Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Seven

Lauren's POV

My phone buzzed in my hand, dragging me out of the fog of uncertainty that had settled over me since my conversation with Damien. I stared at the screen, the new message glowing ominously. My fingers trembled as I swiped it open.

“Look into the person Damien wanted to marry before you. The one he left at the altar—Katarina. Did you really think she would die without someone seeking vengeance?”

A chill ran down my spine, cold and paralyzing. Katarina. The name hit me like a punch to the gut, stirring up memories I’d long buried. I hadn’t thought about her in a while.

She’d been nothing more than a nightmare in our relationship, a lingering shadow that neither of us wanted to talk about. But she was gone. Dead. The word echoed in my mind, loud and insistent.

Damien had killed her.

I tried to steady my breath, but it came in short, sharp bursts, each one more panicked than the last. My fingers tightened around the phone as if it migh