She Left She Thrived She’s Worth Billions novel Chapter 964

"Then we'll just be a pair of married ghosts."

Preston was deeply engrossed in his playful banter with Melanie when an actor in the Murder Hotel lunged directly into his face.

A perfectly timed jump scare like that was usually the most heart-stopping moment in any haunted house.

The actor had already successfully terrorized the previous groups, scattering them in every direction with ear-piercing screams.

Drunk on his own terrifying success, the actor was locked and loaded, ready to obliterate the next set of victims.

Instead, he burst out of the shadows only to find Preston and Melanie strolling along, completely ignoring him and the nightmare around them.

They looked more like they were on a leisurely walk through a suburban park than surviving a horror attraction.

The actor took this as a personal insult.

His professional pride was on the line.

Utilizing the flickering strobe lights, he crept up with dead silence, suddenly lunging mere inches from Preston's face with a ferocious snarl.

Eye to eye, Preston stared blankly at the incredibly detailed, hyper-realistic gory makeup.

And the actor stared right back at Preston.

However, the anticipated, blood-curdling scream never came.

Half a second later, the actor awkwardly backed away, slinking back into the shadows to prey on the easier targets at the back of the line.

Melanie and Preston kept walking, utterly unbothered.

"What?"

Catching Melanie trying to muffle a giggle behind her hand, Preston raised a brow.

Melanie burst out laughing.

"You just terrified that monster."

The second the actor lunged, Melanie had felt the immediate, chilling shift in Preston's aura. It turned dangerously sharp, exuding a predator's icy menace.

He hadn't been startled at all.

Instead, he had communicated a very clear, very lethal message to the scare actor—

*You interrupted my conversation with her.*

The violent intensity rolling off him was so palpable that the poor employee had instantly realized he was out of his depth and retreated.

Surrounded by bloodthirsty monsters, decaying corpses, and the shrill screams of terrified tourists...

If this was their ideal romantic backdrop, it really only proved one thing about her and Preston—

They had severely twisted tastes.

As they casually strolled through the five zones, the novelty quickly wore off. Halfway through, they started taking selfies with the bewildered scare actors. By the time they reached the final zones, they were analyzing the special effects budget while aggressively debating the Royce Group's upcoming investments. The final stretch felt more like a cutthroat corporate boardroom meeting in a graveyard than a horror experience.

Daphne and Everett had vanished from their sight somewhere around the third zone, lost in the chaotic scramble of fleeing guests.

At first, Melanie had wanted to double back and look for them.

She was genuinely worried—Daphne was terrified of her own shadow, and Everett wasn't exactly faring much better.

But Preston had firmly talked her out of it.

"Let them have some time alone. Surviving a crisis together is the fastest way to build romantic tension."

Reluctantly, Melanie had to admit he had a point.

They finished the entire course and waited by the exit for what felt like an eternity before Daphne and Everett finally stumbled out.

"...What the hell happened to you two?"