listen?"

"I'm sorry, Dad. But Freddy is a monster. He doesn't treat Alana like a person. You don't know this. He hurts her every day."

My words struck a nerve in him, and his mood snapped in an instant.

"Alana, Alana. You already blew up our lives because of her. Why are you still hung up on her?"

"Dad, I'm not hung up on her. About what happened today, it's not what you think at all. Nothing happened between us. Dad, did you go to the Ford residence? Did Freddy do anything to Alana?"

"What could he do to her? They get along fine."

Dad suddenly threw the bowl of water aside. It splashed across the floor.

"Luca, you walked right into a setup. Freddy and Alana dug this hole for you together. They waited for you to fall in. Do you get that?"