ANMELDENIsabella's hands trembled slightly as she watched black SUVs drive off one after another.Inside one of them…Was her mother.Being escorted by heavily armed Valenti men to the secure location Lorenzo had prepared.Isabella's chest tightened painfully as the final vehicle vanished into the distance.Everything had happened too fast.Too violently.One moment she had been arguing with her mother in that tiny apartment…And the next?Bullets.Screams.Men with guns.Blood on the staircase.Fear so intense it still clung to her skin.She wrapped her arms around herself slowly.Trying to steady her breathing.Trying to process what her life had become.Behind her, Lorenzo stood near, one hand tucked into his pocket while the other held a glass of whiskey.Untouched.His expression remained dark.Unreadable.Deadly calm.And beside him stood Luca.Silent as always.But Isabella noticed the tension even in him tonight.The attack earlier had changed something.Not just for her.For everyone
The apartment felt suffocatingly small. Heavy tension pressed against every wall as Isabella stood between her mother and Don Lorenzo Valenti.One trembling with fear.The other radiating complete control.Isabella's mother still looked shaken from everything she had just heard.Her breathing remained uneven.Her eyes filled with panic and disbelief as she stared at Lorenzo.“You're not going anywhere with my daughter,” she whispered again.Lorenzo's expression remained unreadable.But his eyes?They hardened slightly.Then slowly, he stepped closer.Not threateningly.But with enough dominance to make the entire room feel smaller around him.“I did not come here for your permission.”His deep voice filled the apartment calmly.Cold.Certain.Isabella's mother visibly stiffened.Don Lorenzo held her gaze steadily.“I came to make sure you survive.”Silence swallowed the room whole.Isabella's heartbeat quickened instantly.Because Lorenzo's tone had changed.It no longer sounded like
Alessandro hadn’t slept.Not even for a minute.The massive Valenti mansion felt colder than usual that morning.Too quiet.Too empty.Too humiliating.He sat alone in his bedroom, staring blankly at the untouched drink on the table beside him.Everything replayed endlessly inside his head.The look on everyone’s faces after Lorenzo walked out carrying Isabella in his arms.Like Alessandro had lost.Like he had been replaced.Like he had never mattered in the first place.His jaw tightened painfully.He hated it.Hated all of it.A frustrated groan left him as he dragged both hands through his hair.Then suddenly, his phone rang.Alessandro frowned immediately when he saw the caller ID.Valeria.He stared at the screen for a second before answering.“What do you want?”His tone was cold.Guarded.Valeria remained silent briefly on the other end before speaking softly.“You sound surprised.”“I am surprised,” Alessandro muttered. “Thought you were done with me after yesterday.”Valeria
The convoy of black vehicles slowed to a stop in front of Isabella's apartment building.Immediately, Lorenzo's guards stepped out first.Alert.Watchful.Scanning every corner of the quiet street before opening the car door for Lorenzo and Isabella.Isabella's stomach twisted nervously as she stepped out beside him.This was all happening too fast.Too publicly.Too dangerously.Neighbors peeked through windows.Curious eyes followed the expensive vehicles lining the street.And standing among it all…Was Don Lorenzo Valenti.The Butcher.Untouchable.Powerful.Terrifying.Isabella felt sick.Her mother was going to lose her mind.Lorenzo noticed the tension in her instantly.“You don’t have to be afraid.”Isabella looked at him quickly.“You clearly don’t know my mother.”Isabella took a deep breath before walking toward the apartment building.Lorenzo followed beside her while two guards stayed close behind.The closer they got to the apartment door, the harder Isabella's heart pou
Isabella woke slowly.For a few brief seconds, her mind remained hazy, suspended somewhere between exhaustion and reality.The soft mattress beneath her felt unfamiliar.Too soft.Too luxurious.And the scent in the air...Fresh linen.Vanilla.Wood polish.Not home.Her eyes fluttered open.The first thing she saw was the enormous chandelier hanging above her.Then came the realization.The Valenti mansion.Her breath caught slightly.Memories from the previous night crashed into her all at once.The party.The humiliation.The laughter.Lorenzo walking in.The gunshot.Alessandro.The argument outside the study.And finally, Lorenzo's words.“You were trapped the moment you walked into my life.”Isabella closed her eyes briefly.Her chest tightened painfully.Nothing about her life felt real anymore.Slowly, she pushed herself upright against the massive bed, looking around the room properly for the first time.The guest bedroom was breathtaking.Fresh flowers sat on the bedside tab
Isabella stood frozen outside the room, her hand still hovering near the door handle, her breathing uneven after everything she had just heard.Every word.Every accusation.Every cruel truth.It all rang violently inside her head.“She belongs to me.”The words made her chest tighten painfully.Inside the study, silence settled again.But outside?A storm brewed between two broken people.Alessandro lifted his head slowly after colliding into her.For a moment…Neither of them spoke.They simply stared at each other.And what existed between them now was no longer romance.No longer attraction.No longer even confusion.It was wreckage.Pure wreckage.Alessandro's expression darkened the second he realized she had heard everything.Isabella could see it instantly.The humiliation.The anger.The resentment.His pride had been shattered tonight.Not just by Lorenzo.But by her too.And somehow that made him hate her even more.Isabella swallowed hard, her voice trembling slightly when
The party was still alive.Music pounded through the mansion, laughter spilling into every corner, glasses clinking as the night stretched deeper into indulgence.But Alessandro Valenti wasn’t enjoying any of it.His eyes scanned the crowd again.And again.And again.“Isabella?”Nothing.No sign o
The engine of the car roared back to life.And within seconds, they were gone.Leaving behind nothing but rain, and a man who had just witnessed the true meaning of crossing the wrong person.Inside the car, silence filled the space.Heavy.Tense.Isabella sat stiffly, Lorenzo's jacket wrapped tigh
Isabella stepped out of the mansion, the cool night air hitting her skin instantly.She wrapped her arms around herself, her heels clicking softly as she moved further away from the noise, the lights, the chaos.Her breathing slowly steadied.But her heart...That was another story.Tears burned be
The party went on.Music pulsed through the mansion, laughter echoed against marble walls, and glasses clinked as guests lost themselves in the night. It was everything a celebration was supposed to be.Alive, vibrant, intoxicating.But for Isabella, it all felt distant.Muted.Like she was there,







