Chapter 2

After we revived Chloe, we gathered as far from the coffin as possible.

"What does he even want?" Angela sobbed, hugging her knees. "We've died four times already. Isn't that enough?"

There was no way out of this.

Shawn had a well-known obsession: he was a fanatic about fairy tales, especially Snow White.

But it wasn't the part with the prince's kiss or the happily-ever-after that fascinated him. No, it was the moment when the princess lay motionless in the crystal coffin.

In the first life, Melanie believed her beauty would win him over.

So, to show off her curves, she slipped into a custom-made red dress with nothing underneath and lay down inside the coffin.

He looked at her gently and said, "Princesses don't seduce in their sleep.

"If you don't understand the rules, you don't get to wake up."

Then, right in front of all the guests, he ordered someone to bring in an industrial welding torch and seal the crystal coffin shut.

Inside, Melanie pounded on the glass, screamed for air until she ran out of breath. Her face turned purple, her nails snapped off one by one as she tried to claw her way out.

Shawn stood next to the coffin, glass of red wine in hand, watching like it was art. "See? She's still now. Much prettier."

In the second life, our cousin Angela learned from Melanie's mistake.

This time, she wore a simple white dress, wiped off all her makeup, and lay perfectly still inside the coffin.

To make it more convincing, she even took some sleeping pills.

Shawn seemed satisfied. He gently stroked her cheek. "Good girl. Like a little porcelain doll."

Then he turned to the medical team behind him. "Beauty fades. If we want to preserve this moment, we need to fill her up."

While she slept, they force-fed her a tube and pumped nearly half a ton of concentrated formaldehyde into her body.

She woke in excruciating pain, but no sound came out. Through the crystal walls, she looked at Shawn's soft, caring expression until the chemicals turned her eyes a pale, lifeless gray.

In the third life, our stepmother Chloe decided she'd gone about this all wrong. Either we were too seductive or too stiff.

She figured Shawn was starved for maternal love, so she tried to comfort him by lying in the coffin herself, hoping the maturity of a woman twice his age would soften him.

Shawn took one glance at her and gagged. "My princess is pure as snow. Not moldy mud."

He had the coffin wheeled out to the edge of a cliff by the ocean, and with a swift kick, he sent it plummeting to the rocks below.

Chloe screamed all the way down. Her body, coffin and all, shattered on impact and was carried off by sharks.

Every time, the reason was different.

But every time, the result was the same. Death.

"Thea!" Melanie suddenly lunged forward, grabbing my wrist with a death grip. "Didn't you marry him last time? Didn't you survive?

"I mean, yeah, you still died, but at least he gave you a wedding. What does he want from us? Please, tell me!"

I looked at her, her face contorted in terror, and my heart clenched.

"He doesn't want a person." I spoke with a slight tremor in my voice. "He wants a doll. Something that can satisfy his bloodlust."

"Last time, you guys knocked me out and threw me in there. When I woke up, I was terrified. I curled up into a ball, shaking.

"Shawn carried me out, saying, 'This is what a princess looks like when she first meets a demon. Fragile. Timid. Makes you want to break her.'

"I thought I had it figured out.

"But on our wedding night, when he cut open my chest with a knife, do you know what he said?"

I pulled open my shirt, exposing my chest.

It was smooth and unmarked, but the memory of the pain still made me break into a cold sweat.

"He said, 'This heart beats too fast. Too loud. I'm going to take it out and put it in a box. That way, it'll be mine forever.'

"He's not looking for a lover. He's a hunter, feeding his twisted collection."

Chloe collapsed to the floor, wailing. "What did we do to deserve this? The Law family must've run out of good karma to end up with a living devil like him."

"Stop crying!" Melanie snapped. "Is crying going to make Shawn drop dead?"

"So what do we do? Run?" Angela asked weakly.

"Run?" I let out a bitter laugh and pointed toward the window.

Outside the villa gates, several black Maybachs were parked silently.

The windows were sealed tight, like they were watching us, or maybe waiting for the body.

"The whole city is crawling with Cole family spies," I said. "Where could we even go? Last time I tried to run, I barely made it past the front gate before they dragged me back."

"If we're going to die either way, we might as well cut our throats ourselves and save ourselves the torment," Melanie said, her breakdown complete.

"No." I stood, my eyes locked on the crystal coffin, a hard look flashing in my eyes. "If this is a game, then there's a way to beat it.

"Shawn likes playing fairy tales, right? Then let's play along."

*****

It was late, but the Law family mansion blazed with light, as if it were hosting a celebration instead of a funeral.

The four of us, women who usually smiled sweetly while plotting each other's emotional ruin, were now forced to sit at the same table and figure out how not to end up dead.

"Act out a fairy tale?" Chloe sniffed, blotting her mascara with a silk handkerchief. "What are we supposed to do, the four of us squeeze into seven dwarf costumes?"

"No," I said, snatching up a fruit knife and slamming it straight into a red apple, juice spraying everywhere. "We play the evil queen."

All three of them stared at me.

I continued, "In the story, she's the only one who actually wants Snow White dead. And she's the only one with the guts to hand over a poisoned apple."

I met their eyes, speaking fast before fear could shut any of us down. "Shawn thinks he's the hunter and we're the prey. But he's forgetting something. Hunters are still human. And humans can die."