The Cold Surgeon's Contract Bride novel Chapter 748

Caspian was supposed to be taking me to a concert located at The Grand Metropolitan Opera in the East District of Port Capital.

It took at least an hour to get there from my apartment, but we had only been driving for thirty minutes.

And the car was no longer on a main road.

It was parked outside a secluded house.

The property wasn't massive—just three stories—and it looked fairly ordinary, except all the doors and windows were pitch black, radiating a sinister, freezing aura of mystery.

My heart hammered violently against my ribs. A terrifying realization clawed its way up my throat, and I heard my own voice tremble. "Caspian, why did you bring me here? Weren't we going to The Grand Metropolitan Opera?"

Dark, damp, deserted places were my worst nightmare, but far worse was the fact that this was a multi-story house.

I could never forget. When I was five, my parents had been dragged away and imprisoned by that monster, Theodore Thorne. And the place they were held was a three-story house just like this one.

In that house, I had watched helplessly as my parents were tortured and abused. I could still see that devil's twisted face, still hear his sick, echoing laughter ringing off the walls.

Caspian was my friend. He wouldn't hurt me.

Right?

His smile remained soft, his impossibly handsome features taking on an almost demonic allure. "If we're talking about concerts, we should go to Vienna. They have the finest music and the most beautiful golden halls."

He reached out and grabbed my hand. "Selena, let's go there to listen to the absolute best. Let's go to Vienna, Austria. What do you say?"

Everything in front of me felt entirely surreal, especially the man holding my hand.