chapter 2

Claire’s POV

As Grey's cruel words echoed in the room, my eyes blurred with tears, and a sob escaped my trembling lips. Grey's indifferent gaze remained fixed on me as I broke down, crying uncontrollably. My cries grew louder, echoing in the room, but Grey seemed utterly unaffected. He crossed his arms, his face displaying a mixture of annoyance and disdain. It was clear that my emotions meant nothing to him.

He picked up his Xbox controller and plugged in his headset. After a while, he seemed to be having problems concentrating as my cries only got louder, frustrating him.

“Shut up, will you? I’m trying to concentrate here!” he yelled at me. The door burst open, and a young woman with dirty blonde hair and striking facial features rushed in, alarmed by the sound of my sobs. She was stunning, with a slim figure and features that did not match Grey’s own. I didn’t need anyone to tell me that she was his step mother. I heard grey’s mom passed away when he was seven and his father married his mistress immediately after her death. She took in the scene; the devastated look on my face, Grey's cold demeanor, and her expression hardened.

"What happened here?" she demanded, her gaze shifting between Grey and me.

"She's just crying because she's a crybaby," Grey replied dismissively, his tone dripping with disdain.

The woman’s eyes narrowed, and she knelt down beside me, wrapping her arms around me protectively. "Sweetheart, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"

I tried to speak through my tears. “He said... he said he won't marry me, and no one ever will.”

The woman gasped in shock and stared at me, realization washing over her. “Sweetheart, are you Claire?” she asked, her expression softening while I nodded tearfully.

Her face darkened as she turned her attention to Grey. "Grey, is this true?"

Grey rolled his eyes, showing no remorse. "i don’t like her.”

The woman’s jaw tightened, her disappointment evident. “You’re just a child. You don't understand the consequences of your words. This is why you have no friends in school—because you hate anything that breathes!”

"It's not my fault people are annoying. And who needs friends like her?” he said, his eyes till fixed on the screen

The woman took a deep breath, trying to maintain composure. "Grey, apologize right now."

Grey looked at her and then back at me in annoyance, refusing to say a word.

“Don’t make me repeat myself,” she said, her voice raising slightly, making me flinch.

“fine, sorry!” he yelled as he stood up and stormed out of the room, shutting the door behind him. The sound of the door slamming echoed throughout the room.

As soon as he left, the woman hugged me tightly, soothing my sobs and whispering words of comfort.

“It’s okay, sweetheart, I’m so sorry about how he spoke to you. Grey is… always like that. Ever since we moved here, he has always been that way,” she said, then pulled out from the hug, placing both hands on my shoulders and staring at me. “But I promise you, he is really a sweet kid, when you get to know him better. You’d love him! Trust me.”

I stared at her for a while without saying anything. Would I even get the chance to know him? I had just ruined my only chance and ruined the marriage agreement. If I hadn’t sat on his favorite chair, and if I was a lot prettier, he probably would have liked me.

“He said he is not getting married to me again,” I whispered with a silent sob.

But the woman smiled, using her thumb to wipe away my tears. “Grey is just ten, he doesn’t get to make decisions for himself. I am his mother, and when I say yes to the marriage agreement, even his father doesn’t get to say no. Besides, the marriage contract has already been signed, and your father should be on his way any moment now to pick you up,” she said.

My face lit up instantly. It has already been signed? So, my tears and humiliation were unnecessary after all?

“So, are we getting married?” I asked with sudden excitement while she nodded with a smile.

“Once you both become adults, you’ll get married,” she confirmed, and I nodded happily.

16 YEARS LATER

Claire’s POV

The grand golden gate loomed before me. I froze. For as long as I could remember, I’d wondered what lay behind it. My father had never allowed me inside—only him and my older brothers. Whenever I asked, he’d say it was “family business,” and that was that.

I stepped closer, fingers brushing the cold brass handle. Just as I was about to turn it, a voice behind me made me jump.

“Claire, do you need any assistance?” The maid’s smile was warm, but my chest tightened.

“Uhm… I’m good. Just… looking for the bathroom,” I mumbled, mentally face-palming. Bathroom. Of course. Twenty-four years living in this estate, and I was lying about a bathroom.

“The bathroom is just around that corner,” she said, her eyes lingering on me longer than necessary.

I nodded and walked away, feeling the sting of her gaze follow me. A stranger in my own house. Again.

Dad never let me leave the estate unless it was “absolutely necessary.” Even when I did, I was invisible—a ghost compared to my brothers, who were followed by paparazzi. The world knew Frederick Moskvin had a daughter, but no one knew me.

Maybe he was just trying to protect me. But I wanted more than this gilded cage. I wanted to fall in love, to feel alive, to step outside and touch the world. I’d read enough romance books to know it could be dangerous, exhilarating, beautiful. And someday… someday I would leave.

For now, I had to stay.

I turned into the main hall and froze.

He was there.

Standing by the grand staircase, phone in hand, dressed in a suit that hugged every dangerous angle of him. Grey De Luca. My supposed fiancé.

His black hair gleamed under the chandelier, jaw sharp, posture like he owned everything in the room. And those eyes. Cold, gray, cutting. My chest tightened as they locked on me, and the expensive dress I wore suddenly felt flimsy, as if I were eight years old again, naked under his scrutiny.

What the hell was he doing here?

Grey’s POV

The Previous Night

The bass in Neon Inferno vibrated through the entire space, a loud, pathetic attempt to mask the scent of cheap sweat, expensive perfume, and desperation. I hated clubs. I hated the noise, I hated the sticky floors, and most of all, I hated the people who frequented them.

But my father wanted a message delivered, and I was the one who had to drag myself into the gutter to hand it over.

I cut through the crowded dance floor, my expression cold enough to make the intoxicated bodies part for me without a word. I didn't need a map to find the Moskvin brothers. Everyone in the city knew where Frederick’s sons spent their Friday nights—wasting their lives away in the exclusive VIP lounge, burning through their father's money like it was water.

I pushed past the two low-level guards at the lounge entrance, not even giving them a glance as they shrank back, recognizing me.

Inside, the scene was exactly the pathetic display I expected.

Stephano and Ivan were sprawled across a velvet couch, surrounded by half-dressed women they wouldn’t remember the names of tomorrow. The glass table in front of them was a disaster zone—cluttered with half-empty bottles of top-shelf alcohol, spilled mixers, and thick, messy lines of cocaine.

Ivan was already half-passed out, his head tilted back against the cushions, eyes glassy and vacant. Stephano was barely doing better, leaning forward to snort another line with a reckless, desperate greed. They were the most worthless pieces of shit I had ever encountered. It disgusted me that my father had ever considered an alliance with a bloodline this decayed. They weren't mafia royalty; they were just trust-fund addicts playing with matches.

"Moskvin," I said, my voice cutting through the heavy haze of the room like a blade.

Stephano blinked up, his pupils dilated to the edges of his irises. It took his drug-addled brain a few agonizing seconds to recognize my face. When he did, a sloppy, arrogant smirk spread across his lips, though I caught the sudden flash of fear in his posture.

"Well, well. If it isn't the golden boy," Stephano slurred, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. "Grey De Luca. Come to join the party? Have a line, man. Relax a little."

"Stand up," I commanded, stepping closer. The women around them took one look at my face, sensed the immediate danger, and quietly scurried out of the lounge without being asked.

Stephano chuckled, trying to look tough in front of his barely conscious brother, but he didn't stand. "You don't boss me around, De Luca. This is our city too."

"That’ll depend on the decision you make today," I hissed, leaning down and slamming my palm onto the glass table, making the bottles rattle. Stephano flinched. "Your father is beginning to act on his own and make stupid decisions. Tell Frederick that he has 24 hours to make up his mind, and if he doesn’t, I won't come to a club to warn you. I’ll come to your estate, and I’ll ensure none of you wake up from the trip."

Ivan let out a weak, pathetic groan from the couch, completely oblivious to the threat. Stephano swallowed hard, the bravado completely draining from his face as the cold reality of my words penetrated his high.

"just stay the fuck out of our life, Grey. what we do shouldn’t be none of your business" Stephano muttered, his voice shaking now. "our alliance ended years ago, the engagement with….."

"With your sister," I interrupted, my voice dropping an octave as I leaned closer, cutting him off before he could even slur anything else. "The ghost."

Stephano blinked, his drug-addled brain trying to process the sudden shift in my focus.

"What about her?" he stammered, shifting uncomfortably on the couch.

"Where is she?" I demanded. I kept my expression blank, but inside, irritation burned. I had spent the last three days mapping out the layout of the Moskvin estate, pulling blueprints, and running background checks on every single breathing soul tied to Frederick. I knew his security details. I knew his bank accounts. I knew exactly which clubs his pathetic, worthless sons used to pass out in every Friday night.

But his daughter? Nothing.

She wasn't on any social registry. There wasn't a single pixel of her face online, no school records, no public appearances. It was as if Frederick had wiped her from existence. If I was planning an invasion, I needed to know every single asset and liability in that house. I didn't like blind spots, and Frederick’s daughter was a massive, frustrating blank space in my files.

I couldn't even remember what she looked like or her name. The only memory I had of her was a blurry image of a crying eight-year-old girl with glasses and ginger hair sixteen years ago.

"She's... she's at the estate," Stephano muttered, waving a hand dismissively as he tried to regain his false bravado. "Dad keeps her locked up. She doesn't know anything about the business, Grey. That’s all you need to know about her, she doesn't matter."

"Everyone in that house matters," I snapped, straightening my suit jacket and looking down at him with pure disgust. "Clean yourselves up. You're a disgrace."

I turned on my heel and walked out, the disgust lingering in my throat. They were weak. Fragile. A house of cards waiting to fall.

The heavy bass faded into a dull, muffled thud as I exited the club through the private back doors, stepping into the damp alleyway. The cool night air hit my face, a welcome relief from the suffocating stench of Neon Inferno. I pulled my phone from my breast pocket and hit a speed dial number before the heavy metal door could even slam shut behind me.

It rang once.

"Sir," Alex’s voice came through the line, sharp and awake.

"We’ll attack Frederick’s estate tomorrow night so get everything ready" I said, "Frederick will be at the estate tomorrow. I'm heading there under the guise of finalizing the terms face-to-face, but that's just to map out the final blind spots," I replied, adjusting the cuffs of my suit jacket as I walked toward my waiting car. "But we have a wildcard. The sister."

There was a brief pause on the other end. "The one you couldn't find online?"

"Yeah. Stephano confirmed she’s kept locked up inside the estate. He claims she’s a nobody who doesn't know anything about the business, but I don't buy it” I said as i opened the driver's side door of my car and sat behind the wheel, staring out into the dark windshield.

“So what do we do about the girl?” Alex asked

“We find her and kill her too. Since we’ll me murdering her entire family tomorrow night, it wouldn’t be fair to leave her out so she don’t get too lonely

"Understood. Everything will be loaded and ready," Alex confirmed.

I ended the call, tossing the phone onto the passenger seat. I started the engine, the low purr of the car filling the quiet night. Tomorrow, the entire Frederick’s bloodline will be annihilated