His First Love Kneels on Icy Sea for My Forgiveness

I was locked away on an Arctic drilling platform by Victor Raven for three years. He gave me a wedding dress, he gave me chains, and he gave me a wedding at thirty degrees below zero. "Nora Hamilton, sign it," he said. "Your mother will see you looking dignified." I stared at the urn in his hand, a metallic taste rising in my throat. Through the screen, Ivan Petrov said, "Run. He’s the one who killed your whole family." And I believed him. I stole access cards, hid pills, memorized the platform’s layout. I thought I was escaping from a tyrant. Until the barrel of a gun pressed against my forehead and Ivan Petrov called me his “key,” a smile on his face. A silver ring flashed for a moment on Victor Raven’s bloodstained hand.