The Bridal Chamber

Shadows swallowed every inch of the grandiose bridal chamber. Serena sat rigid on the very edge of the silk-draped mattress, her fingers curled tight into the fabric of her skirt. The sprawling countryside villa was dead silent. Not a single creak of floorboards. Not a whisper of wind. Just a suffocating stillness that made the blood roar in her ears.

Two agonizing days had blurred past since she