From Unwanted Wife To Unreachable Queen

as the day I started planning my death. Not a literal one, but

a child. But with his new fiancée, Sofia, on his arm, he began to erase me. H

he diary where I conf

e'd spat. "Do not ever

shed his mouth onto mine, his hands roamin

name that escaped

fia

ay in horror. He wasn't horrified by his betrayal

I had kept hidden like a prayer. I called my estranged father and booked a one-way tick

pte

ra

ed his engagement was the day

s the death of Elara Vane, the girl w

man I'd loved since I was a child-and if I didn't run,

, the cursor a blinking execution

other. Then

erialized: A

wa

asing every photo, every file, ever

'd found me crying in the dark, terrified of the monsters under my bed. He'd plugged it

was the

ear. I had to get out. Out of the Moretti manor, out of New York, out of his

hand. I scrolled to a numb

Vane. M

ce before h

hesitant, laced with

own voice tight. "

is it? Is ever

sily on my tongue. "I've been accep

r was real, a secret I'd kept clutched to my c

ds coming out stronger than I f

e. Elara, of course. I'll handle everything. Tuition, a place to live... anything you need. It's time. I

a shield for my broken heart. "To Sofia Gallo. It's... it's not approp

d raw with a father's protective anger. "

the fire of my resolve. I didn't need pity.

nto my bathroom and stared

way Dante liked it. He'd once told me he loved the

e scissors fro

Snip

iling up like dead things. When I was don

ze the person st

o

hase I'd never had. My hands shook as I lit the first one, the smoke scratching m

ritual. A

y very soul, an exorcism that hurt m

hand, I walked towards his office at the e

-to-ceiling window overlooking the estate. He was on th

ed to say. A role I had so foo

his usual business calls. He answered

ound so gentle, so full of warmth, I had never h

idden by t

ou like it... No, don't worry about a thing. It's our engage

ical blow, knocking t

heart into a leather-bound diary, filling it with every secret hope, every w

fury in his eyes was a storm I'd never seen before. He'd ripped the diary in half

m your guardian. The Don of this family. I took you in when your father a

Do not ever confuse my protection with somet

aving the sharp edges of

e, to the manor. He'd stood before me, hi

Gallo. My fiancée. You

st

The love I thought was growing between us was just his control, his owner

ing to him murmur sweet nothings t

st inferno and cooled into somet

i

e one to burn

I lifted my gaze, the heartbreak was gone. In its place was a chilling stil

me myself, and I would leav