Chapter 1Heartless: The Devil's Bargain

To secure a multi-million dollar contract and buy a villa for his illegitimate daughter, my father got me blackout drunk and delivered me to the bed of his wealthy best friend.

We had a wild night.

But when Julian woke up, he looked at me with pure disgust.

"I'm your family friend. I'm your elder. To satisfy your own sick desires, you drugged me? You have no shame."

He threw me out of the house, naked, claiming he never wanted to see me again.

Terrified of offending the powerful Thorne family, my father dragged me to a shady psychiatric institution that very night.

I was beaten, electrocuted, and assaulted by the director and his staff.

Just as they were preparing to perform an illegal lobotomy on me, I finally snapped. I threw myself off the roof.

As I lay dying, a voice, distant and ethereal, whispered in my ear.

"Little girl, give me your heart, and I’ll let you live. Deal?"

* * *

I don’t remember if I said yes.

I only remember waking up with a hollow emptiness in my chest.

The doctors and orderlies who used to treat me like an insect were now looking at me with sheer terror.

"Miss Quinn... please... here are your discharge papers."

"We called your family. Please, have mercy. Spare us."

I rolled my wrist, which felt a little stiff.

Then I remembered. I made a deal with a devil before I died.

He told me I had a heart that was too pure, too kind. That heart was why I always put others first, and why I had been bullied my entire life.

So, I gave it to him.

He took away the sweet, fragile Quinn who craved love and family.

And he left behind the monster—violent, cruel, and completely void of emotion.

Standing there, clutching my discharge papers, I watched the black stretch limo pull up below.

I started laughing.

This was... perfect.

From this moment on, I could finally let the people who hurt me understand what it feels like to be trampled on.

When I walked back into the house, the family that had been laughing and chatting instantly fell silent.

Julian instinctively pulled my stepsister, Bella, behind him protectively.

My father looked at me with undisguised revulsion.

"Why are you back so soon?"

"And what are you wearing? Are you trying to play the victim?"

I looked down at my hospital gown. It was filthy, crusted with layers of blood.

The dark, dried stains at the bottom were mine.

The fresh, bright red stains? Those belonged to the people who tried to hurt me before I left.

When I didn't answer, Dad’s tone got harsher.

"Get to your room. Don't stand there being an eyesore."

"We're discussing Julian and Bella's wedding. We don't have time for you."

I followed his gaze to Julian.

I hadn't seen him in three years. He looked as dashing as ever.

Just like that night.

I remembered clearly how he kicked me off the bed. My lower back slammed into the nightstand, pain shooting through my spine.

There was no pity in his eyes then, only loathing.

"Quinn, how can you be so cheap?"

"I'm your father's friend. I've known you since you were a kid. You crush on me, fine, but drugging me? That’s incestuous and sick."

"Your father is a proud man. How did he raise a daughter so low, indistinguishable from a streetwalker?"

He refused to let me dress before throwing me out onto the front lawn.

And now, three years later, this man of "high morals" was about to marry my illegitimate stepsister.

Before, this would have broken me.

But now? My heart was gone. And with it, my love for Julian.

Perhaps my stare was too intense. Julian frowned.

"Three years in the asylum and you still haven't learned your lesson?"

"I'm warning you, don't get any ideas. I can send you back there with a single phone call."

The threats washed over me.

I pressed a hand to my chest. Nothing.

No pain. No sadness. Not even despair.

Back then, I had escaped the ward with a broken leg, crawling to a payphone to call Julian. I begged him to save me. I promised I’d disappear if he just got me out.

He agreed.

Then he called the director. "How are you treating her? She hasn't learned a thing. She’s even learned to act pitiful now."

"If she escapes again, I'm pulling your funding."

Because of that call, the director broke my limbs and prepped me for surgery. He wanted to turn me into a vegetable so I could never leave hell again.

That’s why I jumped.

My thoughts snapped back to the present. I smiled sincerely at Julian.

"Julian, thank you for giving me the chance to be a new person."

"Don't worry. I definitely won't love you anymore."

And I definitely won't show you any mercy.