BEYOND REVENGE

BEYOND REVENGE

Ansa fidelis

5.0
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SYNOPSIS Elena's life is turned upside down in the middle of a busy European metropolis when her parents pass away in an unexplained tragedy that she thinks was planned by wealthy and troubled tycoon Giovanni Delacroix. Elena breaks into Giovanni's life to destroy him from the inside out, driven by sadness and a fierce desire for vengeance. But as she approaches, she learns truths that make her doubt her commitment and is entangled in a web of deceit, betrayal, and forbidden love. Elena has to choose between sticking to her plan and giving up on it all in the hopes of finding forgiveness as she struggles with her developing emotions for the guy she vowed to destroy. Can Elena's love last in a society where lies and power reign, or will her need for retribution devour them both?

Chapter 1 BETRAYAL'S SHADOWS

My mother's cries could still be heard echoing through the walls of our once quiet house on the day my life fell apart.

When it occurred, I was seventeen years old, old enough to comprehend but too young to handle it. Love was a constant presence in our little Milanese abode, where it existed in every nook and cranny, right up until that evening.

I couldn't believe that a few sheets of paper might spell the end of all I had ever known as I gazed at the police report in shaking hands. The sentences became hazy, but Giovanni De Luca's name was crystal clear.

The millionaire whose business prospered as my family was falling apart. They said it was an accident and that the explosion in the plant where my father worked was caused by the carelessness of his firm. However, mishaps did not result in girls becoming orphans or moms crying.

After the burial, I saw my mother slowly deteriorate into a shadow of the person she used to be. Her sorrow was a poison that consumed every fiber of her body until she was reduced to a shell.

And then she was gone too, six months later; her heart had just given out. The physicians stated as much. I was aware of this better. Similar to how he had stolen my father, Giovanni De Luca had taken her from me.

My existence became a chilly, spiteful murmur. I vowed to myself every night in the dark to make him pay as I muttered his name. He would suffer just like I had. And I would take everything from him when the time was perfect.

My strategy was straightforward: I would get to know him, infiltrate his life, and then surprise him with a surprise attack. However, Giovanni was not a guy that nobody like me could approach.

I had to change into someone he would see and find irresistible.

So I made all of my changes. His name was a byword for power in New York, so I came here from Milan. I adopted a new persona that was the farthest thing from the distraught daughter. I turned into Elena Rossi, a lady who made her way in the circles dominated by guys such as Giovanni.

I trained myself how to talk confidently when I didn't feel confident, to walk in high heels, and to smile when all I wanted to do was cry.

Before long, I managed to get his attention. A fortuitous meeting at a benefit event-I ensured it. Across the packed room, our eyes locked, and I saw the spark of curiosity in his gaze. Giovanni was tall, dark, and very attractive.

He exuded confidence and power, causing others to clam up whenever he walked into a room. He was everything I had imagined a guy to be. However, I also saw something else that chilled my blood. He was very vicious.

I did my part well, laughing at his jokes, acting delighted by his attention, and allowing him to believe he was in charge.

Notwithstanding, each time he made contact with my hand or moved in close to mutter something in my ear, I had to remind myself of my drive.

A week later, he asked me to dinner at this ultra-exclusive restaurant that didn't even have a name. With towering floor-to-ceiling windows allowing in the shining of city lights, we were seated in a private room.

Giovanni was amiable and focused, and I detested every minute of it.

However, I had to concede that he was proficient at the game. Had I not known any better, I may have thought he was interested in me.

"Elena, you're unlike other women I've met," he said, his voice silky and low. "I'm intrigued by something about you."

With a knot in my gut, I faked a grin. "Mr. De Luca, I could say the same thing about you."

He urged, reaching across the table to hold my hand, "Please, call me Giovanni." I had to battle the impulse to withdraw away from his warm touch.

I spoke it again, "Giovanni," feeling his name weighing heavily on my tongue. I was clutching his hand as if I didn't want to break it, yet here was the guy who had ruined my life.

The evening flew by with deliberate words and grins. I was tired by the time he escorted me to my apartment, but I also knew that I couldn't afford to down my guard.

As soon as we got to my door, Giovanni stated, "I had a wonderful time tonight, Elena." "I'm hoping we can do this soon again."

I forced myself to look him in the eye and nodded. "That would be nice."

With his lips grazing my cheek, he leaned in. Though it was a soft, even compassionate motion, my spine tingled with disgust. When he withdrew, I smiled on the inside, but I was screaming.

I fell into my bed as soon as he left, the mask I had been wearing all night coming off. Tears that I hadn't let fall for years started to seep into the cushion under my head.

This was only the start. I told myself that again. Giovanni De Luca would have to pay for his actions, but not before I got near enough to kill him.

Though it was a chilly consolation, the notion was enough to stop the tears from streaming down my cheeks.

I was going to be his undoing, the shadow following him everywhere and the voice in the darkness reminding him of what he'd done. And I would see his world fall apart around him when the time came.

However, while I lay there in the darkness, an unwanted and unwanted notion entered my mind. Giovanni was a guy, not simply a monster. A guy with hopes, anxieties, and maybe regrets.

Even though I wanted to despise him, there was a little, cunning part of me that couldn't help but wonder whether there was more to him than I'd let myself believe.

I dismissed the idea, feeling ashamed of myself for ever considering it. This had nothing further to do with retaliation. I refused to let anything or anybody else influence me.

But the question remained in the back of my mind, tempting me with its possibilities, even as I closed my eyes and slept.

What if Giovanni wasn't the evil character I had portrayed him as? What if there was a guy under the surface who was just as shattered as I was?

And what if I lost myself in the process of getting my retribution?

I needed to concentrate on the current work, but the solutions will eventually surface. I would make Giovanni De Luca pay for stealing everything from me. However, as I learned more about his society, I came to see that nothing was as easy as I had previously believed.

And I knew that the worst was yet to come when the distinctions between hatred and love started to become more hazy.

I could only fight the rage that had kept me going for so long, even as it started to dim and flicker. After all, the only thing that might have been more hazardous than retaliation was the chance that I might decide I didn't want it after all.

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Chapters
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BEYOND REVENGE
1

Chapter 1 BETRAYAL'S SHADOWS

04/09/2024

2

Chapter 2 A TIGHTENING TRAP

04/09/2024

3

Chapter 3 UNDER THE SURFACE

04/09/2024

4

Chapter 4 DISTURBED BELIEFS

04/09/2024

5

Chapter 5 A DIFFERENT GOAL

04/09/2024

6

Chapter 6 INTO THE LION'S DEN

04/09/2024

7

Chapter 7 A DEADLY SNARE

04/09/2024

8

Chapter 8 SECRET VIEWS

04/09/2024

9

Chapter 9 THE DISSECTING

04/09/2024

10

Chapter 10 SHADOW OF DANGER

04/09/2024

11

Chapter 11 THERE'S NO WAY OUT

04/09/2024

12

Chapter 12 DARK SHADOWS

04/09/2024

13

Chapter 13 THE EDGE OF DECEPTION

11/09/2024

14

Chapter 14 THE TIP THAT BREAKS

11/09/2024

15

Chapter 15 UNRAVELING

11/09/2024

16

Chapter 16 THE CONSEQUENCES

11/09/2024

17

Chapter 17 A THIN LINE THAT SEPARATE HATRED AND LOVE

11/09/2024

18

Chapter 18 BROKEN BONDS

11/09/2024

19

Chapter 19 A HINT OF HOPE

11/09/2024

20

Chapter 20 TORN BETWEEN TWO WORLDS

11/09/2024

21

Chapter 21 ILLUSIONS AND DOUBT

12/09/2024

22

Chapter 22 BROKEN PROMISES

12/09/2024

23

Chapter 23 A SOUR TASTE OF REALITY

12/09/2024

24

Chapter 24 THE CORE OF BETRAYAL

12/09/2024

25

Chapter 25 THE MEETING OF SECRETS

12/09/2024

26

Chapter 26 THE PERFECT TRAP

15/09/2024

27

Chapter 27 THE MASK STARTS TO COME OFF

15/09/2024

28

Chapter 28 QUIET BEFORE THE STORM

15/09/2024

29

Chapter 29 THE DISSECTING

15/09/2024

30

Chapter 30 THE BREAKING POINT

15/09/2024

31

Chapter 31 THE COST OF COMMITMENT

15/09/2024

32

Chapter 32 THE REALIZATION

15/09/2024

33

Chapter 33 FALLOUT

15/09/2024

34

Chapter 34 BRAND-NEW STARTS

15/09/2024

35

Chapter 35 REMNANTS OF THE PAST

16/09/2024

36

Chapter 36 THE UNCHARTED SEA

16/09/2024

37

Chapter 37 UNVEILING THE DANGER

16/09/2024

38

Chapter 38 THE MERCHANDISE EXCHANGE

18/09/2024

39

Chapter 39 THE CONCLUDING DISCUSSION

18/09/2024

40

Chapter 40 NEW BEGINNINGS

18/09/2024