Needing the Don permission to step out.

The words had left Victoria speechless; she'd never imagined Dante would think of her as such a lady.

Five years ago he'd disappeared without even a word.

“That’s what you think?” She asked him.

“Is it not?”Dante asked again. He’d already assumed the worst as he sat up.

“Go to bed.” He got up and walked into his room as the door clicked shut with a bang.

The two of them had succeeded in creating another misunderstanding for themselves.

She got into the kitchen and made a bowl of cereal for herself while the silence of the house stuck with her.

Why did he show up after all these years?

She wanted to call her best friend when she realized her phone was missing.

Making a mental note to get a new phone the next morning, she wondered if Kelvin had looked for her and what her stepmom would say by now.

Not realizing when she fell asleep curled in one corner of the big bed.

The morning light filtered directly on her, making Victoria stir, and her heavy eyelids slid open.

A soft knock on the door reminded her she was still caged in this mansion.

“You should come eat breakfast,” Dante said, standing at the door, his hair messy and eye bags like he hadn't slept a wink all night.

Her eyes couldn't help but roam his body and his chest, too, the scars and the wound from last night.

“I'm not hungry,” she whispered.“Don't make me,” he frowned at her. “Be down in five minutes unless you want me to carry you down myself.”He strode out, not letting her refuse.

She bit her lip in frustration. Why her? Just when she'd forgotten about him, he'd show up again.

After all these years, she couldn't lie about the fact she missed him, but she wasn't the same high school girl who had fallen for a college guy under the cold night they planned their future together.

She looked at herself in the mirror, hair messy and mascara drawn. She turned on the cold water, washing her face and grabbing a toothbrush from the shelf.

Walking down the step, Madam Agnes had already set up the table. On a normal day, these were all her favorite dishes. She wondered if Dante still remembered or if it was just a coincidence.

“Sit,” Dante said, pulling out a chair beside him.

She hated him.

This calmness made her heart thump in unexpected ways.

Madam Agnes hovered nearby, watching them both with quiet curiosity.

After a few bites, Victoria looked up. “I’ll need a new phone. Mine’s gone.”

Dante didn’t even glance at her. “I’ll get one for you.”

“I can get it myself.”

He finally looked at her, his gaze sharp and dangerous. “You’re not leaving this house.”

Her spoon froze mid-air. “You can’t keep me here.”

“So you can go running to him?” he asked, his tone turning cold. “What does he have that I don’t, Victoria?”

“That's the thing you always think everything is about you.” Victoria snapped at him.

“What about me? I had a life and a job, and I was supposed to be getting married,” she asked. “You just show up from nowhere, and now you own me.”

The knife hit the table with a loud noise, and she got up.

“Where are you going?” Dante growled at her.

“I need to see my family, and yes, I owe them an explanation,” Victoria hissed.

He moved before she could speak again, shoving her gently against the wall, his breath hot against her ear.

“Don’t lie to me. You said once I was the only one. Was that a lie too?”

Her heartbeat betrayed her fast, wild. His hand hovered near her cheek, unsure whether to touch or pull back.

“That was years back, Dante,” she whispered, her voice hoarse. “Now we both live in separate worlds.”

“Look at you now; you control the whole Moretti asset, while I'm just me, Victoria, nothing to my name, just a father who sees my marriage as a gain to the family.”

“No one can hurt you when you're with me,” Dante said, his hands finally touching her cheeks.

Her cheek was now wet with tears.

“Victoria, how can I make it up to you?” Dante asked.

“Just let me go,” she muttered.

His throat tightened, pulling back, he returned to the dining room.

The air in the room froze.

Her eyes held him waiting for a response.

“That’s impossible,” he spat.

“Go and get a new phone, and this card is for anything you want.” He threw a black card at her, not even lifting his head, sulking like a wounded lion.

“I don't need your card.” Victoria pushed it back to him.

“That's the only way I'm letting you leave this house, and your father, don't worry about him, we will pay him a visit when I get back.”

Victoria hesitated, but she had no money; all her savings her stepmom had asked for in preparation for her wedding, saying as the first daughter to get married in the family, it had to be grand.

To her, Kelvin was her only chance; he'd loved her ever since and even offered her a job as his secretary. This wasn't how she wanted to pay him.

“Fine.” She took the black card and headed for her room. Standing here any longer, and she couldn't tell what would happen.

After she'd returned to her room and had her bath, when she opened the closet, all the dresses were high-end designer dresses, and they were all her size.

She spent the next hours trying on the different dresses, admiring her curves in the mirror.

One thing about Victoria: she loved to model. She loved the thrill of being noticed, looking good, and smelling nice, but thereafter, one scandal on her first modeling job, she had decided to make money first before going back to modeling.

The dress lightened up her mood.

She settled for a two-piece collection and a sunglass while she tied her hair into a bun and applied light makeup to cover her eye bags.

The sound of the car leaving made her finally relax.

Dante was gone.

Phew!!

“I'm going out,” she told Madam Agnes.

“Do you want the driver to take you there?” Madam Agnes asked.

“No need; I'd book a cab.” After the stunt pulled at her fake wedding, she knew pulling up with a car and a new luxury would get everyone talking, so for now she had to settle everything and come back to handle Dante Moretti.

The air outside smelled of money. his world, not hers. Still, she walked until a cab pulled up, and she asked the man to take her to the nearest bank to get some cash.

She’d found a phone shop with a neon sign: “Mobile Repairs & Recharge.”

Her hands trembled as she paid cash for a cheap phone, quickly typing Nina’s number.

“Vicky? Oh my God, where are you? Kelvin’s furious. Your dad’s…”

“I just needed to hear someone,” Victoria said, cutting Nina off.

“Vicky, you have to be careful, he…”

A laugh sliced through the air behind her.

“Well, well,” a voice said sweetly. “Look who we have here.”

Her stomach dropped.

She turned slowly.