Loyalty and Desire: The Twin's Forbidden Attractions

Chapter 1: Fulfilling Wifely Duties

The night was as dark as deep despair. The moon was hidden behind a thick blanket of clouds, blocking its light and leaving everything under the sky in complete darkness. An eerie silence accompanied the darkness, only broken by the sounds of the rustling of leaves and the occasional hoot of a distant owl in a tree.

Despite the creepy darkness and chilly night, a magnificent three-story villa stood tall and proud, shrouded in the shadow of a large cedar tree. The villa was made of the finest materials money could buy. Stone walls exuded a sense of regality and strength and windows framed by intricate carvings that hinted at the history of the house and its owners while adding to its charm and mystique. The entrance of the villa was grand and adorned with marble columns and a wrought-iron gate, as though to ward off any unwanted visitors.

With a night so dark, the villa could have easily been missed by any onlookers walking by, if not for a single source of light. It was a dim glow emanating from one of the rooms on the second floor of the house, casting an almost warm and inviting glow on the villa’s rigid facade.

Zoey Newman sat nervously on the edge of the bed in the dimly lit room, the darkness outside almost reflected in her eyes. Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap, her fingertips almost pale from lack of blood flow due to her constricting grip on them. A simple, but yet very conservative, wedding dress hung loosely on her slight frame. The fabric was a soft white that glowed faintly in the dim light.

As the seconds ticked by, she fidgeted with the delicate lace at the cuffs, her eyes darting around the room as if searching for something to distract herself from the overwhelming anxiety that gripped her mind and churned her insides. But all she saw was the bed, and her anxiety doubled.

Despite her nervousness, Zoey looked stunning in her dress. It was a classic design, with a high neckline and long sleeves that covered her arms all the way down to her slim wrists. The skirt fell in soft, flowing layers to the floor, and a small train trailed behind her as she shifted uneasily on the bed.

Her long black hair was pulled back in a simple tight bun, with a few loose strands framing her delicate features. They had kept her makeup to a bare minimum, just a light dusting of blush on her cheeks to add color to her pale skin and a touch of red lipstick on her lips.

She was the picture of the perfect innocent bride and perhaps under different circumstances she would have been excited it was her wedding day, but Zoey was not an excited bride. She wasn’t even a happy bride. The harsh words of her aunt Rebecca played through her head on an unending loop, tormenting her and reminding her why she was there.

“For years, I have kept you. You have eaten and drank my food. Slept under my roof. And I paid for your mother’s expensive medical treatment. Now it’s time for you to repay me.” These words had left a bitter taste in her mouth, and she couldn’t shake off the feeling of obligation and guilt that came with them, even on her wedding day.

A sigh left Zoey on an exhale as she mused over her predicament. It wasn’t like she had been given a choice. In order to keep her seriously ill mother in the expensive intensive care unit her aunt had been paying for, Zoey had gotten married in her cousin’s place at her aunt’s wishes. Her husband, a man she was yet to meet, was a young thirty-year-old man from a wealthy family, who had unfortunately suffered severe burns in a fire six months before.

It would have been a lie to say that Zoey wasn’t scared out of her mind. She was only nineteen, and although her aunt considered her to be too old to keep and feed like her own children, Zoey felt she wasn’t ready to be married. Especially under these circumstances and to a man she had never met and didn’t even know the extent of his injuries from the fire.

As Zoey sat nervously on the bed, trying to calm herself with deep, slow breaths, she finally heard the click of the latch disengage and the creak of the door as it opened. She instinctively looked up at the door and saw a tall man standing in the doorway. The dim light in the room cast him in shadows, but Zoey took in his black slacks and the dress shirt he wore before finally looking at his face. In an instant, a piercing scream escaped her throat, filled with terror from the depths of her soul.

The sound reverberated through the dimly lit room, echoing against the walls of the villa and causing the crows outside to startle and take flight, their noisy wings flapping in the sudden disturbance. The scream seemed to go on forever, until finally, Zoey’s breath caught in her throat and she was left gasping for air, her heart racing with fear. Her hands then flew to her mouth as though to prevent another burst of sound. She stared at the man in the doorway, her eyes wide with horror.

Despite her obvious fear, Zoey’s eyes focused on the face of the man in the doorway, and she realized with bone-shuddering horror that it was no longer a recognizable visage.

The deep and shallow flesh seemed to have been haphazardly stitched together, leaving a grotesque and disfigured appearance. Criss-crossing scars covered every inch of visible skin, distorting the facial features so much that it made Zoey afraid to look directly at him. It was as if he was a walking nightmare, a haunting embodiment of terror that sent shivers down her spine.

The urge to run away and never return was strong in her. This wasn’t what she had expected when she entered this house. Not even her imagination which had been running wild since she was told of the marriage could have prepared her for what she saw. But after a beat, despite her obvious fear still evident in the tremor of her limbs, Zoey stood up and looked at her husband.

The man, however, did not open the door further and came into the room. His cold, gloomy eyes looked at Zoey with sarcasm and mockery. And then, after a long moment, the man turned and left without saying a word to her.

Just like a knee-jerk reaction, Zoey didn’t think about her actions, she only reacted to the man’s sudden departure. She gathered up the soft skirt of her dress and ran after her husband down the hallway as fast as her legs could carry her and suddenly grabbed his arm when she reached him.

“Please. Don’t go,” she begged in a breathless whisper.

Her husband seemed stunned by both her words and actions. He froze in place but didn’t turn around and face her. Instead, he asked Zoey with a hoarse sneer. “Aren’t you afraid of me?”

In the dark hallway, with only the faintest light coming from her room, Zoey’s thin body trembled slightly. She bit her lip and shook her head vigorously. It took a few seconds for Zoey to realize that the man couldn’t see her or see her non-verbal response, and she quickly opened her mouth to respond to his question with words.

“No. I’m not… I’m not afraid of you.” Zoey swallowed hard and added, “I’m sorry for my reaction. I just wasn’t ready yet.”

As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt worse, like she had said the wrong thing. She immediately tightened her hold and pulled on the man’s arm as though she feared he would walk off again. “Please don’t be angry. I will take good care of you. I promise. We will live together for many, many years to come, and I will try my best to get used to… everything.”

Zoey almost cringed at her own words. They still didn’t sound right. But in the darkness of the hallway, she didn’t see the man turn his head and glare at her with dark eyes and the ugly twist of his lips.

Then suddenly, the man turned around and faced her. His scarred hand shot out and squeezed Zoey’s chin and lifted it violently. “Zoey, do you really understand what it means to marry me?”

Sudden pain radiated from Zoey’s chin, where he held her with his rough fingers. The shock made her heart slam into her chest and steal her breath away. Tears almost fell down her cheeks, but she bit her lip tightly and tried to speak to the man.

“Ryan, I married you today.”

Although the bridegroom hadn’t appeared for the ceremony, Zoey knew their marriage was legal and binding with a marriage certificate to prove it. They were indeed married and there was nothing that could change that. Not even her fear and shock at his disfigured face.

The sound of bitter laughter echoed through the darkness, sending shivers down Zoey’s spine and snapping her out of her thoughts. Before she could react, she felt a firm grip on her shoulders and she was pushed up against the wall. The coolness of the surface seeped through her wedding dress, adding to her already heightened state of shock.

Gasping for air, Zoey looked up to see Ryan’s face, but couldn’t see him because of the darkness. Zoey’s heart continued to pound in her chest as she struggled to comprehend the situation. Then his solid, strong body stepped closer and pressed against hers, leaving her feeling trapped and helpless. A warm breath fanned her face as he spoke, his words dripping with malice.

“If we are married, then fulfill your obligations as my wife.”