FAZER LOGIN# IRIS'S POV #"Are you always this dull, or am I just noticing it now?"Mira’s voice cut through the suffocating silence like a blade. She leaned back in her chair, twirling a silver fork between her fingers, her eyes fixed on Sandy with a look of pure, unfiltered boredom. "And who exactly told you my brother would be getting married to you?"Sandy’s face went from pale to a blotchy, indignant red. She slammed her palms onto the white linen tablecloth, making the crystal glasses rattle. "What? We all know that! It’s been the arrangement for years. We all know I’m supposed to be his wife... right, Vincenzo?"She turned a desperate, pleading gaze toward the head of the table. I followed her look, my heart hammering against my ribs, waiting for the patriarch to confirm the death warrant on my heart.But Vincenzo didn't even look up. He was meticulously cutting into a piece of blood-red steak, his movements slow and calm. He acted as if Sandy were nothing more than a buzzing fly in the
# IRIS'S POV #"Are you always this dull, or am I just noticing it now?"Mira’s voice cut through the suffocating silence like a blade. She leaned back in her chair, twirling a silver fork between her fingers, her eyes fixed on Sandy with a look of pure, unfiltered boredom. "And who exactly told you my brother would be getting married to you?"Sandy’s face went from pale to a blotchy, indignant red. She slammed her palms onto the white linen tablecloth, making the crystal glasses rattle. "What? We all know that! It’s been the arrangement for years. We all know I’m supposed to be his wife... right, Vincenzo?"She turned a desperate, pleading gaze toward the head of the table. I followed her look, my heart hammering against my ribs, waiting for the patriarch to confirm the death warrant on my heart.But Vincenzo didn't even look up. He was meticulously cutting into a piece of blood-red steak, his movements slow and calm. He acted as if Sandy were nothing more than a buzzing fly in the
[ IRIS’S POV ]"Good morning, Mr. Moretti," I said, my voice holding steady despite the hammering of my heart.He moved closer, his footsteps silent on the expensive rug. He stopped just inches away, his cold, calculating gaze tracing every line of my face as if he were looking for a flaw in a piece of property he’d just acquired.I looked from him to the memory of Salvatore’s face. The resemblance was striking, but the energy was different. Salvatore was a fire that could burn you, Vincenzo was the ice that would freeze you to death without a second thought.What is the deal with this father and son? I wondered. They both looked at me with the same terrifying intensity, like I was the only variable in an equation they had already solved."You look like my wife," Vincenzo said, his voice a low rasp that made the hair on my arms stand up. No wonder my son is bent on making you his.”“I’m not a replacement, Mr. Moretti.” I didn’t like the way he looked at me, as if he were measuring me a
[ IRIS’S POV ]I felt a bitter taste in my mouth, like neem and ash. How much of my life had she sold? How many of my secrets had she delivered behind my back while I thought she was the only one I could trust?She reached the spot where we stood, her movements smooth and professional. She bowed her head in a shallow, respectful greeting."Boss. Ma’am," she said. Her voice was steady, devoid of the warmth she’d used to trick me for years."Maria," Salvatore called.The name that once sounded friendly now felt like gravel in my ears. I looked away from her immediately, I couldn't stand the sight of her face, the face of a woman who had watched me sleep while reporting to the man who stole me."She will be in charge of your protection here, Iris," Salvatore stated, his tone shifting back to that immovable, icy authority. "And she will tend to your needs, just like before.""No," I cut in, turning sharply to face him. My pulse was thundering in my throat. "I don’t need to be protected, a
[ IRIS’S POV ] I had expected a house. What I found was a kingdom. One the Russos can never get in the years to come, no wonder my father was bent on making his daughter a member of the Morettis ’ household.Now it was so obvious that the maid who took me to the library yesterday intentionally took me through another route. And here I am a silly girl thinking I have the fortress lines at the back of my head. I’m naive just like how Sofia would call me. After the chilling text message about my mother's death. Salvatore led me out of the master suite. For sightseeing stating if I’m going to leave as a Moretti then I need to know things about the household. "Welcome to the heart of the Moretti line," Salvatore said, his voice echoing through the vast, black-marble hallway. As we descended the grand staircase, the house seemed to breathe. This wasn't a home, it was a fortress carved into the very spine of the mountain. Every window was bulletproof glass, every door reinforced steel
[ IRIS’S POV ]I sank onto the edge of the velvet-covered bed and pulled the notebook from my bag. Blank pages. Pencil. It was a small comfort, a tether to the world where I had some control. I began to sketch, not people or landscapes, but the layout of the fortress that I managed to see last night and this afternoon, when I walked down to the library with the help of a maid. I sketched just as I knew it: the bedrooms, the hallways, the balconies, the security cameras Salvatore controlled. I marked possible escape routes, points where I could ask questions without giving away the full measure of my fear.It was only a sketch. But it gave me something Salvatore could never fully predict: thought independent of his control.I had made my way to the library in the afternoon to find something to read. Something that would take my mind off the text but what I saw only fuel my suspicion even more. My mother’s books were there. Arranged neatly in a section of the library.My hands shook as
[ IRIS’S POV ]The knock was soft, hesitant, but it sliced through the heavy fog of sleep like a knife.I groaned, burying my face deeper into the pillow. The night had been long, restless, haunted by memories I couldn’t shake.“Miss Iris?” A voice called gently from outside the door.Maria.I blink
[ SALVATORE’S POV ]Instead of crawling. Instead of begging for his life.He ran.I watched him move, my body perfectly still, my expression as cold as the ground beneath us. It was a pathetic sight, a cornered rat thinking it could outrun the shadow of death. I didn't even have to lift a finger.An
[ IRIS’S POV ] The room was silent for a long moment, save for the ticking of the clock. Sofia looked at me, her eyes narrowing until they were like two chips of blue ice. "He certainly takes an interest in your wardrobe, doesn't he?" she said, her voice dripping with a venom I hadn't heard b
My pulse thundered. My body betrayed me, heat pooling where his touch lingered, even as my mind screamed that I should pull away.“You see?” he whispered. “I didn't lose control, Iris.”His grip tightened just enough to remind me.“I decide. And your body knows who it belongs to.” He said his hold o







