Chapter 1

I was born able to sense malice.

Whenever I face a threat, a rash breaks out on the back of my neck.

I used this ability to escape the traffickers who tried to kidnap me.

I also dodged plenty of ill-intentioned suitors.

So when choosing a husband, what I valued most was his character.

That's why I chose David Sanchez, who was gentle and kind.

The day before the wedding.

My adopted sister locked me in the storeroom of the old house.

When David rescued me, I couldn't help cursing her out a few times.

The next second, that familiar prickling suddenly crept up the back of my neck.

I whipped around to look at David beside me and blurted out a question.

"David, do you have feelings for Ebony?"

1

David hadn't expected me to suddenly ask that.

He came over and tried to take my hand. "Ava, what nonsense are you talking about? We're getting married tomorrow. How could I..."

But before his hand could even touch me, the rash on the back of my neck flared up again.

Dense and crawling, like countless tiny ants working along my skin and burrowing into the gaps between my bones.

I instinctively took a step back, avoiding his touch.

I stared straight at him and asked, "Are you sure you don't like her?"

Hearing me say that, Ebony, standing off to the side, forgot all about being upset.

She quickly stepped between me and David, wearing the look of someone gravely wronged, and said to me, "Sis, I was just playing a joke on you. If you're angry, take it out on me... don't be hard on David!"

I couldn't be bothered with Ebony. The rash on the back of my neck was like an alarm bell.

I could give David up to her, but only on the condition that he wouldn't hurt me.

I hadn't broken out in a rash this widespread in years.

Which meant it was easy to imagine just how much malice David held toward me.

So I stared at him and asked again, "Are you sure you don't have feelings for Ebony?"

David frowned.

His expression carried a hint of exasperation. "Ava, I know you've probably been under a lot of pressure these past few days preparing for the wedding, but no matter what, you can't joke about something like this! It hurts the bond between you sisters."

"Hurts the bond?" I repeated his words, my heart sinking bit by bit.

"I was locked in there for three hours, no phone signal. If I'd suddenly gotten sick, I could have died. Is that a prank? That's murder! And another thing—Ebony is twenty-three this year, not three! Is locking someone up really a joke you can just play?"

"All right, all right, you're... you're right about everything." David sighed and stepped forward to pull me toward him.

"Tomorrow is our big day. There's no need to make things this tense. Mom and Dad are still waiting at home. Here's an idea... after the wedding tomorrow, however you want to teach Ebony a lesson, I won't get in the way. Okay?"

The instant he leaned in close, the prickling on the back of my neck grew even fiercer.

My whole neck felt hot and swollen.

The last time this happened was when I was five, when traffickers tried to abduct me.

"Don't touch me!" I abruptly knocked his hand away.

David staggered from the force of it.

The usual gentleness on his face finally dropped away. "Ava Henson, what has gotten into you today? Are you determined to leave everyone with no way out of this?"

Seeing this, Ebony hurried forward and grabbed his arm. "David, don't be angry. It's only natural that she'd feel upset after being locked up for three hours. It's all my fault. I was being immature..." Then she turned to me and said, "Sis, I really do know I was wrong. I promise I won't joke around anymore. Don't stay mad at David. If you really can't let it go, then lock me up too. You're getting married tomorrow. There's no reason to fight because of me."

Watching Ebony put on that fake, innocent act, I suddenly laughed.

From the day Mom and Dad adopted her, she'd always been stirring up trouble.

But it had all been small-time.

In fact, even my constitution had grown immune to her.

After all, her petty malice was never enough to matter, and it couldn't hurt me.

But I never imagined she would set her sights on my fiancé.

Or that she'd make him hold this much malice toward me.

Since that was how it was, I really couldn't keep her around.

After all, ever since I gained this constitution, what I've been best at is strangling threats in the cradle.

So I stared at her coldly and smiled. "Sure. Then let's do it your way—go in there yourself!"