Se connecter(A week later)Ciaraâs POVâDress up, Ciara!âJasperâs snarl cut through the room as he hurled the gown at me, a black silk, low-cut, expensive, the kind of dress that screamed âlook at meâ while whispering âyouâre nothing.âI kicked it back hard. The fabric skidded across the marble like a dead thing.âIâm not going anywhere with you again!â I snapped, voice raw from days of silence and nights of screaming inside my own head. âIâm done with that fake appearance shit. Take your childhood sweetheart and go. Leave me the fuck alone!âHe let out a low, dark chuckle, the sound of a man whoâd already won and was just enjoying the last act of the play.âYouâve grown guts, huh?â he said, stepping closer, eyes glittering with something cold and amused. âI let you be for a while and now youâre running your bitchy mouth. Think I canât hurt you?âI stared at him, my chest tight, and pulse hammering.Heâd changed completely. Or maybe heâd always been this, hidden behind âwifeyâ and soft smiles u
Ciaraâs POVI stared at the woman whoâd just introduced herself as my husbandâs childhood sweetheart and let out a long, slow sigh.Vivienne.Even her name sounded expensive, like something youâd find engraved on a bottle of poison disguised as perfume. She stood there in the middle of the grand foyer like she owned the place, dark hair cascading in perfect waves, red lipstick sharp enough to cut glass, eyes gleaming with the kind of confidence only women whoâve never been told ânoâ possess.Jasper had been doing shit these past few days, parading women through the house like trophies, leaving lipstick stains on collars for me to see, filling the air with different perfumes just to remind me I wasnât the only one he could touch. Not that I cared. Truly. My focus had narrowed to three things... stabilizing this pregnancy, eating enough to keep the pupâs restless energy from turning violent, and plotting every possible way to get the fuck out of here after I gave birth.So what the he
Ciaraâs pov I donât know how long I stayed on the floor. Long enough for the tears to dry into salty tracks on my cheeks, long enough for the pupâs energy to settle into something quieter, and almost mournful. Long enough for the cold marble to seep into my bones and remind me I was still alive, still breathing, and still trapped.Eventually I forced myself up, legs shaky, world tilting for a second and made my way to the bathroom. The mirror showed a woman I barely recognized.. eyes swollen and red, cheeks pale, bruises around my throat fading to ugly yellow-green shadows. I looked like a ghost wearing my own skin.I turned on the tap, cupped cold water in my hands, and splashed it over my face until my cheeks stung. The shock of it helped, it grounded me. I stared at my reflection again and really stared and forced a small, sad smile.âThere you are,â I whispered to the woman in the glass. âStill breathing. Still fighting. Even if no one else sees it.âThe past week had been hell
Ciaraâs POVI stood at the window, one hand splayed flat against the cold glass, the other resting gently on my still-flat stomach, feeling the faint, restless energy of the pup humming beneath my palm.Outside, the world was a perfect white blanket of snow, it was soft, silent, and untouched. It looked peaceful from up here. Almost kind. But I knew better. Peace in this world was always an illusion, a pretty lie painted over blood and broken bones.Hot tears streamed down my cheeks, silent at first, then faster, carving warm paths that cooled almost instantly in the chill of the room. I didnât bother wiping them away. What was the point? No one was here to see. No one was here to care.My life⌠I didnât know where it was heading anymore.It didnât belong to me.It never really had.Sometimes I wondered how wonderful it would be to be born ordinary. No dangerous bloodline hanging over my head like a guillotine blade. No mafia empires built on the broken backs of women like me. No arra
Ciaraâs POVâWhat⌠how dare you,â she snarled, half-rising from her chair, cheeks flushing ugly red.Before she could lunge, my mother-in-law stood fast and elegant, hand clamping down on her daughterâs arm like a vice wrapped in silk.âCiara,â she said, voice smooth but edged with warning, âdonât you think youâre getting bolder in here?âI sighed, long, and theatrical, the kind of sigh that said bitch, please.âBold?â I repeated, tilting my head. âI donât think so, Mother-in-law. If your darling daughter hadnât opened her mouth to attack me, Iâd have just grabbed my plate and disappeared upstairs like a good little pregnant trophy. But she couldnât respect herself...or me...so here we are.â I shrugged one shoulder. âSorry for disrupting breakfast.âI turned to leave, already mentally mapping the quickest route back to my room when footsteps echoed behind me.I turned in time to see Jasper.And clinging to his arm like a fucking barnacle was a woman.Tall. Blonde. Red dress so tight i
Ciaraâs POVMy whole body was aching as I staggered out of bed to the bathroom.I hadnât slept worth a damn last night. Every time I closed my eyes, the same reel played... Jasperâs fingers squeezing my throat, his voice spitting shit like it tasted sweet, the way the man who used to call me âwifeyâ had looked at me like I was property he hadnât finished breaking in yet.Then Dax... gold eyes flashing crimson, knot locked deep inside me while I begged, only to disappear before the sun came up like a ghost whoâd never been real.I knew marrying Jasper wasnât going to be some fairytale.Iâd never been stupid enough to believe in those.In this world, mafia blood, power carved out with bullets and betrayal, alliances sealed with rings and corpses... love is a luxury nobody can afford.Iâd expected distance. Cold sheets. Polite nods across dinner tables. Maybe the occasional forced smile while someone sharpened a knife behind my back. A quiet life. A gilded cage. Die old, die quiet, and d







