LOGINSofia’s POVThe morning sunlight poured through the stained-glass windows of the chapel, painting the marble floors in soft gold and rose. Outside, the gardens were full of white flowers swaying gently in the breeze. Music floated through the open doors, tender and elegant, wrapping itself around every heartbeat in the room.I stood at the entrance with my mother beside me.My hands trembled around the bouquet of ivory roses. My dress flowed around me in layers of satin and lace, fitted close at the waist before spilling into a long train.Tiny crystals had been sewn into the veil, catching the light like stars. My mother adjusted the veil with careful fingers.Her eyes were wet.“You are the most beautiful bride I have ever seen,” she whispered.“You have to say that. You’re my mother.” I laughed shakily. “No,” she said, brushing a tear from her cheek. “I say it because after everything... you are still standing here.”Emotion rushed into my throat so fast I could barely breathe.
Matteo’s POVThe anonymous call came while I stood alone in the ruined garden where our wedding should have happened.Half-filled champagne glasses sat abandoned beside melting candles. The band had packed up in silence an hour earlier. Reporters still waited beyond the gates, and my guests had become witnesses to a disaster.Sofia was gone!!“Where is she?” I barked.There was shuffling, panic, then a loud scream somewhere in the background. A gunshot exploded through the speaker, the line crackled.Then silence…“Hello? Hello!” My blood froze.Nothing.“Julian!” I turned and shouted across the garden.“What happened?” He sprinted toward me immediately, tie hanging loose, face white with exhaustion and rage.“I had a call. Someone had Sofia, but there was a gunshot.” I explained.Julian did not waste a second. He pulled out his phone and dialed the private investigator we had hired earlier that afternoon.“Track this number now,” he snapped the moment the man answered. “I don’t car
Sofia’s POVThe moment Lucia pressed the gun into my ribs and forced me through the servants’ corridor, I understood one thing with terrifying clarity.This was never about escape, or even money. This was about hatred so deep it had rotted her mind from the inside out.She shoved me forward with one hand twisted in my veil and the other gripping the gun. My heels had already come off somewhere behind us, so my bare feet slapped against cold tile as she dragged me through the back hallways of the estate. Staff had been kept away by the wedding preparations. Music from the garden drifted faintly through the walls, cheerful and beautiful and completely disconnected from the nightmare happening only meters away.“Move,” Lucia hissed into my ear.“You’ll never get away with this,” I whispered.She struck the back of my shoulder with the gun hard enough to make me stumble. “Today is not the day to threaten me, bride.” She laughed. We reached the service gate where delivery vehicles enter
Matteo’s POVThe garden was ready for forever.The aisle had been lined with petals so soft and thick it looked like clouds had been cut into pieces and laid across the stone path.Guests filled the seats in bright colors and polished jewels, whispering with excited smiles while cameras from invited media stations captured every elegant detail.Everything was prepared, except the bride. I stood near the floral altar with my hands clasped in front of me, pretending calm I did not feel. My suit had been tailored to perfection. My cufflinks were engraved with Sofia’s initials. My heartbeat had not slowed since sunrise.“If she changes her mind now, I’ll kill her myself.” Julian leaned close beside me and muttered.“She wouldn’t.” I glanced at him. “Good! Because I already like you.” He grinned.The guests laughed softly at something one of the ushers said, music rose and faded. Phones came out, heads turned again toward the mansion doors, but still nothing.I checked my watch for the f
Sofia’s POVI woke before sunrise. Not because anyone called me, or alarms rang, or the house was noisy. I woke because my heart knew what day it was.For a moment I lay still in the white blankets staring at the ceiling while dawn painted pale gold across the room. The mansion was quiet, suspended in silence before celebration begins. Somewhere below, I could already hear distant movement, staff arranging flowers, doors opening, footsteps hurrying, and voices trying to whisperMy wedding day!The words felt even more unbelievable even now. Even though I had done this before, last time was nothing compared to this in such a way I can't even explain. After everything that had happened, after funerals and trials and betrayals and nights I thought life had ended for me, I was here. Alive, loved, safe, and about to marry the man who had held me together when I was falling apart.I covered my face and laughed softly into my hands. Then the bedroom doors burst open.“She's awake!” Julia
Sofia’s POVThe week after the engagement party, I woke to three things.Sunlight through the curtains, Matteo asleep with one arm around my waist, and my phone vibrating itself off the bedside table.I groaned and reached for it. Seventy-three missed calls, one hundred and nineteen unread messages, and three thousand notifications.“Absolutely not.” I stared at the screen.“What crisis requires that face before coffee?” Matteo’s voice came rough with sleep behind me. “The nation has decided our engagement belongs to them.” My eyes widened.I scrolled through messages from friends, executives, distant relatives who suddenly remembered my birthday.Media houses requesting interviews, luxury brands offering gifts, wedding planners introducing themselves like they had been summoned.Then there were the comments online.“He looked at her like she invented happiness.”“This wedding better be televised.”“If Matteo Aldana has one fan, it is me.”“If Sofia’s dress isn’t historic, I riot.”I
Sofia's POVI sat in my office chair with my eyes glued to the screen. Even though the past three days have been quite hectic without Matteo, I have been able to pull through, though exhausted, but I don't mind. And I've tried so much to convince myself that I do not need him at all, but deep down
Sofia's POVMy face twisted when I arrived at the company with a multitude of reporters and cameras shunned in my face with lights and microphone blocking my vision. “What's happening here?” I asked in confusion with no one to answer me.“Miss Estaban is here!” One of the reporters announced calli
Santoro's POV My sound of the blaring alarm echoed through the room, forcing me to open my eyes. It's yet another day to live so miserably under the control of my wife, mother, and father in law. I groaned as I sluggishly made it out of bed so I could have my bath and get ready for work. I grabbe
Sofia's POV.“What do we do now, Miss Estaban? This meeting was such an important one. We could lose these investors if we don't do a damage control as soon as possible.“There's nothing to worry about, I will speak to the CEO myself and explain the error that happened. I'm sure we can fix another







