LOGIN**Zoya's POV**With all my past experience from the jobs I held before meeting Benito, I thought finding new employment would be a piece of cake. But it has been the complete opposite.Everywhere I’ve gone, the response is always the same: “We’ll get back to you later.” Yet not a single one has ever called.Pushing the disappointment aside, I waved Emilia goodbye as she climbed into the car with Benito. Our graduation ceremony was starting in just a few hours, and all of a sudden, Benito had insisted on having Emilia with him today.I couldn’t tell him no. He had threatened to sue me for custody again.He said if I wanted Emilia to join me at my graduation, I would have to join them, hang out with them. That was the only way.I knew exactly what he was doing. He was using our daughter to worm his way back into my life, hoping to get what he wanted. But that would happen over my dead body.He could have Emilia for today. When she came back, she would be all mine again.“What are you d
**Vito Castellano's POV**Three weeks had passed since the transaction with Rossi, and my men had kept a watchful eye on Zoya the entire time.They reported that she’d been applying to countless jobs, but no one would hire her. I knew exactly whose doing this was, my brother’s stupid, dirty little scheme. This was his pathetic way of trapping her, of making sure she couldn’t slip away from him.I had no intention of helping either of them. In fact, the more Benito pushed her away and made her life hell, the better it worked in my favor. The harder he squeezed, the easier it would be for me to get exactly what I wanted from her.Today was their graduation day. Benito had asked me to show up and play the role of the supportive older brother so he could score a few cheap points with her. But I had my own plans.I was leaning against my sleek black motorcycle in the parking lot, the afternoon sun warming the leather of my jacket. The low rumble of engines and distant chatter of excited
**Vito’s POV**The private room smelled of expensive cigarettes and alcohol, the room was private enough that it blocked sound from coming and going out.I sat at the head of the long mahogany table, one ankle crossed over my knee, watching the door like a wolf who already knew the rabbit was late. Vittoria lounged in the chair to my right, her posture relaxed but I could tell she was also waiting for Benito to show up late. I insisted on bringing her here because she was skilled, more skilled than my dimwit of a brother.The knock we were both waiting for came, one sharp sound. The door swung open and Benito strode in, suit immaculate, hair gelled back, the faint scent of his expensive cologne cutting through the room’s heavier aromas. Five minutes late, not enough to call him out in front of an outsider, but enough for me to note it.“You’re late, Benito Castellano,” I said, voice even.“Five minutes,” he answered, dropping into the seat opposite me. “The partner isn’t even here
**Benito’s POV**I watched Zoya storm out, the soft sound of her shoes echoing down the hallway like the final beat of a dying drum. But I knew she’d come crawling back, she has no choice.I had already set everything in motion. With nowhere else to turn, she would have no choice but to let me stay in Emilia’s life. And once that door cracked open, I’d wedge it wide and drag her back where she belonged.Stubborn as she was, I knew she’d go job hunting tomorrow. What she didn’t know was that my influence had already poisoned every well. No one would touch her résumé. She was trapped with me, forever.Today in class I’d caught the way she stared at me when she thought I wasn’t looking: that hungry, furious flicker behind the ice. She’d played the tough girl on our wedding day, but her eyes still burned for me. I could feel it.If only I could pry Vittoria away from her. That woman was feeding Zoya’s fire, but I couldn’t touch her. She answered to my brother, not me. Her loyalty bel
**Zoya's POV**I drove away from Benito’s apartment with Emilia sat in the backseat. The silence between us was suffocating, thick and heavy, pressing down on my chest until every breath felt labored.Emilia soon broke the quiet, her small voice bubbling with excitement as she chattered about her day with her dad, the games they played, the laughter they shared on the way to his place. My fingers tightened around the steering wheel, knuckles turning white. The sharp, metallic taste of blood filled my mouth where I had bitten the inside of my cheek too hard.Not only did Benito have a powerful family and endless money, but he also had my daughter’s love. The thought settled like lead in my stomach. *I am doomed.*By the time we reached home, Emilia had fallen fast asleep, her sticky ice-cream-coated fingers curled loosely around the seatbelt. The faint, sweet scent of vanilla and strawberry still clung to her skin.I parked the car in the garage, the engine’s low rumble fading into
**Zoya's POV**The lecture droned on endlessly, the professor’s voice blurring into meaningless static. The words melted together like distant radio noise, impossible to follow.Vittoria’s warm arm draped around my shoulders was the only anchor keeping me grounded in the room. Her steady presence, the faint scent of her vanilla perfume, and the gentle pressure of her touch kept my spiraling thoughts from pulling me under.Every so often, I could feel Benito’s eyes burning into me from across the lecture hall. Or maybe I was imagining it. Whenever I dared to look up, Vera was always there, leaning close, whispering something in his ear, her high-pitched giggles slicing through the air like a high school girl’s. The sound grated against my nerves.A sharp knot twisted deep in my gut, heavy and acidic. How could he sit there so casually, acting as if all our years together, the love, the promises, the life we built, meant absolutely nothing to him?When the class finally ended, the ro



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