Chapter 46

FORTY-SIX

I clutchedthe bridal bouquet of peonies and realized the perfume Mrs. Ivory had sprayed on me was from this garden. These flowers they forced me to hold as per tradition were all grown over the dead bodies of the girls who didn't make the cut…

My stomach tumbled as I slowly walked down the cobblestone path and the soft music surrounded everyone. Two rows of guests were there—Bradley, Ian, Daphne, other random people I'd never seen, and then… Raina. I looked at her as she smiled at me. Did she not realize this was completely absurd?

Did she not think to call for help even though they paid her to help them?

Where were Jax and Kai?

I looked back up and finally forced myself to look at my groom.

Conrad wore a classic black tuxedo and he wiped a straggling tear away.

I wanted to violently vomit. Peonies were blooming all around us, and I couldn't help but feel the pain from the presence of countless, spirits buried under this dirt.

Innumerable, beautiful souls, brutally murdered, raped, and tortured. Countless lives ripped apart.

"My beautiful bride. My beautiful Demilion." Conrad reached his palms out.

He called me by the nickname Layla did because he wanted her all along. She was the favorite girl, while I was just the substitute. He must have spoken to her and found out that she called me that.

Forcing my hands into his, I looked and caught Bradley's eyes locked onto mine. Ian Ivory stood and walked to us.

"As a father, I can't believe this day has come. When we had Conrad, we knew we'd won the lottery as parents. When he selected his bride, I trusted he knew what he was doing. I'll never forget flipping through The Virgin Bride Catalogue with him. He was eighteen and well, due to unforeseen situations, we had to choose another bride for him. He found Demi and circled her photograph with a black Sharpie." Ian paused and let out a proud laugh.

I was disgusted. He chose me out of a magazine the way a child does a toy for Christmas.

"Well, here we are. The end of our journey as leaders of The Ivory estate, The Ivory Experiment, and The Ivory Rehabilitation program. I feel my father would be so very pleased that we have paired countless men with their brides. We are procreating a stronger and better future for an otherwise damaged world. Now, shall we get these lovebirds married?" He wiped his tears and began the ceremony. They actually thought that they were creating a better world and future through their patriarchal and misogynistic extremist views.

My fingers shook in Conrad's hands as Ian Ivory repeated holy vows to us. I didn't look up as I pretended it was Bradley standing before me.

"Do you promise to obey your husband for the rest of your days?" Ian proclaimed.

"I do," I whispered and slid the silver band on Conrad's finger.

Looking down at the gold band he'd added to my finger, I flinched, hoping it wasn't coated in acid again.

After a moment of no burning, I realized it wasn't. The scar from my engagement ring was still wrapped around my finger.

"You may now kiss your bride!" Dr. Ivory boasted as Conrad gripped my waist, dipped me down, and smashed his lips against mine.

Opening my eyes, I could see Bradley, who immediately looked away.

Pulling my face from his, Conrad beamed at me.

"My gorgeous wife." He lifted our hands into the air and tugged me down the aisle with him.

I'm officially the next Mrs. Ivory.

The rest of the evening went by in a blur. There wasn't a crowd of people to congratulate us, there wasn't a familiar bridal party or anything joyous. Daphne decided to not let me have any bridesmaids. To be honest, it was a relief considering I didn't want to be surrounded by the caged girls.

Instead, I wished away every second of our first dance, and then ate dinner.

Peeling away from Conrad, I walked to Raina, who was sipping a glass of wine and flung her arms around me.

"Congratulations, lady! Look at you, all wifed up."

"Where's Jax and Kai?" I asked, and the smile immediately fell from her face. When she didn't answer, I voiced my suspicions. "You don't live in that house, do you? Please, tell me you didn't kidnap Kai." Everything was piecing together as I watched her face carefully.

"No. He was a paid actor." She shrugged while polishing off her wine.

"You're not even a doctor, are you?"

"Nope, an Ivory family employee. I help make sure certain products arrive at their destination. Kind of like an Amazon delivery driver." She let out a callous laugh.

Tightening my fist, I looked at her. "You deserve to be buried here, not them," I hissed as I looked at the dirt and shook my head. I walked away from her, completely repulsed.

"Come on, Mrs. Ivory, time to do one last ceremony before the best part of the evening." Conrad laced his hand with mine.

Walking inside the house, the halls were completely silent. Everything was undistinguishable beyond the glimmer of moonlight from the windows—no movements, no voices. Our shadows danced along the walls of what felt like a mausoleum. I swore I could hear haunting pleas tear through the silence. Pleas begging for someone, anyone to free them.

Walking to the massive doors, Conrad opened them. But just as the light seeped through, I stumbled back and began to shriek.

Ian and Daphne Ivory were laying on the floor, side-by-side, with their throats slit, and in the middle sat a table with two wineglasses full of red liquid. The pool of blood around his parents grew by the minute. Their arms were tied together above their heads.

"Conrad!" I slapped my hands across my mouth, while my heart pounded rapidly against my chest.

He didn't move, he didn't react. Reaching back, he grabbed my arm and steadied me.

"Come, my love. They sacrificed for us." Lifting the wineglasses, he handed me one.

My hands shook as my eyes darted between them both. "They… killed themselves?"

"Yes."

"How are you not?—"

"This was always the plan, my love, and one day, you and I will go into the eternal heavens together for our son and his bride, too."

"To be pure even after I take your purity away tonight, we must drink this to protect our morals and souls." Clinking his glass against mine, he lifted it to his lips and began to drink. "Drink it, Demi. Now." His voice shifted, and fear rose inside me as my body felt paralyzed. "Demi!" he yelled as he licked the liquid from his lips.

Placing my mouth on the rim, I slowly sipped. The thick taste of iron burned my mouth and I immediately choked and coughed.

"Drink it, or lay dead with them!" He slapped my glass upward.

Crying into my glass, I knew he wasn't kidding. This man had zero remorse that his beloved parents were dead in front of him.

And I knew he wouldn't think twice to end my life. Drinking the rest of the liquid, I gagged and prayed it'd go down. When the glass was empty, I looked at Conrad, who raised his arms up in the air.

"I feel you, Mother and Father; now, your blood is coursing through my bride's body, too."

My stomach flipped and I immediately bent over and vomited. It was their blood. He made me drink his parent's blood, and worst of all, he drank his parents' blood, too.