MasukForced into a contract marriage with the man he hates most, stranded college student Asher Knight thought his life couldn't get any worse. But nothing is ever that simple. Damien Chase — arrogant, ruthless, and stunningly handsome — holds a life-altering secret behind his cold smirk: he's not just a billionaire, but Asher's anonymous online crush. Trapped in a poisonous web of lies, false kisses, stolen moments, and forbidden attraction, Asher must decide: Will he destroy the man who ruined his life. Or become helplessly, recklessly in love with him? When hatred turns to passion, and secrets threaten to annihilate them — can their fake marriage survive? Or was it bound to fail?
Lihat lebih banyakI grew up in an Italian family with traditions, where the patriarch, "my father," always had the last word; since he was a child, he formed the great empire of the Italian Mafia and became the most feared Don for many years.
Time did not pass in vain. My father grew old; other Don's began to grow their families and increase their territories; when Papa's health deteriorated, it was the right time for a new leader.
Lorenzo Razzo became the new Don. His parents were killed when he was 18 years old, and he decided to follow the family tradition of the Mafia; he managed to grow his business and territory, becoming a feared and respected man.
He does not forgive betrayal, and this has caused other families to be afraid to confront him; at 26 years old, Lorenzo is well known for being a playboy; no woman keeps him in a relationship, his tastes are exquisite, and he does not expect to find the perfect woman to be his wife, that idea does not even cross his mind.
Until my father asked me to come back because the time had come for my brother Fabrizio to become the new Boss of the Santelli Family, he did not have the character nor the loyalty of which our father was a faithful example; he liked gambling, drinking and enjoying women, anyone could say that is a well-known quality of gangsters.
Suppose you become the main Don, something that was a requirement. In that case, Fabrizio could not control his addictions and accumulated a considerable debt, causing him to get into trouble with Dante, the Boss of the Mancini Family when he could not pay it back.Fabrizio began to sell properties without Papa's approval. Still, it was evident that Dante was aware of this and took advantage of the situation perfectly.
During the constant parties held at my house for the most important families of the Italian Mafia, to live together and create alliances between arranged marriages for convenience, which was very common in this Mafia society.
Dante saw a photograph of me in my father's office, he offered Fabrizio a deal, he would forgive him the debt in exchange for making me his mistress, my brother convinced our father that it was time for me to return home and promised him that he would take care of protecting me.
Still, my father agreed in delicate health, and I returned to Sicily, unaware of what awaited me there. I was totally unaware of the Italian Mafia and its business. Still, I knew that my father had taken me away to protect me.
After my mother died in an unfortunate attack on him, I became his greatest treasure; he swore that he would never force me to marry for convenience. Still, for love, at that time, I would be the mistress of my destiny until everything changed.
That last summer, the last time I felt truly free, my family spent most of the time in our house in Sicily; the property was huge, surrounded by a beautiful sea view and surrounded by spectacular gardens, where the last memories I had were still the happiest ones.
What better place to come home to, but this is where it all started......Chapter 15: Blueprints of BetrayalThe blue glow surrounded the room.Damien looked at the hologram hovering over the rusted steel table. Coded and schematics churned in the air—neural schematics, spinal mappings, and something evil: the emotional repression grid used in the Empath Nullification Trials."Graves didn't just want to control Cassandra," Damien said. "He wanted to erase her."Asher paced behind him. His fists were clenched, jaw set."Why her?""Because she was the last. The one who came out of shutdown?"Bishop leaned against the doorway, his shape a harsh silhouette. "She was their future. Until she learned to feel."The eyes echoed like gunfire.In the other room, Cassandra sat against the floor and the wall, staring at her reflection in a shattered mirror. She breathed on the glass and fogged it. She touched out, tracing the lines of her own face as though it belonged to someone else.The door creaked.Asher knelt down next to her without startling her."I felt like I
Chapter 14: Shards of the AftermathMorning reluctantly broke, spilling pale orange light over the wreckage of the NOVA-7 complex. Smoke continued to curl into the air behind them as they huddled around a small campfire at the top of a ridge that gazed down into the valley below.Adrenaline had worn off. Only the low hum of questions—unasked, unspoken—remained.Asher sat next to Cassandra. She hadn't spoken since they'd fled. Her eyes blazed with awareness, but her voice came and went, lost and weak."She's disoriented," Bishop said, unwrapping a ragged bandage from the side. "Whatever was done to her… it's still present."Asher looked up. "You said they were wiping her. Can that be undone?"Damien shook his head slowly. “Maybe. But it won’t be easy. Neural overwrite can embed itself like scar tissue. Every memory, every thought has to be rebuilt.”Cassandra stirred. “I dreamed… of snow… and silence.”Asher leaned closer. “You’re safe now. That’s what matters.”But he knew safety was
Chapter 13: White Silence, Black TruthsThe summits jagged like shattered blades into the atmosphere. NOVA-7 was not just hidden in secrets—it was hidden in a region where nature itself resisted penetration. Snow pounded sideways in thick white sheets, and the path to the plant was little more than rumor etched into ice.Damien, Asher, and Bishop trudged through snow that reached their knees, their breathing foggy clouds in the chill air. Every step grated with the urgency of the moment."They created this facility where satellites lose their vision," Bishop shouted over the wind. "If we get inside, there is no redundancy. We are dark.""Good," Asher growled. "Means no distraction."They crested the final ridge, and there it was: a silhouette cut into the ice, half mountain, half machinery. NOVA-7.The exterior was all functional menace—black steel, armed drones, and infrared sweeps tracing back and forth across the ice plain."Clock's ticking," Damien said. "We have the codes Bishop
Chapter 12: Breachlines and BetrayalsDrenmore's rain had turned to sleet by the time they reached their hideout—a two-story ruin on the outskirts, smeared in grime and graffiti. Inside, it was damp, reeking of old smoke and wet stone, but safe. For the time being.Damien shut the bolt behind them, his jaw clenched. He hadn't spoken since they'd left the facility. Asher sat on the stained couch, his arm freshly bandaged, his muscles coiled with a subdued rage.The atmosphere was heavy."I saw her, Damien."Damien at last turned to him. "I know.""She's alive.""And captive in the belly of the most secure space under Emberlight control."Asher stood up, slowly. His movements were measured, painful. "We're going in after her.""Yes," Damien said. "But we don't go into NOVA-7 blind."He spread a pile of blueprints across the coffee table. Satellite photos. Transport routes. Encryption patterns. "Graves wasn't burying her life. He's financing the program that's doing this."Asher's jaw ti
The train yard slumbered like a cast-off relic, its metal framework coated with rusting grime that shimmered with the pale blue of dawn. Fog crept along the rails like a beast looking for warmth, and the signal towers loomed like silent sentinels, watchful, always watching.Damien left the truck tw
The sun wasn't up yet, but the desert sky was already roiling into a dangerous gray by the time Carter Graves led them out of the factory and into the empty gas depot at the south end of town. His boots crunched over gravel like a ticking countdown to violence."You sure you want this?" Graves aske
The road out of Miradell was slick with rain and wrapped in quiet. Fog clung to the windshield like it did not want to be forgotten, and the engine's hum was far away, like a lullaby drowned out by nightmares.Asher sat in the passenger seat, the leather strap of his bag held loosel
The city did not welcome them.Asher sensed it the moment their boots hit shattered asphalt at the edge of a rain-lashed alley in Miradell's center. Buildings loomed too close, too tall, casting long, accusing shadows in the fading afternoon light. Horns blared. Neon signs blinked t






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