Chapter 1

I was the junior capo of the Holt family, stationed at one of our family’s remote border outposts for seven long years.

I slept in a half-abandoned safehouse, its walls cracked, pipes leaking, the air thick with dust and the smell of mildew.

I ate whatever rations were left—hard, tasteless bread and canned meat that had lost its flavor years ago.

I patrolled the outskirts under the scorching desert sun, dodging sandstorms that shredded my skin, and in the nights, I crouched behind crumbling walls, listening to distant gunfire echo across the valley.

From the celebrated “Double-Gun Princess” of the family’s military academy—admired by every student for my sharpshooting, fearless tactics, and unmatched skills—I had been reduced to a shadow of myself, thin, worn, and haunted by the weight of years spent in exile from the city and the family I once

But I endured it all.

Because I had a reason—

finish stabilizing the outpost, return to 意大利,

and finally marry the man I’d loved since childhood: Adrian Holt.

So every year, without fail, I submitted a transfer request.

And every year, the answer was the same:

“Denied.”

I thought it was because the territory was unstable.

Because no one else could fill the role.

Because the family needed me there.

…Until this year—when the family finally gave me a short, precious seven-day leave.

I spent three days and two nights on a train, and the moment I arrived in the city, I went straight to headquarters to see Adrian.

But just as I reached his office door, I heard the sound of a rubber stamp hitting paper—

sharp, final.

Then Adrian’s calm voice:

“Denied. Again.”

I froze.

Because the name on that file—was mine.

His right-hand man, Elias, spoke in a low, strained voice:

“Boss… it’s the seventh year.

You’re still refusing to let Miss Frost come home?”

“Year one—Miss Frost qualified to return.

But because the European families demanded someone young and influential stationed at the border to negotiate, you insisted she stay.

You said she was the perfect piece to protect Holt interests.”

My stomach turned to ice.

That year, I almost got killed in a raid.

“Year two—the underboss’s child was taken.

You needed someone expendable to hold the border and draw fire.

You chose Miss Frost. Again.”Bait.

I was bait.

Because the underboss’s child of the Holt family mattered more.

And the seventh year…

Elias’s voice trembled:

“This year… You gave the transfer spot to Fianna—the widow of the family.

The wife of a man who died serving the family.”

My lungs stopped working.

“I spent years rotting in dust and gunfire, a pawn in his hands, sacrificed so he could protect another widow of the family.”

Elias’s voice cracked:

“I saw her last month—she’s skin and bones, her hands covered in frostbite, her hair like dry straw… She’s waited for you seven years.”

“You clearly love her. Then why push her into the most dangerous border zone again and again?”

“Anyone with eyes can see what that place does to people.”

“If she ever realizes you were the one who kept her there—”

He paused, then asked quietly,

“Are you really prepared to lose her?”

Inside the office.

I gripped the doorframe so hard my nails dug into the wood.

Then Adrian finally spoke—

“Of course I love Frost.”

His voice was calm, assured—almost indulgent.

“She loves me too. She won’t leave.”

“She’ll understand why I had to make these choices.”

He paused, as if this were a simple truth that required no further explanation.

“For a Don,” he continued coolly,

“power comes first.”

“The family’s future comes first.”

“Alliances always come first.”

As if love were something that could wait.

As if I were something that could be sacrificed.

I stood there in the shadows, every word cutting deeper than the last.

He was so sure I loved him enough

to stay,

to endure,

to understand being chosen last.

And in that moment, something inside me broke completely.

Each word sliced through me.

He continued, emotionless:

“This year’s transfer goes to Fianna. Among all the others who might need it, none of them matter as much as her. She’s only been gone six months, but she’s the widow of a soldier who died for the family. We can’t afford to put her life in danger.”

He would personally go pick her up.

But for seven long years, he wouldn’t let me come home.

My chest compressed painfully, like someone had reached inside me and crushed my heart with their bare hands.

I didn’t open the door demand answers.

I ran.

Like someone fleeing a battlefield she had already lost.

Cold winter wind slapped my face as I burst out of the building, stumbling down the steps.

Seven years ago, I had just turned eighteen.

He told me—

if he was a Don of the family, then his fiancée had to lead by example too.

He said going to the border for one year would prove our loyalty, our unity.

I believed him.

I loved him.

And I thought one year would fly by.

One year became seven.

Seven years I gave him everything.

And he didn’t even give me a way home.

And all I could think was—

I had to leave the man who said he loved me, but never once chose me.