LOGINLena Moretti was raised to be obedient. Her family's decades-old blood debt to the Crane dynasty means she's always been a transaction waiting to happen. On the eve of her arranged wedding to Julian Crane, the golden heir of the most powerful family in the country, he reveals his true nature in a brutal act of violence that shatters every illusion she had about her future. She tries to flee. Instead she collides with Ezra Crane, Julian's younger brother, the disowned black sheep who built a shadow empire from nothing and has returned with one purpose: to annihilate his family from the inside. Ezra offers her a devil's bargain. Marry him instead. He'll shield her from Julian. He'll hand her the tools to destroy the people who sold her like property. In return, she plays his devoted wife while he wages a secret war against the Crane dynasty. What starts as a cold alliance of mutual destruction becomes something neither of them can control. His obsession with her isn't strategic. It's visceral, possessive, all-consuming. And her feelings for the man the world calls a monster aren't part of any deal she agreed to. But they're both hiding things. Lena carries information that could accelerate Ezra's revenge. Ezra knew about the blood debt before he ever touched her and married her partly to weaponize it. When these secrets detonate, the fallout is catastrophic. Lena disappears, pregnant with his child, and uncovers a twenty-year-old secret her mother took to the grave, a truth that reframes the entire war between the Moretti and Crane families. She returns not as anyone's wife, weapon, or pawn. She returns as the woman who holds the only truth that matters. And every powerful person in both dynasties will kneel before she's done.
View More“Pelan-pelan, Arsen. Sakiit!”
Seorang wanita memekik sakit saat tangannya ditarik kasar oleh suaminya.
Pria itu bernama Arsenio Mahardika. Tubuh tingginya berbanding terbalik dengan wanita berambut hitam di belakangnya. Telapak kekar Arsen terus saja menarik tangan wanita yang 24 jam lalu resmi menjadi istri keduanya.
Kaki mereka masih menginjak rumput di lokasi pemakaman yang becek. Sebab, beberapa menit lalu saat semua meninggalkan tempat peristirahatan terakhir, hujan mulai turun.
Hingga wanita yang terseok-seok sejak tadi akhirnya terpeleset dan terjatuh.
Arsen menghentikan langkahnya. Netra tajam di balik kacamata hitamnya itu menyorot penuh kebencian pada wanita bernama Allice.
“Aku sedang tak ingin bermain drama. Cepat berdiri!”
Arsen meraih tangan Allice lagi lalu dia paksa wanita itu untuk berdiri untuk meneruskan langkah mereka.
Rasa sakit pun menyengat di pergelangan kaki Allice.
“Arsen, kakiku terkilir. Please, berhenti!” Rasa sakit di kaki sekaligus dihatinya membuat air mata Allice keluar begitu saja. Meski sudah tertutup oleh derasnya air hujan, tetap saja Arsen bisa melihat itu.
Tapi apa dia peduli?
Arsen justru semakin muak!
“Oke,” sahut Arsen dingin.
Allice pikir, suaminya itu akan melepas atau membantunya.
Tapi yang ada justru Arsen membungkuk dan menjatuhkan tubuh Allice ke atas bahunya.
“Akh!” pekik Allice saat dirinya dibawa layaknya karung menuju parkiran tempat pemakaman.
Ya, mereka baru saja menjalani ritual persembahan terakhir untuk wanita bernama Safira, istri pertama Arsen. Wanita yang sangat, sangat dan sangat Arsen cintai.
Safira memang sebelumnya memaksa Arsen untuk menikah dengan sahabatnya yaitu Allice Lovania. Hal itu dikarenakan Safira tak bisa memberikan keturunan atas penyakit yang dia sembunyikan selama ini.
Begitu sulit meyakinkah Arsen, hingga akhirnya perjanjian pun terjalin. Arsen mau mengikuti kemauan Safira asal dia diperbolehkan menceraikan Allice saat anaknya sudah lahir kelak.
Pernikahan pun terjadi. Hanya saja, belum juga 24 jam pernikahan berlangsung. Arsen melihat Safira terjatuh dari balkon. Dan – orang yang patut mempertanggungjawabkan kematian Safira adalah Allice. Sebab, hanya Allice yang ada di lokasi kejadian.
***
Setelah menarik kasar dari pemakaman, Arsen membawa Allice ke rumahnya yang sudah sepi. Tak ada sisi lembut sedikitpun, Arsen kembali menggendong istri keduanya di bahu. Sampai perut Allice terasa sakit dan mual.
“Arsen, kita bisa bicara baik-baik! Turunkan aku!”
Allice memberontak pun percuma. Arsen dengan erat menahan bobot tubuh kecilnya itu di bahu tanpa mengucapkan satu patah kata.
Pelayan yang sempat melihat pun hanya bisa membungkuk. Mereka tak mungkin bertanya apa lagi ikut campur urusan majikannya.
Sesampainya di kamar, Arsen melempar Allice ke ranjang.
“Jadi kamu ingin menjadi istriku satu-satunya, hem? Baiklah, nikmati saja statusmu sekarang, Nyonya Mahardika!”
Suara robekan gaun hitam terdengar mengerikan di telinga Allice. Tubuhnya polos dalam satu waktu.
Arsen benar-benar tak menjeda sedikitpun. Dia bahkan melepas kemejanya dengan kasar, hingga kancing-kancing dari dada hingga perut Arsen terlepas dan terlempar entah kemana.
Otot-otot kekar itu nampak begitu seksi. Tapi sama sekali tak memancing decak kagum seorang Allice Lovania.
“Arsen, jangan seperti ini!”
“Diam!”
Arsen membentak seraya menahan kedua tangan Allice di atas kepala hanya dengan satu genggaman tangannya.
Ini bukan karena gairah yang menggebu. Arsen tak sabar bukan karena menginginkan tubuh istri keduanya segera.
Tapi hatinya penuh dengan dendam, emosi dan duka yang mendalam. Dan – Allice harus menanggungnya saat ini juga.
Setelah itu, Arsen mengambil apa yang memang sudah menjadi haknya sebagai seorang suami. Namun, tak ada pembuka. Dia langsung ke bagian inti yang sangat menyakitkan.
“Akh! S-Sakiitt!” Allice merintih dengan mata terpejam. Air matanya semakin menderas ketika tubuhnya terasa terbelah dan pedih yang semakin menjadi.
Sedangkan pria yang berada di atasnya justru semakin kuat menghentak.
Tak ada tanda kenikmatan atas aktifitas ranjang yang terjadi di kamar pengantin itu. Yang ada justru amarah begitu pekat menyeruak di diri Arsen.
Allice mencengkeram sprei menahan rasa sakit yang semakin menjadi. Air mata itu juga turut menunjukkan seberapa gila aksi kejam Arsen di malam pertama mereka.
Ini bukan malam pertama impian. Tapi justu malam pertama menuju neraka.
Arsen Mahardika, wajah tampan khas eropa itu terpampang nyata di depan Allice. Hidungnya mancung dan kokoh. Garis rahang Arsen juga begitu kuat bercampur dengan matanya yang tajam namun seksi.
Biasanya Allice tergila-gila dengan visual suaminya yang hampir menyentuh sempurna. Tapi kali ini, Arsen sangat menakutkan dan berbahaya.
“Ini kan, yang kamu inginkan, hem?” Arsen mengeram marah.
Allice menggeleng lemah penuh kesakitan.
“A-Arsen ... please, stop!”
Arsen tak mengindahkan permintaan Allice. Justru ini yang Arsen mau, melihat Allice kesakitan. Seperti rasa sakit Arsen atas meninggalkan istri tercinta.
Sampai akhirnya Arsen mendapat klimaks dan mengakhiri aktifitas panas mereka. Tak ada ekspresi puas sama sekali. Arsen tetap dingin dan siap untuk meninggalkan Allice begitu saja.
Tapi wanita itu mengumpulkan keberanian untuk mengangkat sedikit tubuh remuknya, lalu meraih lengan Arsen. Hingga sang suami berhenti.
“Tetap di sini. Dengarkan penjelasanku,” pinta Allice dengan nada bergetar lemah.
Mendengar kata-kata Allice, Arsen menoleh sinis ke arah wanita itu. Dia lalu menepis tangan Allice.
“Jangan banyak bicara. Aku pikir kamu hanyalah wanita penggoda. Tapi aku tak menyangka, kamu bahkan terlalu serakah hingga tega membunuh Safira!” ucapnya penuh penekanan. Mengingat itu, mata Arsen makin menajam.
“Aku tidak melakukan apapun padanya, Arsen. Sungguh! Aku –“
Pembelaan Allice tercekat saat Arsen tiba-tiba mencondongkan tubuhnya lalu mencengkeram rahang sang istri.
“Aku tak butuh pembelaan. Namun hal yang perlu kamu ingat, Allice. Mulai detik ini, aku adalah nerakamu. Aku tak akan membawamu ke kantor polisi. Tapi aku sendiri yang akan menjadikan hidupmu penuh dengan hukuman!”
Tangan Arsen makin kuat mencengkeram. Hingga wajah Allice memucat, pun mata memerah karena mulai kekurangan oksigen. Jantungnya juga bergetar kencang atas rasa takut yang menyelimutinya.
“Jangan harap bisa pergi dariku. Dan jangan pernah memimpikan ada cinta dalam hubungan kita. Aku membencimu, Allice. Aku sungguh membencimu dengan segenap jiwa ragaku!” Gigi Arsen sampai menggertak saat mengungkapkan perasaannya.
Tangan kekar Arsen bisa saja mencekik dan membunuh Allice dalam satu gerakan di rahang rapuh itu. Tapi tidak, Allice harus merasakan sakit hati yang Arsen derita.
Dia melepas kasar cengkeramannya. Hingga Allice terpental di atas ranjang. Lalu dia pergi menjauh.
Setelah terdengar bunyi pintu kamar mandi tertutup, Allice meringkuk dengan tangisan yang semakin menjadi. Dia sampai menutup mulutnya demi meredam suara pilunya itu.
“Aku tidak membunuhnya .... Aku tak melakukan apapun ...,” cicit Allice dengan segala kesakitan di hati juga tubuhnya.
BERSAMBUNG
POV: Lena Moretti The new house was on a tree-lined street in a neighborhood where nobody cared about the Crane name because nobody here moved in those circles. Three stories. Red brick. A front porch with room for two chairs. A kitchen with windows that let in actual sunlight, which I'd forgotten was a thing that kitchens could do after months in safe houses and cottages and the perpetual twilight of The Obsidian. Ezra found it. Or rather, Dominic found it and Ezra approved it and Naomi vetted the security profile and I made the final decision because that was how we operated now. My call. My approval. The house that would become ours needed to feel like mine first. It wasn't The Obsidian. No glass walls. No surveillance-grade security systems built into the architecture. No forty-floor remove from the world below. It was street-level. Human-scale. The kind of place where you could hear your neighbors and smell their cooking and wave at the mail carrier without a security briefing
POV: Lena Moretti Everything changed when Sera arrived. Not in the dramatic, cinematic way where a baby is born and the parents suddenly see the world differently. In the practical, relentless, sleepless way where a seven-pound person takes over your entire existence and reorganizes your priorities through the simple mechanism of needing you every two hours without exception. I recovered fast. Not because I was superhuman. Because I didn't have a choice. The grand jury was convening in ten days. The witness depositions were in progress. Julian's testimony was being recorded. Victor was maneuvering. And my body, which had spent nine months building a person, was now expected to function at full capacity on four hours of fractured sleep and a diet of whatever Ezra could prepare between security briefings. Sera was beautiful and demanding and completely indifferent to the federal case her mother was prosecuting from a brownstone kitchen. She cried when she was hungry, which was consta
POV: Lena Moretti The contractions started at 2 AM on a Tuesday. Three weeks early. I was at the kitchen table finalizing the grand jury evidence package when the first one hit and I thought it was a cramp from sitting too long. The second one came twelve minutes later and I thought it was something I ate. The third came eight minutes after that and I stopped pretending. "Ezra." I said his name once. Not loud. He was in the next room reviewing Dominic's legal briefs. He must have heard something in my voice because he was in the kitchen within seconds, still holding a highlighter, his face shifting from focused to alert. "It's time," I said. He dropped the highlighter. It rolled across the floor and neither of us looked at it again. He was on the phone with Naomi before I finished my next breath, his voice tight and controlled but his hands fumbling with the car keys in a way that betrayed everything his voice was trying to hide. Naomi's hospital was twenty minutes away. A privat
POV: Lena Moretti Julian called Ezra on a Sunday morning. I was eating toast and reviewing the grand jury timeline when Ezra's phone buzzed with a number he hadn't seen in months. He looked at the screen. His face went through recognition, then surprise, then the controlled blankness he used when something required careful handling. He showed me the screen. Julian Crane. "Answer it," I said. He answered on speaker. Julian's voice filled the kitchen. Not the charming public version or the menacing private one. Something I'd never heard from him before. Strained. Urgent. The voice of a man whose usual composure had been eroded by the discovery that his father planned to sacrifice him and the realization that the legal walls were closing in from multiple directions. "I need to talk to you," Julian said. No preamble. No posturing. "Face to face. Without attorneys or security or any of the theater we've been performing for the last seven months." "Why would I agree to that?" Ezra aske
POV: Lena Moretti Naomi told me about the investigators on a Wednesday. Three separate firms. All hired by Ezra over the past four months. Each one given a different set of parameters, a different geographic focus, a different angle of approach. He was running parallel searches the way he ran para
POV: Lena Moretti He came to my door at eleven. No pacing first. No standing on the other side debating whether to knock. Just three quiet raps and his voice, low and uncertain in a way I'd never heard from him. "Can I stay?" Two words. A question, not a statement. Not "I'm coming in" or "we nee
POV: Lena Moretti I noticed on a Tuesday. Not the nausea, which I'd been attributing to stress and bad sleep and the fact that my entire life was a controlled explosion. Not the fatigue, which made sense given that I was running a forensic accounting investigation while navigating a corporate war
POV: Lena Moretti I waited two hours after Victor left. Partly because I needed time to organize what I was going to say. Partly because I needed Ezra to finish processing the meeting on his own before I added another layer to it. And partly because I was afraid. Not of his reaction. Of what the p






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