I was sold to a monster to pay off a debt that was never mine. He’s a cold-blooded mafia boss with a vendetta burning through his veins. To him, I’m the daughter of the woman who ruined his life. A name I never chose. A lie I’m forced to wear. He wants to punish me. Break me. But he doesn’t know the truth—and if he finds out, I might not survive it. Still, there’s something in his eyes when he looks at me. Something dangerous. Possessive. Something that makes me forget I came here to escape. I was meant to be a sacrifice. But now I’m the obsession he never saw coming. And if we’re not careful, the secrets between us will bury us both.
View MoreThe escape
“I won’t marry him!” Kristen screamed, her voice cracking as tears streamed down her cheeks. She ran to the door, pounding her fists against the wood. “Let me out! You can’t keep me locked in here like some animal!” She hit the door again and again until her hands ached. “Please… someone help me…” Her voice broke into a whisper as she slid down to the cold floor, pulling her knees to her chest, shaking with sobs. No one came. No one ever did. Hours passed. She cried until her body gave up and sleep took over. A soft creak woke her. The door opened, and Josephine, the maid, stepped inside. Her eyes landed on Kristen, who looked like a shadow of herself. Kristen scrambled to her feet. “Please,” she begged. “You have to help me get out. I’ll do anything. I can’t stay here. I can’t marry that man.” Josephine didn’t speak right away. Her face was full of pity, but her hands trembled as she held out a long white dress. “Madam said to wear this, she wants you ready in thirty minutes,” she said gently. “I’ll come back later to get you.” Kristen stared at the dress like it was poison. “No… no, I’m not doing this, I'm not going to meet him.” Her voice grew louder, panic rising. “Tell her I’m not putting that on!” Josephine looked away. “I’m sorry,” she whispered, before stepping out and locking the door behind her. Kristen stood frozen. Then, all at once, rage filled her chest. She snatched the dress and tore it apart, ripping the fabric with shaking hands until it was nothing but shreds on the floor. Then she dropped to her knees and cried harder than ever before. “I’m not a doll. I’m not for sale,” she whispered. Her eyes caught the glass perfume bottle on the dresser, and it gave her an idea. She wiped her face, pulled her hair back, and waited in the shadows. When Josephine returned, the room was dark. “Kristen?” she called out gently. A second later, Kristen stepped from behind the curtain and swung the bottle. It hit Josephine’s head making her to drop to the floor. “I’m sorry—I’m so sorry,” Kristen whispered, stepping over the maid’s body. “Forgive me. I didn’t want to hurt you. I just want to leave.” Then She ran away, barefoot through the hallway. Her heart pounding, Every step felt like forever. She made it to the gate but it was Locked. Her stomach dropped. “No, no, no…” She turned and ran toward the back garden. There was a tall fence. Too tall. But she had to try. She jumped, trying to grab the top, but instead she slipped and fell hard on her back making her groan, but she stood again. She had to. Her hands were bleeding, and her knees scraped, but she grabbed the fence again. That’s when she heard it. “She’s over here!” A flashlight hit her eyes. Two guards ran toward her. “No!” she screamed, trying to run but they grabbed her arms. “Let me go!” she cried. “Please don’t take me back!” no one listened to her, instead they dragged her inside. Back inside, Carolina waited, eyes full of fury. “You little brat!” she shouted, storming across the room and slapping Kristen across the face. Kristen staggered back, pain stinging her cheek. “How dare you run off like that?” Carolina snapped. “Do you want to ruin everything?” Kristen looked around, hoping—just hoping—her father would speak up. He didn’t. “Do you know how much you’ve embarrassed me tonight?” Carolina snapped “Please, Mother” Kristen whispered. “I don’t want to marry him. He’s dangerous.” Carolina laughed coldly. “I’m not your mother. Stop calling me that.” Kristen’s stomach turned. She already felt alone. Now she just felt… invisible. “You think you have a choice?” Carolina hissed. “We gave you everything you ever asked for. We protected you. And all we asked was one thing.” “It was supposed to be Sophie,” Kristen muttered. “The deal was for her.” Carolina’s eyes narrowed. “My daughter isn’t going near a man like that. You, on the other hand… you’re useful.” Kristen blinked. “So I’m just being used?” “You should be thanking me,” Carolina snapped. Then she turned to Clinton, her bodyguard. “We move the wedding up.” Kristen’s breath caught. “What… what do you mean?” Dad… Please. Don’t let her do this.” she begged He didn't reply to her, he just looked away. “You want to run?” Carolina said, her tone sharp. “Fine. Let’s marry you off before you get any more ideas.” Then she turned to Clinton. “Call him. Tell him we’re ready” Clinton nodded. “We’ll have it done tomorrow. She can cry later.” And Kristen was dragged to her room and locked up again. The next morning came fast. Too fast. Kristen barely slept. Her body ached. Her throat was dry from crying. The door opened and some maids entered. Four of them. “Madam said we must bathe you,” one of them said. “Scrub every inch. You must look perfect for your husband.” Kristen’s mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding.” They didn’t answer. She didn’t fight. There was no strength left. They filled the tub. Scrubbed her skin until it burned. Washed her hair. Combed every strand. After that they rubbed oils all over her body and hair.“She must smell like heaven,” one whispered. “She must shine,” said another. “We will make her flawless.” Kristen sat still through all of it, her face like stone, When they were done, they dressed her in a white dress, it was too tight but she didn't care. She stared at the girl in the mirror. She didn’t look like herself anymore. She dabbed some color on her cheeks, spritz her favorite perfume, and whispered, “You’re still here. They didn’t win.” Her hands trembled as she walked downstairs. Her father stood by the fireplace, looking lost, as if he wanted to say something but didn’t. Carolina and Sophie sat on the couch, all smiles and whispers. Kristen ignored them. She held her chin high. “Don Carlo is here,” Clinton said. Kristen looked up. The door opened. And everything changed.Carlo’s phone buzzed on the table beside him. He picked it up, already tense. The name on the screen made his stomach drop.“Hello?” His voice was cold.“Hello, Carlo,” Bernice said, her tone light, like this was a friendly catch-up. “Did you miss me?”He didn’t waste a second. “I know you took my wife, Bernice. Release her now.”“Ouch,” she replied, dragging out the word like he’d just stepped on her feelings. “You really think I’d do something like that?”“Don’t play games with me,” Carlo snapped. “I know you too damn well. You took her. Let her go.”She laughed. “Well, you caught me. But no, I’m not letting her go. Not yet.”His grip on the phone tightened. “Why are you doing this?”Her voice changed. It went hard. “You really thought I’d forgiven you? For killing my brother?”Carlo closed his eyes. “I didn’t know who he was that night. It wasn’t supposed to go down like that.”“I don’t care,” she cut in. “I thought maybe… just maybe, I’d let it slide. Because I loved you. Because
Family secret “You really think she’d do something like this?” Kristen asked softly, eyes locked on his pale face. “I mean… Bernice is in love with you. I don’t think she’d try to get you killed.” Carlo’s lips curved into a painful smirk. “You don’t know Bernice like I do,” he muttered, his voice low and raspy. “She’s capable of the worst things, Sophie.” Kristen frowned. “Still… she loved you. I don’t know. It just doesn’t make sense.” He looked at her, his eyes sharp even through the pain. “You didn’t think she’d just let it slide, me throwing her out of the house like that?” He winced, hand resting over his wounded side. “Bernice doesn’t take humiliation quietly. That woman’s pride is deadly.” Kristen reached out and touched his cheek gently with her hand, brushing her thumb over the faint stubble on his jaw. “You should stop talking. It’ll only make the pain worse.” Carlo let out a soft chuckle, though it quickly turned into a groan. “This is nothing. I’ve had worse.”
Family secret “You really think she’d do something like this?” Kristen asked softly, eyes locked on his pale face. “I mean… Bernice is in love with you. I don’t think she’d try to get you killed.”Carlo’s lips curved into a painful smirk. “You don’t know Bernice like I do,” he muttered, his voice low and raspy. “She’s capable of the worst things, Sophie.”Kristen frowned. “Still… she loved you. I don’t know. It just doesn’t make sense.”He looked at her, his eyes sharp even through the pain. “You didn’t think she’d just let it slide, me throwing her out of the house like that?” He winced, hand resting over his wounded side. “Bernice doesn’t take humiliation quietly. That woman’s pride is deadly.”Kristen reached out and touched his cheek gently with her hand, brushing her thumb over the faint stubble on his jaw. “You should stop talking. It’ll only make the pain worse.”Carlo let out a soft chuckle, though it quickly turned into a groan. “This is nothing. I’ve had worse.”Tears fille
Ambushed Kristen’s voice came out in a rush, shaky and unsure. “It’s not what it looks like, Carlo.”Carlo’s face twisted in fury. He took one slow step toward her, his eyes burning. “Not what it looks like?” he said, each word louder than the last. “Then explain it to me, Sophie! Right now!”She backed away slightly, her breath caught in her throat. “I… I needed his help.”His eyebrows shot up in disbelief. “Help?” he repeated like he didn’t believe he heard her right. He stepped even closer. “Help with what?”Kristen looked away. Her voice dropped. “I can’t tell you.”Carlo blinked slowly, processing what she just said. He let out a bitter laugh, shaking his head like he was trying to wake himself up from a bad dream. “Are you serious right now, Sophie?”She couldn’t speak. Her throat felt closed. Her eyes stung.He stared at her, searching her face. “What is the secret, huh?” he asked. “The one Bernice said you’re hiding from me. What is it?”Kristen looked up at him, her face pal
Do your worstThey rushed to the door, hearts racing, feet moving fast, but they were too late.Carolina was already inside.She stood in the hallway, arms crossed, with that same cold smirk Kristen remembered too well. Her eyes landed on both of them the moment they stepped in.“Well, well, well,” Carolina said slowly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Look who we have here.”Kristen froze. Anthony stopped just behind her.Carolina turned her sharp gaze to him.“She even brought her puppet along.”Anthony’s jaw clenched but he stayed quiet. His eyes didn’t leave hers.Then Carolina turned back to Kristen. Her face shifted fast, the mockery was gone, replaced with anger.“What the hell are you doing in my house?”Kristen’s shoulders tightened. But her voice was calm. “This is my father’s house. I have the right to come here.”Carolina laughed, but there was no humor in it. It was dry and cold.“You think I don’t know why you’re here?” she said.She stepped closer, her heels clicking o
Searching for answers Kristen opened her eyes slowly. Morning had come, but her mind had never stopped running. The same thoughts from last night were still sitting heavy on her chest.Carlo was still asleep beside her, breathing quietly, one arm around her waist like he always did. She turned her head and looked at him, the guilt already building in her stomach. She hated keeping things from him. But this? She had to handle it alone, at least for now.There were too many secrets. Too many people who knew things about her that she didn’t. And she was tired of it. Tired of being left in the dark.She stayed in bed, pretending to sleep, until Carlo stirred.He kissed her temple, whispered something soft, and began to dress for the day.“You okay?” he asked, glancing at her from the mirror.Kristen nodded slowly. “Yeah… just need more rest.”He walked over and kissed her forehead again. “You want me to stay home?”“No,” she said quickly. “Go. I’ll probably just rest or read. I’ll be oka
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