Chapter: The Past Made PerfectThe Meyer ancestral home in Oregon had never looked more magnificent. Tucked among ancient evergreens, its stone facade and sprawling verandas welcomed guests from across generations. The garden, once a tranquil haven, now bloomed in full festive splendor, transformed into a grand setting for the celebration of Leonora Meyer’s 90th birthday.Orchids and peonies formed elegant arches, and fairy lights wove through ivy-covered trellises. Dozens of round tables covered in ivory linens dotted the lawn, each decorated with crystal centerpieces and name cards written in calligraphy. A quartet played soft jazz near the pond while servers in white moved gracefully with trays of hors d'oeuvres.Inside, the house buzzed with anticipation. Family portraits lined the hallway, sepia photographs of pioneers, sepia giving way to vibrant color as generations passed. It was a house filled with stories, and today, another story was about to be written.Leonora, regal in a deep green gown that shimmered
Last Updated: 2025-05-18
Chapter: Unwritten YesterdaysAlice bolted awake as the alarm blared beside her. She groggily reached for her phone, squinting at the screen."What?!" she gasped. “2025? Not 2024?”Confused, she shot up from the bed and looked around. She wasn’t in her usual bedroom. Instead, she lay on a luxurious bed inside a grand room with an enormous walk-in closet filled with designer clothes and limited-edition shoes, everything looked like it belonged in a glossy magazine spread for the ultra-rich.Before she could gather her thoughts, a knock came at the door.A woman in her mid-thirties, wearing a sleek, modern maid’s uniform, stepped inside."Miss Alice, your breakfast is ready," she said with a polite smile."Breakfast?" Alice blinked at her in confusion.The woman gestured, and two younger maids entered, carrying trays laden with food. They headed straight to a table on the balcony and began setting up what looked like a royal feast."Just ring the bell when you're finished. You have a busy schedule ahead," the older m
Last Updated: 2025-05-05
Chapter: The Return HomeTwo days later, Samuel and Emily boarded a plane bound for the United States. With them, they carried not only memories of Africa, but a child they had vowed to protect.Emily still hadn’t figured out how to face her parents. Her grief over losing her brother and sister-in-law was fresh, raw. She stared out the window of the plane, silent.Samuel squeezed her hand. “We’ll get through this, Em.”She nodded, her voice barely a whisper. “I just… I wish I had said goodbye to them.”“They knew you loved them,” he said gently. “And Cole will know who they were. We’ll make sure of it.”Before leaving, Samuel had written a letter to his parents:Mom, Dad—I’m coming home for good.I’ve decided to leave the front lines behind and live a quieter life in the States.I hope I’ll still make you proud, even from the small corner of the world I’ll be working in.Love,Samuel.Leonora wept when she read the letter. Holding it to her chest, she whispered a prayer of thanks. Then, looking to the garden
Last Updated: 2025-05-01
Chapter: The Future RewrittenAlice gasped awake.Pain stabbed through her shoulder, but the fire in her veins was dying, no, burning away. Her blood shimmered faintly, glowing beneath her skin like liquid light. The poisoned arrow that should have ended her life sizzled out, the toxins neutralized by something ancient and wild inside her. Her healing power, once weak, unstable, had awakened fully, sparked by danger and Samuel’s sacrifice.She rolled to her knees beneath the bench. The air was thick with smoke. Gunfire echoed like thunder across the clinic grounds.“Samuel,” she whispered. But he was gone. So was the noise.Too quiet.Alice staggered to her feet, gripping the bench for balance. She stumbled toward the clinic, and froze.Shattered walls. Blood was smeared on the floor and doors. Flies already swarmed the broken windows.Inside, everyone was dead.Mike. Suzanne. The guards. Patients, even the elderly man who always handed out fruit to the children. All gunned down. Bullet holes pocked the walls and f
Last Updated: 2025-04-29
Chapter: In the Shadow of the RebellionAlice found herself staring at the thermometer that a young doctor had just pulled from her mouth.“She doesn’t have a fever,” said a young woman beside him after glancing at the reading.“Where am I?” Alice asked, her eyes scanning the sparse, humid room. Her gaze stopped on the young woman beside the doctor, and her breath caught.“Grandma!” she blurted, suddenly sitting up, eyes wide.The young woman stepped back, startled. She was beautiful, graceful even in her confusion. “My name’s Emily,” she said slowly, studying Alice like she’d grown a second head. Do I look that old? she wondered, frowning slightly.“I’m sorry. I just… had a strange dream,” Alice muttered, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment.Emily exchanged a glance with the young doctor.“Brother, could it be…?” she whispered.“She doesn’t seem crazy,” he replied in a hushed tone.“I can hear you, Doctor…” Alice said pointedly. She glanced at the nameplates pinned to their uniforms. “Doctor Stevens and Nurse Stevens,” s
Last Updated: 2025-04-29
Chapter: The Choice Between RoadsThe next day, the world felt heavier to Alice, though the sky outside was clear and bright.She sat on the edge of her bed, legs tucked underneath her, staring at the small patch of sun that pooled on her carpet. The light was warm against her skin, but a knot of sadness remained inside her, tangled tightly around something new, a quiet understanding.They gave me all the love that I needed, like a real mother and father, she thought, her hands resting limp in her lap. Alyssa and Cole weren't perfect, but they'd been everything she needed growing up. Every band-aid, every bedtime story, every small moment that stitched a childhood together, it had been them.Her anger wasn't really directed at them, she realized. It wasn't even anger, not truly. It was grief for a piece of her identity that had been hidden away. A missing corner of a puzzle she hadn't known she was even assembling.With a heavy sigh, Alice stood up. Her decision was made. --- The house looked just as it always had, w
Last Updated: 2025-04-29
Chains of Velvet, Heart of Fire
She was auctioned like an object, bought like a secret, and caged like a sin.
After a brutal betrayal by the people she trusted most, Seraphina Vale is left drowning in debt and despair—until she’s sold at an underground auction to the one man every criminal fears: Lucien Marchesi, the ruthless head of a powerful mafia empire. Cold. Controlled. Deadly. The world assumes she’ll be discarded like the others who came before her. But Seraphina isn't a lamb sent to slaughter.
She’s a lioness in velvet chains—calm, calculating, and waiting for her moment.
Lucien didn’t expect her fire. She didn’t expect his scars. What begins as a twisted game of control and survival becomes something far more dangerous: emotion. As secrets unravel and obsession burns into something deeper, Seraphina edges dangerously close to what she swore she’d never feel again—trust. Love. Want.
But she hasn’t forgotten her mission. Lucien was supposed to be her weapon, not her salvation. And when her revenge explodes into reality, both hearts will shatter under the weight of betrayal.
Until he asks the one question that changes everything:
“Have you ever loved me?”
Chains of Velvet, Heart of Fire is a gripping dark mafia romance about love born from power, loyalty forged in fire, and two broken souls who dared to rewrite their fate. Perfect for fans of morally gray heroes, twist-filled emotional sagas, and heroines who take their power back—beautifully, mercilessly, and on their own terms.
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Chapter: Chapter 154The hearth crackled within the Montenegro estate’s grand hall, its fire flickering across antique portraits and velvet drapery. The air was thick with the scent of sandalwood and something older, dust, perhaps, or forgotten sorrow. The place stood mostly untouched since the day Seraphina had been taken from it.She knew every corner of this estate.Even now, after so many years, she felt the ghost of her younger self walking its halls. Back when she had thought herself a Vale. Back when her mother Mireille was still alive and Vale Sr. had smiled like a benevolent guardian.Lucien stood beside her, taking in the cold grandeur. But he didn’t look to the tapestries or the hand-carved staircase. He watched her. He could feel the weight of it all pressing against her chest like a hand she couldn’t swat away.“Are you sure you want to do this here?” he asked.Her eyes were fixed on the oil painting above the fireplace, a portrait of a young girl on horseback. It was her younger self, happy,
Last Updated: 2025-08-01
Chapter: Chapter 153The ash cloud from the Citadel fire still clung to the night sky when the first Interpol helicopters arrived. Their rotors sliced the silence above the mountains, casting long shadows across the scorched ruins. Among them, one chopper bore the seal of the agency’s international division, and inside sat Director François Duval, flanked by his elite team. His face was drawn, hardened by decades of hunting syndicates through paper trails and whispers.Below, the extraction team led by Elian ushered Lucien, Seraphina, Valeria, and the others to a secure perimeter near the evacuation outpost. Everyone bore the signs of war, scorched clothing, bruised skin, and exhaustion that clung to their bones.Duval stepped onto the field as Lucien approached. The two men exchanged a silent nod of recognition. They had never met face-to-face, but their names had passed through enough redacted reports to forge an unspoken understanding.“You have something for me,” Duval said.Lucien handed him the secu
Last Updated: 2025-07-31
Chapter: Chapter 152The speaker above them crackled again, and this time the voice came clearer. Older now, more weathered, but unmistakable.“Marchesi. Always the last to learn.”Lucien turned toward the source, jaw clenched. Seraphina’s hand tightened over Valeria’s shoulder as the little girl’s calm expression finally cracked.“I know that voice,” Seraphina whispered.Another voice joined the line, colder and slicker, sharp with mockery.“I’m touched you remember me, stepdaughter. Even after all the things I did to save you.”Gabe Vale Sr.Lucien’s eyes darkened, and even Matteo looked up from the panel with a curse under his breath.“You,” Seraphina breathed. “You’re alive.”The speakers laughed together. Caine’s voice was lower, amused. Vale Sr.’s was cruel.“You shouldn’t be surprised, darling. Did you really think I’d let a little chaos ruin the legacy I built?”“You destroyed everything,” she hissed.Vale Sr. clicked his tongue. “I built everything. You, included. From the moment I gave you my na
Last Updated: 2025-07-29
Chapter: Chapter 151The name lingered in the air long after Elian’s voice faded from the comms.Valeria.Lucien didn’t move. His knuckles whitened around the edge of the map table, eyes fixed on the flickering satellite overlay of the Citadel. Behind him, the others stood in silence, the same disbelief echoing between them all.Seraphina stepped closer, the wind catching her hair as it drifted through the open hatch of the transport. Her gaze never left Lucien.“They named her after your mother,” she said softly.“She’s not my mother,” Lucien replied, voice low. “She’s not even Valeria.”“Maybe not,” Vincenzo muttered, arms crossed. “But someone wanted you to hear that name again for a reason.”Matteo stood over the encrypted file, the remnants of Allegra’s last transmission still loaded on the monitor. He adjusted his glasses and looked toward the others.“There’s no mistake. The file names, the comm logs, even some of the training reports refer to her only as Valeria. But there’s no record of a last na
Last Updated: 2025-07-27
Chapter: Chapter 150The silence in the archive room deepened as the grainy video replayed. Matteo froze the screen on the face of the child, dark eyes, unflinching expression, the posture of someone trained to expect betrayal. The girl couldn’t have been more than eight years old, but she sat like a soldier waiting for orders.Lucien stood behind him, arms folded, watching every flicker of static.“She’s not one of ours,” Matteo said quietly. “She’s something else.”Elian stepped forward, face shadowed. “The name coded into the clip matches a file we’ve seen before. Project Rosaria. An operation launched by the Codex almost twelve years ago. They were grooming children to inherit the next generation of mafia bloodlines.”Seraphina leaned against the wall, her jaw tight. “You’re saying they created heirs. Not just informants or spies.”Elian nodded. “They took orphans, paid off families, or even kidnapped infants. Placed them with influential criminal clans across Europe. Most were failures or killed. But
Last Updated: 2025-07-27
Chapter: Chapter 149The night around Palazzo Marchesi was hushed, but not calm. There was a kind of stillness in the air that seemed too calculated, as if the earth was holding its breath in anticipation. Inside the estate, the war room remained dimly lit, glowing faintly from a map that had long stopped being about terrain and had become a web of loyalty, lies, and blood.Lucien stood by the window, his eyes on the dark garden below. Behind him, Seraphina flipped through the coded pages from Valeria’s journal. Her fingers paused on a familiar sketch, one that reminded her not of her past, but of Lucio’s.He had drawn the same symbol two weeks ago. A pattern he claimed came from a dream. They hadn’t known then it was also the crest of an extinct Codex sect.Seraphina exhaled slowly. “They’re trying again. I feel it.”Lucien didn’t answer. His stillness was agreement enough.Just then, the door opened. Elian stepped in, phone in hand. His expression was controlled, but the urgency in his stride betrayed h
Last Updated: 2025-07-25
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