[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":10},["ShallowReactive",2],{"viewer-data-260322E1C3D0-215":3},{"id":4,"number":5,"name":6,"content":7,"isLocked":8,"price":9,"hasRead":8},215,1,"Chapter 1: \"Make Your Choice, Jonah.\"","\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The night was thick and ink-black, suffocatingly dark. In the silence of the storm, the screech of tires tore through the air. Evangeline didn’t dare look back. She kept running, her lungs burning, but the roar of the engine grew louder, looming like a predator’s shadow closing in on her heart.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Thud.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Exhaustion finally claimed her. Evangeline collapsed, face-planting into a muddy puddle. She scrambled backward, her eyes wide with terror as headlights cut through the torrential rain.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Click.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">The car door swung open. Cassidy stepped out, her expression a toxic cocktail of hatred and pure, unadulterated triumph. \"Evangeline, I’m here to see you off on your final journey. Happy? Once you’re gone, I’ll be sure to run Montgomery Enterprises properly. Don't you worry about a thing! Ha-ha-ha!\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Cassidy...\" Evangeline gasped, staring at her in disbelief. \"I treated you like a sister. How could you be so wicked? You actually want to destroy the family that took you in?\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">When Cassidy’s own family had gone bankrupt and her parents fled from their debts, the Montgomerys had taken her in, seeing her as a lonely, fatherless girl the same age as their own daughter. They had grown up together, thick as thieves.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"I’m carrying Jonah’s child,\" Cassidy whispered, her hand drifting protectively over her stomach, her teeth gritted in a feral display of resolve. \"As long as you’re around, there’s no way I can marry into the Harrison family. There can only be one heiress to the Montgomery fortune. You had to go.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Jonah Harrison was Evangeline’s fiancé. They were childhood sweethearts, their families bound by decades of history. Jonah had always been like the warm spring sun—gentle, refined, and steady. Following the wishes of both their families, they had been betrothed.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">While Evangeline was reeling from the shock, Cassidy slammed herself back into the driver’s seat and floored the accelerator.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"No!\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">A piercing scream cut through the rainy night, followed by the sound of metal meeting flesh and Cassidy’s distorted, manic laughter. \"Dead! She’s dead! Good riddance! Why should you always be the golden girl, bathed in sunlight, while everyone looks down on me? No one stands in the way of what I want!\" Her face, twisted in the dashboard light, was the stuff of nightmares.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">\"Are you insane?! You killed her! How could you do this?!\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Jonah arrived on the scene, stumbling and scrambling over the wet pavement. He dropped to his knees beside Evangeline, trembling as he pulled her limp body into his arms. \"Evangeline? Evangeline, please... don't be afraid. I’m calling an ambulance.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">He reached for his phone, his thumb hovering over the screen. Suddenly, Cassidy snatched it from his grip, tossing it casually from hand to hand. \"What? Feeling sentimental? If you try to save her, the headlines tomorrow morning will feature you and me in some very scandalous photos. I’ll make sure you never, ever recover from the shame.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Jonah hesitated. He was his family’s pride, an only son, the heir apparent. He had been set to marry the woman he loved and take over his father’s empire. All of it was crumbling because of this one mistake—his own lust. He had thought Cassidy was just a pushover, a foster daughter he could manipulate, never imagining she would be the one to drag him into this abyss.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Cassidy watched him, sensing his weakness. She lowered her voice, dripping with honeyed poison. \"Jonah, it’s already done. Look, she’s barely hanging on. Just dump her in the bay. Once you’re rid of her, I’ll be the only heir left. Marry me, and the Montgomery fortune belongs to you.\"\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Jonah clenched his jaw, looking down at the girl in his arms. Blood bloomed like a dark rose, swirling into the rainwater that drenched them both. Evangeline was beyond speaking now, her life ebbing away. She couldn't hear his thoughts, but she felt the cold truth settle in her heart as he remained silent—second after agonizing second. She had thought he loved her; she finally understood that he loved the power of the Montgomery name far more.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">She closed her eyes in despair, hot tears vanishing into her rain-soaked hair.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Every choice has its price. Looking down at the woman who had gone still in his arms, Jonah finally stood up and began to walk toward the churning dark waters of the bay.\u003C/p>\u003Cp class=\"chapter-paragraph\">Behind him, Cassidy wore a twisted, triumphant smile. Now, she and Jonah were in the same boat, tied together by blood. He would never be able to shake her off again. She had loved him, and seeing him set to marry Evangeline had ignited a jealousy that burned through her soul. She had to kill her. She had no other choice.\u003C/p>",false,0,1774272910749]