Masuk“If you stay,” Dante said,“you will become my wife.”The word echoed in Aruna’s mind like a curse.Wife.Not freedom.Not safety.Not choice.A contract disguised as love.Aruna stared at him, her heart pounding violently.“You think marriage will fix everything?” she asked.Dante did not answer immediately.He stepped closer, his presence overwhelming.“I don’t fix things,” he said quietly.“I claim them.”Aruna felt a chill.“So I’m just another territory for you?” she said.Dante looked at her.“No,” he replied.His eyes darkened.“You are the only territory I refuse to lose.”The words were dangerous.Not romantic.Dangerous.That night, Aruna could not sleep.She sat on the balcony, her
“Mom?”The word felt unreal on Aruna’s tongue.Her phone lay on the floor, the screen still glowing.The woman’s face was still there, trembling, alive.“I’m alive,” the woman repeated softly.Aruna’s knees went weak.Dante moved instantly, catching her before she fell.She pushed him away.“Don’t touch me,” she said.Her voice was shaking, but her eyes were burning.Dante froze.He looked at the phone.Then back at Aruna.For the first time, he did not know what to say.Aruna picked up the phone with trembling hands.“Mom,” she whispered again.The woman on the screen nodded slowly.“Yes, sweetheart,” she said. “It’s me.”Aruna felt like she was drowning.“How?” she asked. “You died. I saw the hospital. I saw your
“Release her.”Dante’s voice did not rise.He did not shout.He did not threaten.And that was what made it terrifying.The men behind him raised their guns, surrounding the warehouse in a silent formation. The air was thick with tension, as if one wrong breath could trigger a massacre.Adrian did not look afraid.Instead, he smiled.“Still giving orders, Dante?” he said calmly. “I thought you’d be more honest in front of her.”Aruna stood between them, her wrist trapped in Adrian’s grip.Her heart was pounding so hard she felt dizzy.“Let her go,” Dante repeated.Adrian leaned closer to Aruna.“Do you know what I like about him?” he whispered.Aruna swallowed.“He never lies when it comes to business,” Adrian continued. “But when it comes to you, he lies beautifully.”Dan
The Truth He Never Wanted Her to Know**“Who ordered my mother’s surgery?”The question hung in the air like smoke after a gunshot.Dante did not answer immediately.For a moment, the Mafia King who ruled half the city looked like a man who had lost control of his own shadow.Aruna stared at him, refusing to look away.Her hands were trembling, but her voice was steady.“Answer me.”Dante’s jaw tightened.“You shouldn’t ask questions you’re not ready to hear.”“I’m already living in your world,” Aruna said. “How much worse can it get?”Dante looked at her as if measuring how much truth she could survive.Then he turned away.“Go inside
“I never asked to be your queen.”Dante’s gaze did not soften.“You were chosen. That is worse.”The city outside the penthouse was silent, but inside Dante Ravelino’s world, silence was always dangerous.Aruna stood near the glass wall, her fingers trembling as she pressed them against the cold surface. The reflection staring back at her did not look like the girl who once dreamed of escaping the night. She looked like someone who belonged to it.Behind her, Dante poured whiskey into a crystal glass. The sound was slow, deliberate, as if he had all the time in the world.“You’re afraid,” he said.“I’m not.”“You are.”Aruna turned, meeting his eyes. “If I were afraid, I wouldn’t be standing here.”Dante stepped closer. His presence was overwhelming, not because of his size or his power, but because of the way he looked at her. As if she were not a person, but a puzzle he had decided to solve no matter the cost.“You should be afraid,” he said quietly.“Why?”“Because you’re starting
The first thing Althea felt was cold.Not the kind of cold that came from air or water, but the kind that seeped into her bones, wrapping around her thoughts like invisible chains.Her eyes opened slowly.White ceiling.Soft lights.The smell of antiseptic.For a moment, she thought she was back in the hospital where her mother had died.Her heart clenched violently.Then reality returned.She was lying on a bed, her wrists no longer tied. The room was spacious, modern, and disturbingly luxurious. Silver curtains covered tall windows. The walls were painted in calm neutral colors, as if someone had tried to disguise a prison as a sanctuary.She sat up abruptly.Memories crashed into her mind.The gunshot.The darkness.Dante’s voice calling her name.Adrian’s laughter.Her breath became uneven.She was not in Dante’s world anymore.She was in Adrian’s.The door opened silently.Adrian walked in, wearing a dark shirt and a faint smile that never reached his eyes.“You’re awake,” he sai







