Chapter 2

"No. I will never marry him." I shot to my feet, my voice trembling with rage. "They say he's a killer, a madman, that half his face was destroyed! You're sending me to my death!"

Bang! My father, Antonio, slammed his hand on the desk, making the teacups rattle. "You don't have a choice! The Rossi family is on the verge of collapse. Only an alliance with the Valerius family can save us. And you, Alessia, are the only thing of value you have to offer."

I fought back tears and demanded, "Why me? Why not Bianca?"

My father looked away. "Your sister is too delicate. As the older sister, it's your responsibility."

I looked at his cold, heartless face, and my own heart went cold.

This was my father. For his precious younger daughter and the family's interests, he would throw me into the fire without a second thought.

"Then I'd rather be thrown out of this house and cut all ties with the Rossi family!" I said through gritted teeth.

"Cut ties?" Genevieve let out a cold laugh.

She walked over to a safe, opened it, and took out a fine wooden box and a yellowed, worn-out book of sheet music.

The moment I saw the music, my breath caught in my throat.

It was the Chopin book my mother had left me, filled with her handwritten notes from when she taught me to play.

It was the most precious thing she had left me in this world.

"Alessia, what do you think would happen if I sold off this jewelry, and then threw this trash into the fireplace and watched it turn to ash…" Genevieve's fingers traced the cover of the book, her eyes glinting with malice.

"Don't touch it!" I screamed, trying to lunge forward, but two bodyguards held me back.

"Just be a good girl and marry him. In three years, when the contract is up, I'll give all of this back to you, untouched," Genevieve said, looking down at me like I was a pathetic insect. "Otherwise, you'll never see any of it again."

Tears welled in my eyes. I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood.

They had me.

"Let me… think about it for a night," I said, closing my eyes in despair.

Back in my dark, damp attic room, I shakily opened my old laptop and searched for everything I could find on "Caspian Valerius."

What I found made my blood run cold.

I’d heard he was ruthless, but I never imagined the chilling titles and stories attached to his name.

"The Butcher," "The Night King," "The Monster Who Put a Bullet in His Own Uncle's Head"... every label came with a bloody rumor.

In a brutal firefight, half his face had been burned, and he had since retreated into the shadows, his methods becoming even more savage.

I only found one photo of him, his profile half-hidden in shadow.

The man in the picture had a jawline as sharp as a knife and eyes so dark they could swallow you whole.

I opened the marriage contract again.

It was for a term of three years.

If I could just survive three years with this monster, I could get my mother's things back and finally be free.

It was a gamble with my life.

The next morning, I walked downstairs calmly.

At the dining table, my father and Genevieve were elegantly cutting their steaks.

They paused when they saw me.

"I'll sign," I said, walking to the table, my voice steady. "But I have one condition. Besides my mother's belongings, I want one million dollars. The money has to be in my private account before the wedding."

"A million? Are you crazy!" Genevieve slammed her fork down. "You greedy little thing!"

"No money, and I'll jump from the roof of this house today," I said, looking at her coldly. "Then you can send Bianca to that monster yourselves."

My father's face twisted.

He stared at me, then finally gritted his teeth and held back the furious Genevieve. "Fine. I agree. The money will be in your account tomorrow. The wedding is the day after. You'd better not try any more tricks."

As I turned to go back to my room, I ran into Bianca in the hallway.

She was wearing a beautiful new dress, a smug, vicious smile on her face.

She leaned in close to my ear and whispered with a laugh:

"Enjoy your life in hell, sister. You're about to get into bed with the devil himself."