Betrayed by the people she trusted the most, Valeria Montoya's world crumbles when her sister steals her fiancé and frames her for a crime she didn't commit. Sentenced to prison for a crime she never committed, she is released years later only to face a harsher fate-her own family sells her to the most dangerous mafia boss in Mexico, Rafael DeLuca. Feared by his enemies and worshipped by his allies, Rafael has no time for love. But when Valeria enters his world, something about her fragile strength intrigues him. What starts as a cruel arrangement soon turns into an obsession. Valeria wants revenge. Rafael wants her. And in the middle of a brutal mafia war, hearts will be shattered, loyalties will be tested, and love will be the most dangerous game of all. Will Valeria break free from her past, or will she become the mafia's captive bride forever?
BOOM!
And then the gavel hit the judge's desk, sealing her fate.
Valeria Montoya froze in the center of the sprawling courtroom, her heart pounding against her rib cage as the words rang in her ears.
"For crimes against the Montoya Corporation, Ms. Valeria Montoya is sentenced to two years in federal prison."
Gurgles of horror spread through the audience, but the reaction that knifed home was the monied grin creasing the mouth of the woman sitting next to Valeria's father.
Catalina.
Her younger sister. Her own flesh and blood.
Wearing a sleek black gown that hugged her shape, Catalina leaned against Alonso, Valeria's would-be fiancé. Alonso gave her a side-eye and placed a chaste kiss on Catalina's forehead, intertwining his fingers between her own.
Valeria's stomach turned inside out.
This wasn't happening.
"Father," she choked out, turning to the man she had always admired, hoping - praying - that he would stand up for her.
But Don Hector Montoya - one of the most powerful men in Mexico - merely pulled at his cufflinks and stared at her coolly, without emotion.
"You let me down, Valeria." His voice was cutting, like a knife. "You deserve this."
No. No, no, no.
"I didn't do this!" Valeria shouted, turning to the judge. "I was framed! I would never steal from the company!"
The guards were already coming her way.
"You have to believe me!" she wept, scanning the room for a friendly face. There was none.
"Take her away," the judge ordered.
Arms, clamped and hauling her back.
"No! Let me go!" She fought it, her eyes stinging with unshed tears. "Alonso, tell 'em the truth!"
Her former fiancé didn't so much as glance at her. He simply loomed next to Catalina with his arm protectively slung around her waist.
That was when it hit her.
They had planned this.
Her own sister had snatched away her fiancé, framed her, and ultimately made sure that she was deleted from the Montoya clan.
As the guards pulled her from the courtroom, Valeria would lock eyes once more with Catalina.
The woman she had once known - the sister she had once loved - smiled.
And then, in the coldest, most bone-chilling voice, Catalina said:
"Stay in prison, dear sister. It suits you."
Prison: Two Years Later
The cell was damp. Cold. Suffocating.
For two years, Valeria had resided in this hellhole, suffering mocking, abuse and the daily reminder that her family had forsaken her.
They never visited.
They never sent letters.
In their eyes, she was already dead.
As she lay staring at the ceiling, facing cracks for the hundredth time, her fingers curled into fists.
Then she heard the sound of heavy boots clumping down the hallway.
A guard came and unlocked the cell. "Get up, Montoya. Time to go."
Go?
Her heart leaped. Was she being released?
Weak from malnutrition, she stood and followed the guard down a dimly lit hall.
When he opened the door, she thought, her father would be standing there, arms wide with the ultimate realization that he had been wrong.
But instead...
She saw strangers.
Next to a sleek dark car were three men dressed in black suits. One of them - a muscly guy with a scar down the side of his face - walked over to her, holding a folded piece of paper.
"Sign this," he ordered.
She glanced at the paper. It was a contract.
A marriage contract.
Her blood ran cold. "What is this?"
The man's dark eyes glinted. "Your father sold you."
Valeria's throat constricted with unexpected breath.
No. No, he wouldn't...
Would he?
The man leaned closer, lowered his voice to a whisper. "You belong to Rafael DeLuca now."
Her pulse stopped.
Mexico's most dangerous mafia boss.
The man who had set whole empires on fire.
Her new husband.
And she suddenly understood - prison had merely opened the door to her nightmare.
Who is Rafael DeLuca, and why did he purchase Valeria?
Chapter 1 The Betrayal
26/03/2025
Chapter 2 Sold to the Devil
26/03/2025
Chapter 3 The Devil's Cage
26/03/2025
Chapter 4 The Devil Is Binding You
26/03/2025
Chapter 5 The Prisoner's Will
26/03/2025
Chapter 6 Prisoners of Truth
26/03/2025
Chapter 7 Playing with Fire
26/03/2025
Chapter 8 Blood and Allegiance
26/03/2025
Chapter 9 A Deal with the Devil
26/03/2025
Chapter 10 A Cage Without a Key
27/03/2025
Chapter 11 No Place To Run
27/03/2025
Chapter 12 The Brink of Giving In
27/03/2025
Chapter 13 The Doubts
30/03/2025
Chapter 14 The Crack Start to Show
30/03/2025
Chapter 15 Shadows of Deception
30/03/2025
Chapter 16 The Ties That Strangle
30/03/2025
Chapter 17 The Breaking Point
30/03/2025
Chapter 18 Shadows of Deception
30/03/2025
Chapter 19 Making a Deal with the Devil
30/03/2025
Chapter 20 The Web Comes Undone
30/03/2025
Chapter 21 The Last Move
30/03/2025
Chapter 22 Unfinished Business
30/03/2025
Chapter 23 The Breaking Point
30/03/2025
Chapter 24 The Debt of Blood
30/03/2025
Chapter 25 The Last Hunt
30/03/2025
Chapter 26 Blood and Betrayal
30/03/2025
Chapter 27 The Rough Reprisal
30/03/2025
Chapter 28 Blood and Consequences
30/03/2025
Chapter 29 The Ones That Comes Before
30/03/2025
Chapter 30 The Hunt begins
30/03/2025
Chapter 31 The Shadow Code
30/03/2025
Chapter 32 The Lion's Den
30/03/2025
Chapter 33 Echoes of History
30/03/2025
Chapter 34 The Last Move
30/03/2025
Chapter 35 Blood and Betrayal
30/03/2025
Chapter 36 Because Vengeance Shall Have Its Burden
30/03/2025
Chapter 37 Rogue of Intent
30/03/2025
Chapter 38 The Mask of Loyalty
30/03/2025
Chapter 39 Blood & Betrayal
30/03/2025
Chapter 40 The Last Judgment
30/03/2025