I tasted copper as I glared up at him, my vision blurring from the pain.

Chapter 3 - THE BRIDE'S MOCKERY.

The crowd of onlookers parted as a woman in a stunning, pearl-encrusted wedding gown stepped forward.

She looked down at me with absolute disdain, her perfect features twisted into a cruel smirk.

"Calling the police on your own family?" she taunted, her voice laced with venomous amusement.

They honestly believed they held all the power in this room.

They thought I was weak, broken, and utterly alone.

I slowly reached for my phone, my trembling fingers slick with my own blood.

I didn't dial emergency services.

The police belonged to the world of ordinary rules, and those rules no longer applied here.

I brought the phone to my ear, locking eyes with the bride.

Chapter 4 - THE INVOCATION.

The line barely rang once before a deep, resonant voice answered on the other end.

"Dad," I breathed into the receiver, the single word carrying the weight of a thousand unspoken pleas.

I didn't need to explain the blood on the floor or the betrayal in my husband's eyes.

"Destroy them," I commanded, sealing their fate with three simple syllables.

I let the phone slip from my grasp, allowing it to clatter against the marble.

A sudden chill swept through the grand ballroom.