Chapter 1

Aurelia’s Pov

The clink of Dante’s fork hitting the porcelain plate echoed like a gunshot in the suffocating silence of our dining room.

“I am getting married again.”

His voice was calm. Cold. Final. Each word carved itself into my chest, twisting deeper until I couldn’t breathe. I sat frozen opposite him, my fingers gripping the hem of my silk dress so tightly the fabric bit into my skin. 

My plate of eggs and toast remained untouched, the food now as cold as the man who had just sentenced our marriage to death.

Again. As if the first time- our arranged marriage three years ago- had been nothing more than a temporary inconvenience.

I forced my gaze up from my lap, my dark brown eyes burning with tears I refused to let fall. Not in front of him. Never in front of him. Dante Salvatore didn’t deserve my tears anymore.

“Is it Aisha?” My voice came out barely above a whisper, fragile as glass. He took a slow breath, then gave one sharp nod. “She’s coming back.”

The world tilted. Aisha Hayden. The woman who had owned his heart long before I ever stepped into his life. The woman who left him three years ago and still haunted every corner of this mansion. 

I had known this day would come. I had felt it in every silent dinner, every night he spent in his study instead of our bed, every time his eyes looked straight through me like I was made of air.

But knowing didn’t make it hurt any less.

Three years. I had given this man everything. My youth. My heart. My soul. I had smiled through the humiliation from his family- his mother and sisters who called me naive, dumb, unworthy of the Salvatore name. I had endured the cold nights where he never once reached for me. I had loved him so fiercely it nearly destroyed me, even when he gave me nothing in return.

And now… now he was handing all the love I had begged for to someone else.

I closed my eyes for a second, letting the pain wash over me like icy waves. When I opened them again, something inside me cracked open and bled. But I lifted my chin anyway.

“Everyone warned us we wouldn’t last,” I said softly, my voice steady even as my heart screamed. “And we both knew it.”

Dante watched me, his sharp gaze unreadable. Those stormy gray eyes that once made my knees weak now only made me feel small. He leaned back in his chair like a king on his throne.

“I’m not divorcing you,” he stated flatly. “You’ll still be my wife. You’ll live here. Everything stays the same.”

A bitter laugh bubbled up my throat before I could stop it. Everything stays the same. As if I had ever truly been his wife. As if I hadn’t spent three years sleeping in the same house as a stranger who tolerated me only because his grandfather had chosen me.

I stood up slowly, my legs trembling beneath me, but I refused to let him see. “I can’t live here.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Dante straightened, his massive 6’3 frame towering even while seated. His hands clenched on the table, knuckles white. “What does that mean, Aurelia?”

His tone was low. Dangerous. The kind of voice that warned me I was stepping on a line I had never dared cross before. But today? Today I was done walking on eggshells.

“It means,” I said, my voice shaking but clear, “that when Aisha moves in, there won’t be space for me. There never really was.”

I saw the flicker of surprise in his eyes. He hadn’t expected me to fight back. Sweet, quiet, obedient Aurelia- the girl who had loved him unconditionally, who had smiled through every insult and every cold shoulder. That girl was dying right in front of him, and I didn’t have the strength to save her anymore.

“Grandpa won’t like this,” he warned, leaning forward.

A pained smile tugged at my lips. “You’re going against Grandpa by marrying Aisha. Don’t you think that hurts him more?”

His jaw tightened. “I listened to him once. I married you. Look where that got us.”

The words stabbed deeper than any knife ever could.

“Because you love her,” I finished for him, my voice breaking on the last word. “You’ve always loved her.”

Dante shot up from his chair so fast it scraped violently against the marble floor. In two strides he was in front of me, so close I could feel the heat radiating off his body. He was all muscle and fury, towering over my small frame, and for a moment my heart stuttered the way it used to when he looked at me like this.

But this wasn’t desire. This was rage. “Are you in your senses?” he growled.

I tilted my face up to meet his eyes, even though every instinct screamed at me to look away. My hands trembled at my sides. “I want a divorce.”

The words hung between us like a death sentence.

Dante’s eyes darkened to almost black. “I am not giving you a divorce. Be mature, Aurelia. Think about Grandpa.”

Tears finally spilled over, hot and angry down my cheeks. “Why should I always be the one thinking about everyone else? Why can’t I think about myself for once?”

He stepped even closer, his breath brushing my forehead. “You know exactly why. You’ll listen to your parents like you always have. They decide everything for you- your life, your future. This is no different.”

The truth of it burned. My own family had treated me like an outsider my whole life. Vincent Salvatore had been the only one who ever made me feel wanted… and now even that safety net was being ripped away.

I shook my head, fists clenched so hard my nails dug into my palms. “Grandpa loves me. When he hears what I want, he’ll support me.”

“Enough.” Dante’s voice was a low, lethal command. “Aisha arrives next week. Don’t you dare ask for divorce again.”

He leaned down until our faces were inches apart, his eyes burning into mine with a possessiveness I had never seen before.

“If you do,” he whispered, voice dark and terrifying, “don’t blame me for what happens to you next.”

My heart slammed against my ribs. The man I had loved with every broken piece of me was staring at me like I was something he owned- something he would destroy before he ever let go.

And for the first time in three years, I realized the terrifying truth. 

Dante Salvatore might not love me…

But he had no intention of ever setting me free.