Since ancient times, gambling has always been much sought by men. In the eighteenth century, these games reached a climax among citizens.
Roggero Fontana was a gambling addict, on the brink of bankruptcy. In one of his usual, desperate moves, he bets on the hand of his own daughter, Isabella, with John Smith, a mysterious stranger.
But Roggero loses the game and, consequently, his daughter.
The Wedding happens quickly; John has urgency to take Isabella to his isolated farm. There, the young woman discovers, in the worst way, who John is - a bipolar sadist. One hour she is treated with affection, the other she suffers frequent and creative tortures. Such atrocities leave irreparable scars on your body and soul.
Isabella sees her world collapse when she is forced to marry John Smith, a peculiar and aggressive man with unstable behavior. Soon in the first days of married, she discovers that he is not a simple scoundrel that likes to torture people weaker than him, physically and psychologically. John is much more than that and holds a secret that can get Isabella sent straight to hell.
When Jane Madarang's neighbor Natalie kills herself and leaves behind cryptic instructions, it's up to Jane and her classmates to unearth deadly secrets.
*****
Natalie Driscoll is dead.
She threw herself out a window and left her neighbor Jane to unravel their town's darkest secrets. Following Natalie's instructions leads Jane to three other high school students who all have something to hide. The four of them must carry out Natalie's final errand while solving the mysteries written in her diary. But the secrets they unearth may be far more dangerous than what they ever imagined.
Content and/or trigger warning: This story contains scenes of suicide, violence and murder that may be triggering for some readers.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]