Chapter 2

My parents were eager to marry me off to Ernest that day. Suddenly, they felt so unfamiliar to me, like strangers. After gathering my thoughts, I spoke firmly, "Malcolm and I have been together for years, and we even had a wedding date set. How could I marry someone else for no reason? "Besides, Ernest Lyman is a lunatic who kills without batting an eye. If you insist on marrying me off to him, I am leaving this home forever." With that, I picked up my suitcase, ready to leave. When I turned around, I bumped right into my best friend, Sasha Langley. "All the stars are in your favor, Chevonne! You're actually going to marry Ernest." Sasha's eyes gleamed with envy as she stepped through the door. It was as though marrying Ernest was the greatest blessing in the world. I couldn't be more shocked. "Do you really think that, too, Sasha? Ernest Lyman is a homicidal maniac! He's married 38 times, and not a single one of his wives survived their wedding night. If I were to marry him today, you might only have my corpse to speak to tomorrow!" Sasha frowned, clearly displeased. "Those women were unlucky. It had nothing to do with Ernest." With a heavy sigh, she continued regretfully, "I've remained chaste all these years, hoping that one day I could be his wife. But alas, I guess I wasn't lucky enough." Seeing her lovestruck expression, I had even more questions. "What's so great about Ernest? Why is everyone so obsessed with marrying him?" Sasha gave me a long, serious look. "Chevonne, you'll understand how amazing Ernest is once you marry him tonight. If it weren't for our friendship, I wouldn't even bother explaining this to you. After all, you did steal Ernest from me—you're my love rival. "Ernest has finally been released from the psychiatric hospital. I hope you'll cherish this opportunity and won't waste such a stroke of great fortune." At this point, I was at a complete loss for words. It only felt like everyone had lost their marbles. "You can marry him if you want. I'm not marrying him anyway!" That said, I started striding off. Seeing this, my mom panicked and grabbed me. "We must spoil you too much! You are getting married today, no matter what!" Without consideration for much else, my parents locked me in my room. I pounded on the door in fury, but my mother's voice was shrill on the other side. "Chevonne, we are only doing this for your own good. This year alone, hundreds of families offered Ernest their daughters' hand in marriage. Out of all of them, he chose you. Do you know how lucky you are?" My father added in a somber tone, "Exactly. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that many would die for. The whole village is envious of you. Why are you being so stubborn and unreasonable?" They then left without another word, ignoring my frustration and protests. I supposed they were headed off to make arrangements for the wedding. Regardless of what I said or did, they only recited their wishes for me to "enjoy my good fortune". I just didn't understand. What kind of fortune was there in marrying a psychotic killer like Ernest? Before long, the sound of celebratory music echoed outside the house. It signaled the arrival of the wedding procession. It was supposed to be a joyful noise, but it only filled me with dread. Once the procession took me, I might very well become the 39th bride to die at Ernest's hands! The more I thought of it, the more terrified I became. In desperation, I turned to look out the window. My room was on the second floor of a house we built ourselves. Right now, everyone was gathered at the front door for the procession. This left the backyard below my window extremely quiet.