CHAPTER 1: THE BRIDE WHO BECAME THE SILENCE
The mansion did not feel like a home.
It felt like a trap dressed in elegance.
Soft lights. Crystal chandeliers. White flowers lining the staircase like a staged illusion of purity.
And somewhere inside it—
a child was locked away.
The bride stood at the center of the grand hallway.
Still in her wedding dress.
Still smiling faintly.
As if nothing was wrong.
But her eyes told a different story.
Cold.
Controlled.
Waiting.
Upstairs, a faint sound echoed.
A knock.
Small.
Weak.
“Please… let me out…”
No one moved.
The guests downstairs were still laughing, drinking, celebrating a marriage that had already turned into something else entirely.
A servant approached carefully.
“Ma’am… the child—”
The bride didn’t look at her.
“Leave it.”
Two words.
Final.
The servant hesitated.
“But he’s been up there for hours—”
The bride turned her head slowly.
And smiled.
Not kindly.
Not warmly.
But with certainty.
“He needs to learn.”
Silence fell again.
Because everyone understood something in that moment.
This was not an accident.
This was intention.
Upstairs, the child’s voice grew weaker.
“Someone… please…”
And still—
no one moved.
Except one person.
A man standing near the staircase.
The groom.
He looked uncomfortable.
Not guilty.
Not afraid.
Just… uncertain.
“Maybe this is too much,” he muttered.
The bride tilted her head.
“You agreed to everything.”
He didn’t answer.
Because she was right.
He had agreed.
To all of it.
Downstairs, the celebration music continued like nothing was happening.
But upstairs—
something inside the mansion was beginning to break.
May you like
Not the child.
The illusion.
