Chapter 1 I Want You To Suffer A Thousand Times More Than She Did

• The candlelight in the ancient castle hallway flickered with the wind, casting eerie shadows into the dim room beyond.
• Elinor de Clermont knelt before a tall-backed chair, her white gown as pale as her blood-drained face.
• Before her stood her husband—William von Hohenzollern—his hand gripping a knight’s lance, its sharp tip aimed directly at her chest.
• A splash of crimson bloomed against her gown as the lance pierced her.
• Elinor thrashed, but the guards held her down firmly. A filthy rag was shoved into her mouth, muffling her cries.
• William, dressed in full noble regalia, looked every bit the dignified lord—but his eyes glinted with cruelty and hatred. He twisted the lance in her chest and hissed, “Elinor, how does it feel to have your heart pierced like this?”
• The agony was immediate, searing, and all-consuming. Elinor convulsed violently, struggling to curl into herself, but the guards held her fast. Blood bubbled up her throat, soaking the cloth stuffed in her mouth.
• “Tch. I missed.” William sneered, yanking out the lance—only to stab her again without hesitation.
• “Do you know how Isabella died?” he growled. “Like this. And I want you to feel it a thousand—no, ten thousand—times worse.”
• Elinor could no longer scream. The pain had fractured her soul, and she felt as if her spirit was shattering inside her broken body.
• This was the same man who once knelt at her feet, pledging eternal love, who earned the admiration of the entire kingdom for his devotion.
• And then he brought home a mistress—Isabella—claiming she was his true love.
• From that moment on, Elinor’s life descended into hell. Once a noble countess, she became nothing more than a servant, enduring daily humiliation and abuse.
• When Isabella died in battle, Elinor foolishly believed William might return to her. Instead, he used her—used the Clermont family’s wealth and influence—to climb higher and become the kingdom’s most favored duke.
• And then, he turned on her completely.
• He locked her away in Hohenzollern Castle, subjected her to unspeakable torment, and even framed her grandfather in a fabricated treason plot against the powerful Moblack family.
• Within a single night, the Moblack name was erased—the entire family sentenced to hang.
• Even her grandmother, pardoned by the king, was dragged out and burned at the stake—accused of witchcraft by William himself.
• “I’m not done yet,” William said coldly. “I can’t let you pass out so easily.”
• He ordered a servant to douse Elinor with a basin of ice water.
• The shock of the freezing liquid reopened her wounds, yanking her back from the edge of unconsciousness.
• Barely clinging to awareness, Elinor heard William’s whisper near her ear, chilling her more than the water.
• “You never knew who killed your father, did you?” he murmured. “Let me give you a hint—it was me. Who else could it have been? That old fool refused to let you marry me. He brought it on himself.”
• Her eyes widened in disbelief.
• "Father…"
• His kind face flashed before her eyes—so full of love, so opposed to her marriage to William. She had fought him, insisting that William was her one true love. She had turned her back on her family for this man.
• Now, all of them were gone. Dead because of her blind faith.
• William watched her expression twist in regret and relished it. “That’s the look I love to see,” he said, raising a torch. “Go ahead, Elinor. Go meet your father.”
• He tossed the torch at her.
• Flames roared around her as she stared at William through the fire, her sapphire eyes burning with hatred, even as her body gave out.
• The fire consumed everything. Only bitterness and vengeance remained in the air.
• In the roaring firelight, Elinor saw in a trance her late family: her solemn father, her gentle mother, her valiant brothers, her young and lovely nephews, and her kind grandparents... Tears of blood flowed from her eyes.
• Tongues of fire licked over every inch of Elinor's skin. The intense burning pain made her clearly feel her life fading away.
• But her will was rock solid: "God, if I had a chance to start over, I would definitely make all those who betrayed me and hurt my family pay the most terrible price!"