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American Horror: Grind Edition
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American Horror: Grind Edition
"Time's about up. We should head down."
Alex checked his watch and spoke softly.
Grace took his arm, a flicker of worry crossing her face.
"Your father never seems to like me. He always thinks I'm only marrying you for the money."
"Well… I think he's right about that."
Alex deliberately put on a straight face and teased, "You'll have to give him some time to get used to it."
"Fuck you! That's way too far!"
Grace scolded playfully and punched him in the chest.
The two started roughhousing again like no one else existed.
Soren, leaning against the door outside, watched the shameless PDA with a blank face and turned his head away.
At that moment, he suddenly understood why people liked smoking.
If he could light up a cigarette right now, at least he wouldn't feel like a third-wheel idiot standing there.
"Looks like I'm interrupting."
A slightly tired voice came from the other end of the corridor.
It was Alex's older brother, Daniel.
His shirt collar was open, and he held a glass of whiskey.
"Alex, everything downstairs is ready. Everyone's waiting for you two."
Then he looked at Grace, expression complicated. "Grace, if you want to run now, there's still time."
Daniel said half-jokingly, "You… don't belong to this family."
Grace paused, thinking it was some kind of weird rich-people humor.
She shrugged. "Are you joking? I worked hard to get here."
Hearing that, Daniel looked at his brother. "Alright then. Since you don't care, hurry up. Everyone's waiting."
With that, he turned and left.
Watching his brother's back, the smile on Alex's face slowly faded.
He tried again. "Seriously, Grace, Daniel's right."
"If you want, we can leave right now. Go somewhere no one knows us."
Grace was completely lost by the brothers' words. She frowned. "Alex, today is our wedding day! What nonsense are you talking about?"
"You can still back out right now."
Alex held her hands, tone serious.
"No."
Grace's gaze was firm. "I'm all in."
Outside the door, Soren listened and sighed inwardly.
In this life, he really needed to stay far away from love-brained idiots and riddle-speakers.
One made people blind. The other liked speaking in riddles that got people killed.
...
On the estate lawn, guests filled every seat.
The newlyweds stood before the photographer, exchanging deeply touching vows.
Everything looked beautiful and happy.
Night fell. The festivities died down.
The noisy wedding banquet finally ended.
Alex scooped Grace up in her wedding dress. Amid the ambiguous laughter of several relatives, he carried her into the bedroom.
Soren stopped in the corridor, rubbed his chin, and decided not to barge in on that scene.
Shortly after, the bedroom door opened.
A middle-aged woman with hair styled high and wearing purple clothing stepped out.
She was Alex's aunt—the one whose new husband had been killed.
As she passed Soren, she gave him a cold, arrogant glance.
"Mr. Soren, you may come in now."
Inside the bedroom, Alex's voice called out, sounding a little embarrassed.
Soren pushed the door open and saw Grace sitting on the edge of the bed, face full of shock.
It looked like Alex had already spilled the family tradition.
"A game? In the middle of the night, we have to play a game with the whole family?"
Grace found the idea absurd to the extreme.
"Yes, we have to play."
Alex said, "From what I know, the box might contain checkers, backgammon… I know, it sounds stupid."
"It's more than stupid. Don't you think it's creepy?"
Grace's expression was strange. She looked at Soren who had just entered. "And what is he doing here?"
"He…"
Alex stammered, "Tonight… he'll be spending it with you."
Soren's eye twitched. How the hell have you survived this long with that mouth?
The way he phrased it made it sound like Soren was forcing something.
Sure enough, Grace shot to her feet, face full of shock and anger. "You idiot, that's not funny at all!"
"On our wedding night, you're letting a stranger spend the night with me?!"
"No no no! Grace, you misunderstood."
Alex waved his hands frantically. "What I mean is, to prevent any accidents during the game, he'll act as your bodyguard tonight and stay right by your side the entire time."
"He's a professional."
Grace looked at her husband and vaguely sensed the unusual atmosphere in this mansion.
But the carefree woman didn't think too deeply about it.
To her, this was just some weird rich-family ritual. No matter how boring, it was still just a game. What danger could there be?
"Am I supposed to win this game?"
Grace asked helplessly.
"No, you just have to play along."
Alex hugged her and said softly, "Then you'll officially become a member of our family."
After comforting his wife, Alex walked to the door and nodded at Soren. "Mr. Soren, tonight is in your hands."
Soren nodded slightly.
A moment later, Grace walked out of the room.
She glanced at Soren standing outside the door like a statue, her eyes carrying a mix of wariness and strangeness.
Anyone would feel weird about their husband arranging for another man to follow them on their wedding night.
Soren didn't care. He kept a few body-lengths' distance and followed her.
In the first-floor reception hall, the direct bloodline members of the Le Domas family had already been waiting.
Strangely, these normally exclusive family members showed no surprise at the stranger Soren's presence.
Soren didn't know what excuse Alex had used to explain him.
The group surrounded Grace and led her into a special room in the center of the hall.
Just as Soren prepared to follow, a man who looked like the butler reached out to stop him.
"Sorry, sir. This is the core restricted area of the Le Domas family. Only family members are allowed inside."
Soren glanced at him and stepped back into the corner.
The instant the butler turned to close the door, Soren's demonic power flickered. A blurry black shadow was left in his place.
His real body had already slipped into the room before the door shut.
The room had no natural lighting—only a few lit candles provided illumination.
Using the cloak granted by the Devil Arm [Valak], Soren perfectly blended into the darkness.
He wanted to confirm whether the demon was truly present.
Deer heads and beast taxidermy hung on the walls. Display cabinets held hunting rifles and battle axes.
In the center stood a round wooden table.
The Le Domas family had already taken their seats around it.
After Grace walked around the room and sat down, a short-haired woman dressed neatly suddenly spoke:
"Grace, do you like playing games?"
"Um… depends on what kind of game."
Grace looked at her and smiled.
"We'll find out soon."