PLAYHOUSE WIFE

LIA

The garden was beautiful.Roses lined the stone path, scarlet and white, their petals glistening with dew. The air smelled of jasmine. Beyond the hedges, I could hear the faint hum of the city. All the things that were out there, just beyond these walls.But the walls were high.The gates were locked.And I was a bird in a gilded cage.

I sat on the iron bench beneath a weeping willow, my hands tight in my lap. The ring of chains still clung to my mind, even if my wrists were bare now. They didn’t need iron to bind me anymore. They had something worse—fear.

“Brooding already, kotyonok?”

Dimitri’s voice slid over me like silk laced with venom. I didn’t look up. He always carried a storm into the space around him—heat, restlessness, danger.

He stepped onto the gravel path, dressed in black slacks and a half-open shirt, sunlight glinting on the gold chain at his throat. His smile was sharp, wicked, as he leaned against the edge of the bench.

I clenched my hands harder. “What do you want?”

Dimitri tilted his head, his grin spreading. “To talk.”

The word sounded harmless. It never was. He crouched in front of me, so close I could smell his cologne—spice, smoke, something darker. His eyes gleamed as they searched my face, as if reading every frantic thought behind my silence.

“You’re wondering, aren’t you?” he whispered. “Why we bought you. Why two men who already had each other would spend half a billion on one trembling virgin.”

My breath caught.

He laughed softly, low in his throat. “Did you think it was about lust? About putting you in our bed and fucking you raw until you forgot your own name?”

Heat flamed in my cheeks. Shame. Rage. Both.

“It wasn’t?” I forced the words out, brittle as glass.

His grin widened. “Oh, we’ll do that too. But that’s not the reason.”

The air thickened. The roses seemed to lean closer, listening.

Dimitri leaned in, his mouth near my ear. “You were bought for your womb, kotyonok. And your name. You’re our hired vessel. Our fake wife.”

The world tilted. My stomach lurched, bile rising sharp at the back of my throat.

“What?” My voice broke.

He pulled back just enough to watch me, his grin cruel and delighted. “Didn’t you wonder why the auctioneer was so clear about your ‘purity’? Why your stepmother made such a spectacle of it?” He clicked his tongue. “No man pays that much just to scratch an itch. No, little rabbit. We paid for your usefulness.”

I couldn’t breathe. “A womb?”

“Yes.” The word came from behind me.

Salve.

I whipped my head around. He stood at the edge of the path, his suit perfectly pressed, his presence colder than the morning air. He moved forward with that same quiet authority, every step deliberate, inevitable.

Dimitri smirked up at him. “I was just giving our bride the wedding speech.”

Bride. The word cut like a blade.

Salve stopped in front of me. 

“You were bought,” he said, “because appearances matter. A don without a wife invites questions. A don with an heir commands obedience. You give us both.”

My nails dug into my palms until I thought the skin would break.

“You mean… I’m just…” I couldn’t finish.

“A vessel,” Salve said, unflinching. “For legitimacy. For lineage.”

Dimitri chuckled, rising to his feet, circling behind me like a wolf. His hand brushed my shoulder, light as a brand.

“Don’t look so shattered, kotyonok. Plenty of women would kill for the chance to wear our ring.” His grin flashed. “You just have to open your legs and smile for the cameras.”

Tears stung my eyes, hot and humiliating. “I’m not your vessel. I’m not your lie!”

Dimitri’s laugh rang out, rich and mocking. “Oh, I like when you fight. Makes breaking you so much sweeter.”

Salve didn’t laugh. He crouched, bringing his face level with mine, his eyes like polished stone.

“Defiance without power is meaningless,” he said quietly. “Remember that before you burn yourself alive.”

His words sank into me like poison, cold and final. Then he straightened, slipping a small black velvet box from his pocket. He opened it, and the diamond inside blazed in the sun—cold fire, brilliant and merciless.

My breath caught.

“No—”

Dimitri seized my hand, sliding the ring onto my trembling finger. The metal was too heavy, the stone too sharp.

“Congratulations, kotyonok,” he whispered, lips brushing my knuckles. “By tomorrow, you’ll be Mrs. Salve Moretti.”

Salve’s gaze didn’t waver. His silence was a vow.The garden blurred as tears filled my eyes. Roses, thorns, sunlight—all dissolving into the crushing weight of the ring.

The diamond burned on my finger. Every time I looked at it, I wanted to rip it off and throw it into the roses. But I didn’t. Because Dimitri would only laugh, and Salve would only slip it back on with that cold patience that cut deeper than cruelty. So I sat in the garden again, the ring heavy on my hand, the silence heavier in my chest.

“You’re pouting,” he said with a grin.

“I’m not,” I snapped, too fast, too raw.

His grin widened. “Ah, you are. The little bride-to-be doesn’t like her new title?”

I glared at him. The words broke out before I could stop them. “Why him?”

Dimitri raised a brow. “Him?”

“Why do I have to be his wife? Why Salve and not you?” My voice shook, but I held his gaze. “If this is just politics, if I’m just a… a womb—then why not marry me yourself?”

Dimitri studied me for a moment, then threw back his head and laughed, loud and sharp. It startled birds from the willow, their wings flashing like silver as they fled.

“Oh, kotyonok.” He leaned forward, setting the glass down with a clink. “You really don’t see it, do you?”

I frowned, anger and confusion tangling in my chest.

Dimitri’s smile softenedas he spoke. “Salve is my man.”

The words hit like a stone in still water, rippling through me.He said it simply, with no shame, no hesitation. His. My lips parted, but no sound came.

Dimitri leaned back in his chair, arms spread along the rests, eyes glittering. “Don’t let the hate outside this world confuse you. They’ll spit on us, call us weak, try to tear us down for what we are. But here…” He tapped his chest, then pointed toward the mansion where Salve’s shadow often lingered. “Here, we don’t bow to their rules.”

My pulse thundered. The air felt too heavy to breathe.

“But then… why me?” The words came out broken, desperate. “Why bring me into this at all?”

Dimitri’s grin sharpened. He plucked the diamond on my finger with a flick. “Because, kotyonok, for all our fire and blood, there’s one thing we can’t make together.”

My breath caught.

“A child,” he said simply. “An heir.”

My stomach dropped. I pressed my hand to my lap, hiding the ring.

“And Salve…” Dimitri’s voice softened again, almost reverent, a note I’d never heard before. “Salve let me choose you. Out of all the trembling virgins paraded like cattle, I chose you to sire our heir.” His grin turned cruel again. “Because obviously, we can’t do that ourselves.”

Heat rushed to my face, humiliation clawing my chest. My throat burned with unshed tears, but I refused to let them fall in front of him.

“So that’s all I am,” I whispered. “A body. A… contract.”

Dimitri leaned forward, catching my chin between his fingers, forcing my gaze to his. His eyes were dark, endless, alive with a storm I couldn’t name.

“You’re not just anything,” he said. “You’re ours. Ours to break. Ours to use. Ours to keep.” His smile curved, sharp as glass. “Don’t mistake that for nothing.”

I jerked away, but his laughter followed, I saw him then—Salve. Watching.His expression unreadable, his eyes cold and endless. He didn’t interrupt. He didn’t soften Dimitri’s words. He simply stood, a silent vow in the shape of a man.