LOGINThe grand hall was completely silent for several long seconds after the recording ended. Hundreds of people sat frozen in their seats, mouths open, eyes wide with disbelief. The air felt thick and heavy, as though the entire room had stopped breathing at once.Everyone was shocked.Salvatore stood near the side entrance like a statue, his face pale and his dark eyes filled with raw pain and utter disbelief. The strong, composed man who had carried me out of a warehouse now looked completely broken. Francesca’s parents rose slowly from the front row. Signora Moretti’s face had gone deathly white. She clutched her husband’s arm so tightly her knuckles turned white.“Francesca!” her mother hissed, voice shaking with fury and embarrassment. “What is the meaning of this? Explain yourself right now! Is this true?”Francesca stammered, her perfect mask shattering completely. “Mama… it is not… she twisted my words… I did not mean… it was taken out of context...”"Francesca how could you?" ask
Exams swallowed the next few days whole. I threw myself into them with a single-minded focus that left little room for anything else. Morning lectures, afternoon revisions, late nights bent over textbooks and design portfolios in the studio. I answered every question with precision, sketched every required piece with clean lines, and submitted my final projects without a single typo. I avoided Salvatore.Whenever he entered a room, I found a reason to leave it. When he offered coffee in the mornings, I thanked him politely and took my cup to the balcony. During dinner I spoke mostly to Guila or Lorenzo, keeping my replies short and neutral. He noticed. Of course he noticed. His dark eyes followed me constantly, heavy with questions he did not voice. Once, as I passed him in the hallway, his fingers brushed my wrist. I pulled away gently but firmly.“Not now,” I murmured.He did not push. He simply watched me with that quiet intensity that used to make my stomach flutter. Now it only
I sat on the edge of my bed long after Guila left the room, the phone still warm in my hand. Francesca’s voice kept replaying in my head like a broken record. Every arrogant laugh, every cruel detail, every time she said “I have Salvatore wrapped around my hand completely.” I should have felt rage. I should have wanted to storm across campus and slap the smugness off her face. But something colder settled over me instead. Clearer. Sharper.Confronting her immediately would give her exactly what she wanted: drama, attention, another chance to play the victim or the devoted fiancée. No. That was too easy. Too small.Graduation was only a few days away.The entire university would be there. Important families. Media. Photographers. Everyone who mattered in our circle. If Francesca wanted to brag publicly about her engagement to Salvatore, then I would destroy her publicly too.The thought bloomed slowly, dangerous and satisfying. I could see it already: the grand hall, lights bright, ca
Author's POV Giulia pressed herself against the rough brick wall of the university building, hidden behind a thick hedge of evergreen shrubs. The leaves scratched at her coat sleeves, but she barely noticed. Her heart hammered so hard she could feel it in her throat. She had not expected to find Francesca.The voice drifted through the open window of the student lounge, it sounded so confident and cruel. Francesca stood near the glass with her friend Sienna and they were laughing in that sharp and arrogant way that made Giulia’s blood run cold.“…and honestly, she bought every single word,” Francesca was saying. “I told her Salvatore was always meant for me, that she was just a distraction. Her face. Priceless. She actually believed she had a chance. Foolish girl.”Sienna giggled. “You’re evil. But brilliant.”Francesca leaned against the windowsill, crossing her arms. “Evil? No. I am just being strategic. Men like Salvatore need to be managed. He thinks he’s in control, but he’s bee
Author's POVFrancesca stood in the university courtyard under the pale winter sun, surrounded by her usual group of friends. The air carried the faint scent of roasted chestnuts from a nearby vendor cart. She wore a tailored burgundy wool coat, her dark hair falling in perfect waves, and her smile was sharp enough to cut glass. She had waited for this moment.“Next month,” she announced, voice carrying deliberately over the chatter of passing students. “The engagement will be official. My parents are already speaking with his family. Salvatore has always known where his future lies.”One of her friends, a tall blonde in oversized sunglasses, gasped and clutched her arm. “You’re actually doing it? After all this time?”Francesca tilted her head, letting the question hang for dramatic effect. “Some things are inevitable. Blood, loyalty and promises were made when we were barely adults. He walked away for a while, yes. Men do that. But he always comes back to what matters.”The girls ex
Alessia's POV The peck on the cheek lingered longer than any full kiss ever could have.I stood frozen in the living room long after Salvatore disappeared down the hallway, fingers pressed to the spot where his lips had rested. Warmth radiated from my skin like he had branded me there. My stomach fluttered wildly, a swarm of butterflies that refused to settle. One second he was distant, respectful, keeping every touch careful and chaste. The next he looked at me like I was the only person breathing in the entire city.I could not understand him anymore.Guila’s voice pulled me back to reality. “Dinner in ten. And breathe, cara. You look like you just saw a ghost.”I managed a weak smile and sank onto the sofa again, legs still unsteady. The butterflies refused to leave. Every time I closed my eyes I felt the soft press of his mouth, the way he had lingered just long enough to make my pulse race, then pulled away like nothing had happened.Dinner passed in a blur. Lorenzo returned fro
Alessia’s POVI squeezed my eyes shut.The metal barrel pressed cold and steady against my forehead. I could feel the ridged texture of the silencer, the faint vibration of the man’s hand. My heart thundered so violently I thought it might burst before the bullet did. Every breath tasted like blood
Alessia’s POVThe first thing I felt was the cold. It seeped through the thin fabric of my coat, through my skin, into my bones. I felt the concrete underneath me and damn was it rough. My wrists were bound behind my back with zip ties that cut deeper every time I moved. My ankles were tied too,
~Francesca’s POV~The clock on my bedroom wall ticked louder than it ever had before. 11:47 a.m. He was supposed to be here by ten.Salvatore.I had waited for this day for months. Today he was meant to come to my parents’ house, sit at our dining table, drink my father’s grappa, and finally set a
Alessia’s POVI could not sleep.The penthouse was too quiet, the kind of quiet that amplified every thought until it screamed. Lorenzo had gone to bed hours ago in the guest suite. I lay in the dark of the master bedroom, staring at the ceiling, replaying everything on an endless loop.The way Sal







