The Coldhearted Don And His Powerful Queen

For five years, I bled for my fiancée, Elena. I drained my personal accounts to settle her family's ruinous debts and built a fortified estate to keep her safe from rival mafia families.

But as I stood at the altar, she video-called me from a hotel in Iceland, demanding I cancel the ceremony.

She was busy comforting Julian, a manipulative parasite who faked panic attacks to keep her attention. She had previously slapped our marriage papers from my hand, refusing to sign them because it would upset him.

"You are choosing your mafia pride over a victim's sanity."

Watching her bleed with sympathy for a fraud, the warmth I held for her for five years drained out of me like water from a cracked vessel.

She smiled smugly through the screen, completely certain that my love was an infinite resource she could exploit forever, believing I would never have the guts to abandon her.

So, I didn't cancel the ceremony. I turned to the woman standing beside me-Celeste, the ruthless heiress of the Sinclair syndicate.

"I do."

I married Celeste, merged our syndicates, and when Elena later embezzled three million dollars from my accounts to buy Julian an art gallery, I didn't protect her.

I transferred her massive debt directly to the unforgiving Sinclair enforcers, permanently blacklisted her number, and left her to face the wolves alone.

Chapter 1

Lucian POV

As the priest posed the question of my vows before the altar of a private cathedral, my phone sent a low, insistent vibration through my breast pocket. It was a video summons from Elena-the woman for whom I had spent the last five years letting blood.

I paid the vibrating device no mind, my gaze fixed upon the massive gold cross. Beside me, Celeste, the Sinclair heiress, whispered, "Say the words now and merge our syndicates, or I will have my enforcers put a torch to every holding you have."

I stared forward, the muscles of my face utterly still. A knot of muscle worked in my throat; I swallowed the faint, metallic taste of bile and then uttered the two dry words. "I do."

The priest, recovering his composure, hastened through the remainder of the blessing.

Celeste turned to me. No smile touched her lips. She simply held out her hand, and upon her finger I set the heavy gold ring, an act that sealed our pact.

We proceeded down the aisle and into the sacristy behind the main hall. The air in the secluded chamber was heavy with the scent of old wood and candle wax.

My phone vibrated again-a second attempt. I drew it from my pocket and answered. The screen showed Elena, reclining upon a hotel bed in Iceland beside another man, issuing her fifth demand that I cancel the wedding.

Elena looked annoyed. She brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and let the camera drift toward Julian, who was curled up under a heavy blanket, his eyes squeezed shut in a crude and unconvincing display of agony.

"Lucian, Julian is having another episode," Elena said, her voice weighted with that familiar, demanding tone. "I cannot come back. Postpone the ceremony. Send your Capos home."

A fortnight ago, precisely, we had stood in my penthouse. I had watched her pack her bags for this very journey. I had drained my personal accounts to settle the ruinous debts her family left behind, and I had built a fortified estate on the hillside for the sole purpose of keeping her safe from rival families.

"We are to be married in two weeks, Elena," I had told her then, standing in the doorway of our bedroom. "My men are flying in. The Family expects this union."

"Julian's therapist said the geothermal springs in Iceland will help his trauma," she had argued, tossing a silk dress without care into her suitcase. "You know he is broken, Lucian. I've told you before-his brother was crippled saving my life during the Moretti-Bianchi turf war. I owe him a blood debt."

"Sign the marriage papers before you leave," I had insisted, offering her a pen and the legal documents. "It solidifies your position. It gives you protection."

She had slapped the pen from my hand. It made a sharp clatter against the hardwood floor, the sound stark in the tense silence.

"Why are you forcing this?" she had yelled, her face a dark flush of anger. "If we legalize it now, it will mentally break Julian. He feels he is losing his only support. You are choosing your mafia pride over a victim's sanity."

Watching her bleed with sympathy for a parasite, a hollow space opened in my chest. The warmth I had held for her for five years drained out of me like water from a cracked vessel. I had looked at the pen on the floor, then at her defiant face, and in that moment, I coldly agreed to cancel the paperwork.

Now, standing in the sacristy, where the stained glass cast dull red stains upon the cold flagstones, I looked down at the video call, pulling my thoughts back to the present.

"The ceremony is done," I said, and my voice struck the vaulted ceiling of the small chamber, returning to me in a faint echo.

Elena frowned on the screen. "What are you doing? What is that noise? Who is that woman standing next to you?"

I lifted the phone and let the camera capture the bridal bouquet lying discarded upon a table, the secluded room, and Celeste. Celeste wore a sleek, tailored white dress. Her posture was perfectly straight. She was the heiress of the Sinclair syndicate-a woman who commanded respect with a single, cool glance.

"A small jest," I said evenly to the screen.

I pressed the red button, and the screen went dark. The call ended. I opened my settings and permanently blacklisted her number, severing my ties as her protector.

Celeste picked up a glass of warm water from the table and handed it to me. "Are your loose ends tied?" she asked. Her voice was smooth, but her eyes were sharp, calculating every detail of my posture.

"Yes." I took the glass, the warmth of it seeping into my palms.

"This is an arranged marriage, Lucian. An alliance," Celeste said, stepping closer to smooth the lapel of my suit. "I tolerate no messy liabilities from my partners. If that woman brings chaos to our legitimate fronts, I will handle her my way."

"The merger of our fronts is finalized," I assured her, drinking the water. It soothed the chronic, burning pain in my stomach. "We are ready to execute the takeover tomorrow."

My phone vibrated again. It was a verification request from a social media account belonging to Julian. In the note attached, Elena had typed a vicious message using his profile: You hired an actress to make me jealous? You are pathetic. I will never marry you now.

I stared at the words. I felt no anger. I searched for the familiar, burning sensation that had plagued my stomach for years in her presence and was surprised to find it had, for the first time, subsided.

I flatly rejected the request and, with my thumb, typed a quick command to my syndicate security team: Flag this account. Block all access to my personal network.

I put the phone in my pocket and looked at my new wife. "Let us go home. We have a takeover to execute, and I want Elena to wake up to a world where she no longer exists on my ledgers."

Celeste held my gaze for a long moment, then allowed herself the faintest smile. "Then let's make sure her morning is very, very quiet."