Chapter 3

I shake my head. No.

Again and again, I shake my head, willing this moment to be a nightmare.

But Asher just watches me, his lips curling into a cold, calculated smile. His eyes gleam with amusement as if he’s enjoying the way I’m crumbling before him.

He isn’t speaking. Just watching. Like a predator toying with his prey.

I try to absorb his words, to make sense of them, but they don’t fit. They don’t make sense.

"But you’re married," I whisper, my voice shaking. "You’ve moved on. What are you saying? I don’t understand."

He laughs, low and cold, his mockery slicing through me.

"It looks like you got caught up in your feelings, Ariella." His voice is taunting, cruel.

"I never said I loved you. I never said I was going to marry you. I never even said you had any significance."

My breath catches.

"What I did say," he continues, his tone dripping with venom, "is that you my toy. I am going to use you until there’s nothing left. Until you don’t recognize yourself. Until nobody can recognize you."

He leans forward, his elbows resting on his knees as his dark gaze burns into mine.

"I am going to have fun destroying every piece of you."

Tears sting my eyes. My throat closes up, but I force myself to speak.

"Please don’t hurt me, Asher," I beg. "It’s been years. You’ve already moved on. You have a family now. You’re happy. Please… just forget about me. I'm sorry...."

Another cruel laugh.

"Why the hell would I do that?" He tilts his head, his expression dark.

"I, Asher Romano, of the Romano Empire, am a man of my word. I never go back on my word. And five years ago, I promised to make you regret what you did to me."

His voice drops lower, colder. "And I plan to fulfil that promise., Until the end."

He leans back again, completely at ease.

"You should know by now, Ariella, I never lose and I never back down. Ever."

"But I... it’s been years, I thought...”

“Ariella, five years ago, you thought you could make fun of Asher Romano. Five years ago, you thought you could play with my feelings. And that ends today. I came to collect.”

I feel myself choking on my thoughts.

“I thought you had run away for a better life,” he continues mockingly. “I didn’t expect you would be wearing these rags and living on tips. What happened to Princess Ariella? The one who could have anything? The one who thought she could achieve everything? The life outside the family hasn’t been a walk in the park, has it?"

I have nothing to do but cry, letting the tears fall.

He stands up again and walks toward me. Slowly. Purposefully. When he reaches me, he lifts a hand and wipes a tear from my left cheek. I flinch, but I don’t move.

Then, to my horror, he puts it in his mouth and swallows it down.

“I love the taste of your tears,” he murmurs. “There’s going to be a lot of crying for you in the future.”

His voice is calm, almost gentle. That only makes it worse.

“Now that you’re in my hands, the things I could do to you are endless.”

Panic swells inside me. Leon.

I think of my son. My baby. He needs me. I have to survive this.

I force as much strength into my voice as I can. “I do not belong to the Famiglia anymore. I left years ago, and I’m not going back.”

I take a shaky breath, my voice trembling. “What happened was… I didn't know what I was doing then... I was a teenager. I’m not that person anymore. So please, just let me go.”

Silence.

Then—he laughs. It’s deep. Dark. Amused. He claps his hands together, slow and deliberate. A mocking standing ovation

“That was one hell of a performance,” he says sarcastically.

"Now. Get on your knees."

His voice is filled with command, power, and absolute authority.

I freeze. My mind is at war with itself. Some part of me wants to obey, but—what the hell am I kneeling for?

Is he going to execute me? The thought slips from my lips before I can stop it.

"Are you going to execute me?"

He laughs. Slow. Dark. Twisting his fingers into the last strands of my hair, he plays with it lazily, like a cat toying with a trapped mouse.

"Why would I want to execute you? Especially in such a public setting?" His tone is almost amused. "I mean, think of all the trouble I'd have to go through—concealing everything, dealing with the restaurant, the cleanup. It’d be such a hassle. And you are not worth it."

He leans in, his breath warm against my skin as he whispers, "I could just take you, finish you off, and feed you to my dogs."

A shiver of horror runs through me. My eyes widen with fear, and he chuckles. Then—just like that—his expression shifts again. Cold. Detached.

"On your knees. Little butterfly.."

I hesitate for only a moment before sinking down. What choice do I have?

He looks down at me, playing with my hair, touching my face, running his fingers along my lips as if he’s testing me, toying with me.

My stomach twists with nerves. I don’t know what he wants. I don’t know what he’s going to do.

Desperate, I finally whisper, "What do you want, Asher? What will make you let me go?"

His hand grips my chin, forcing me to look up at him.

"I want a lot of things from you, Ariella." His voice is low, almost gentle. But the words cut deeper.

"I want everything." He leans closer, his grip tightening.

"And I am never letting you go. Not until I take my last breath or you take yours. Because you…"

His eyes burn into mine. "You belong to me."

A sob claws its way up my throat. "I don't understand!" I cry, my voice cracking. "What do you want from me?"

A slow smirk appears on his lips.

"You, Ariella." His tone is cruel. "You have just become one of the many whores at my disposal."

He tilts his head, watching me like a predator savouring its prey. "So… congratulations. You just won the lottery."

I look up at him, my eyes filled with horror.

"What? No. Never!" My voice is shaky but firm. "I would never be that. I've been through too much. Suffered too much. And I have never stooped so low. Not even for you. Not even for you." I shake my head repeatedly.

He only looks amused, his dark eyes glinting with something unreadable as he stares down at me. The contrast is almost laughable—me, on my knees, and him standing tall and powerful above me.

He brushes his fingers across my lips, slow and deliberate."You have no choice."

His voice is calm, but something is terrifying beneath the surface.

"From now on, you have no say. What I say goes." He tilts his head, watching me, waiting for my reaction.

"If the family finds out what you did—if they find out you made a mockery of them, that you purposely destroyed your family's house just so you could run away…" He trails off, studying me. Then, his voice drops, mocking. "And for what? What exactly have you been doing all these years, Ariella? What was the purpose of all that drama..,?"

I shake my head, my breath catching in my throat.

I can’t tell him.

I won’t.