ANMELDENLuciano De Luca’s POV When I returned home that evening, after spending hours at the hospital and finally seeing my father regain consciousness, all I wanted was silence and sleep. The house was unusually still, the servants long gone for the night, the dim lights casting shadows across the marble floors. It should have been peaceful. Instead, Silvia Romano was waiting for me in the living room. A half-empty bottle of wine sat on the table in front of her, along with an abandoned glass. The moment she saw me, she rose unsteadily to her feet, her eyes sharp despite the alcohol, and crossed the room with purpose. “Are you having an affair with Doctor B?” she demanded, her voice cutting through the quiet like a blade. I stopped in my tracks, irritation immediately settling into my bones. This was not the first time she had thrown that accusation at me, and it was growing more tiresome each time. Her jealousy had always been excessive, but tonight, after everything I had just endure
Chiara’s POV Luciano De Luca’s intervention in that unwanted proposal must have spread quickly, because as the day went on, the number of suitors hovering around me dropped off significantly. Even after he left, the pressure eased, and for once, I could move through the day without feeling watched or pursued. I returned to Enrico’s room several times, checking on him whenever I could. There was never any dramatic change, nothing that would excite anyone else, yet I felt it deep in my bones. He was close. Very close to waking. The last time I stepped into the room, Luciano was gone, but Martha was there. She rose immediately when she saw me, her expression already bright with anticipation. “He squeezed my hand again,” she said, her voice filled with restrained excitement. “That’s a very good sign,” I replied, and this time, I allowed myself to believe it fully. As I moved closer to examine Enrico, I felt her gaze on me again. It had become a pattern. Lately, Martha watched me li
Luciano De Luca’s POV There was no clear reason for it. No logic I could point to. No justification I could defend. Yet the sight before me stirred something sharp and restless inside my chest, something dangerously close to anger. It burned slowly at first, then rose, steady and relentless, until it became impossible to ignore. Maybe it was because Doctor B reminded me too much of Chiara. Or maybe it was simpler than that. Maybe I just could not stand watching another man ignore her words, push past her boundaries, and act as though her refusal meant nothing. Whatever the reason, my patience wore thin as my irritation climbed. I had expected that, with Doctor B’s growing reputation within the pack, she would attract attention. Admirers. Suitors. That much was inevitable. But this? Men crowding her workplace. Interrupting her duties. Cornering her in the very place she was meant to feel in control. That, I had not anticipated. The man standing beside her now was the chief
Chiara’s POV I had never seen this man before. Not once. Not even in passing, at least not that I could remember. There was no shared history between us, no fleeting encounter to explain the sudden interest in his eyes. And yet, here he stood, asking me out as though it were the most natural thing in the world. For a moment, I was too stunned to respond. “Do I know you?” I finally asked, searching his face again, just in case memory had failed me. His confidence faltered almost immediately. “Ah… no. Not exactly,” he admitted, shifting slightly where he stood. “But your reputation speaks for you, Doctor B. And I heard that you are… unmated.” He hesitated, then pushed forward. “I was hoping we might try, just to see if we could be a good match.” I studied him more carefully this time. Everything about him screamed wealth and status. His clothes were tailored to perfection, the fabric expensive even at a glance. His hair was styled in that precise, slicked-back fashion common am
Giacomo’s POV Giacomo woke later than usual that morning, the sunlight already spilling across his room by the time he finally stirred. Because of that, he missed the morning broadcast and only learned about the latest report on Silvia when he unfolded the newspaper over breakfast, a glass of mimosa resting beside his plate. Halfway through reading, his appetite faltered. Not enough to make him stop eating, but enough to leave a sour taste behind. Silvia had to be playing some kind of game. That was the only explanation that made sense to him. How else could such a story have reached the media? Luciano would never have said a word. Giacomo himself certainly hadn’t. And the man who had been exiled? No one would take his word seriously, not after everything. So who else knew? And more importantly… who would be believed? The shrill ring of the telephone cut through his thoughts. His butler answered it promptly, as always. “One moment, sir,” the man said before approaching the
Chiara’s POV The next morning, I sat in my living room with a cup of coffee warming my hands, my eyes fixed on the television. A quiet tension coiled in my chest as I waited. That photograph… the one taken at the hospital. I had no doubt it would surface. Moments like that never stayed hidden, not when it involved someone like Luciano De Luca. The media thrived on fragments like that, twisting them into something louder, something uglier. I braced myself for it. For the scandal. For my name, or rather Doctor B’s name, to be dragged into yet another storm tied to Luciano and Silvia Romano. But as the news played on, nothing came. No scandal. No blurred image of that moment. No headlines screaming betrayal or impropriety. Instead, the only mention of Doctor B came in connection to Enrico’s condition. “The renowned Doctor B has been treating the Alpha King’s father, who is now recovering,” the news anchor reported smoothly. “Confirmed by several sources, his heart condition
Luciano’s POV “Enrico will pull through,” Doctor B said. The tension that had been strangling my chest finally loosened, if only slightly. Giacomo, my mother, and I all released a breath at the same time, as though we had been holding it for hours. “Is he awake? Can I see him?” my mother, Isabe
Giacomo’s POV Giacomo felt an odd sense of privilege sitting there, listening to Luciano De Luca unravel in a way he never had before. At the same time, the feeling came with a sharp edge of discomfort, as though he had stepped into a space he had no real right to occupy. They had never been clo
Chiara’s POV Whatever thoughts I had about slipping away to retrieve my diary vanished the instant Enrico began to collapse. Everything else ceased to matter. Luciano caught him before he hit the ground, lowering him carefully, but I was already moving. I dropped beside them without hesitation,
Chiara’s POV “She has to be drunk.” “There’s no way any of that is true.” “Luciano would actually marry Silvia Romano? After everything she’s done? Impossible. It has to be a lie.” The whispers spread like wildfire through the room, low at first, then rising, overlapping, colliding into someth







