chapter 1

Chapter 1.

MARRIAGE.

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ROME, ITALY.

THE RED DEVIL'S CLAN.

Being neglected was fine. Dying from a tumor was manageable. Having only three months to live…she'd come to terms with that. Running away from home at a young age was survivable. Having a family who never gave a damn? Well, that was expected.

But being kidnapped by her own father?

That. Was. Not. Fine.

Not. One. Bit.

Because Salvatore Romano only cared about himself, and being summoned at the Romano's empire only brought nothing but bad news. Very very bad news.

Now, they'd removed the blindfold while she sat in his office, forced to listen to whatever speech they had prepared for her.

Her father sat right in front of her, dressed in his Armani suit. While the two other guys she had hoped not to meet, stood by the far end of the wall.

“I would have explained why you're here, but I'm sure you already know. Considering that's why you ignored all our messages!,” Carlo Romano, her step brother and heir to the clan, said coldly ;his voice dripping with disdain ,but she didn't flinch. She had long accepted her title as the black sheep.

“Well...first, I do not appreciate being kidnapped. And second, I have better things to do than to satisfy the selfish demands of some certain people…brother. ” She replied sharply, her emerald eyes locked on his with a pointed glare.

"Ehi, guarda quella lingua, puttana," < Hey, watch that tongue, bitch >. Silvio, her other step brother, snapped.

“And if I don't?” She snapped back.

“Silence, all of you,” Her father, the Don, cut in, silencing them all like a blade.

She slowly turned her gaze towards him with a tight jaw.

“You're getting married, Millicent,” he said, each word coming off slow and final.

There was a long pause, a very long one. Then…she laughed. It was soft at first, then loud.

It wasn't out of humor, but out of disbelief.

It was a cold, dry laughter that echoed in the room.

“Oh…wow,” she whispered, blinking back the tears that sting behind her eyes. “You really think you can just summon me, throw me in a dress, and then hand me off like one of your pawns?”

Then her voice hardened. “How funny. Truly, I applaud the efforts, all of your efforts,” she said, clapping once, slowly as she rose to her feet.

Millicent stepped forward, her voice rising in the tensed atmosphere. “ You know what? This is very convenient. You all ignored me for years, then suddenly… I'm a bride material? Wow” She gave a bitter smile. “Bravo, truly. But you seem to be forgetting something… I'm not your little doll, Salvatore. Not anymore.”

Just as she turned to leave, her father's voice rang out from behind. “You might want to think twice.” Salvatore's voice cut through, cold, calm, and edged with a quiet warning… a silent threat.

Her steps halted slowly, while her gaze snapped back to him with an unreadable expression and sharp eyes full of defiance.

“Think twice?” She echoed in laughter, her voice laced with bitter amusement. “It seems all my efforts to ignore the guards and their pathetic little messages didn't quite spell it out clearly enough for you to understand.”

She took a slow step forward, arms crossed tightly against her chest. “Let me spell it out for you… I will not be dragged into your political games. I will not sacrifice myself to be a pawn into your so called alliance. I am not one of you, not anymore.”

Then she took another step closer, closer enough to stare directly at her father who stared at her in rage. “It seems like you've forgotten that I abandoned this sinking ship a long, long time ago.”

“Sinking ship?” This time, it was Carlo who spoke.

He scoffed, leaning forward with a mocking smile on his ridiculously handsome face.

Jerk.

“You may want to reconsider that option again, sister.” He paused, his eyes gleaming with something darker.

“You see… You don't get to choose anymore, Millicent. We have tried the respectful way, the civil way. But you have made it clear, showing us that… kindness is wasted on you. And now, you've left us with no other choice.”

Then with a tilt of his head, he gestured. “Silvio, would you mind handing me the tablet? I want to show our dear sister what we've prepared for her.”

Silvio, leaning against the far wall with his usual smugness, straightened and walked over with a tablet in hand.

“With pleasure,” he said, flashing a grin as he handed it over.

Millicent’s eyes narrowed while her whole body stiffened as she watched Carlo power on the screen, tapping a few buttons.

“At first, we didn't want to play dirty,” he said almost casually, “But I think it's time we reminded you that we're not the only ones with something to lose.”

He turned the tablet to face her. And just like that…everything stopped.

Right there on the screen was a live feed, dim lighting, cold steel, glass cage.

It was like…a medical cell.

Inside it was a boy. A small, fragile, drugged ten year old boy.

His face was half covered with a breathing mask, IV lines running into both arms. But even with everything, she recognized that face and uniform anywhere.

Millicent could feel her breath caught in her throat.

“Luca..” she whispered, her voice breaking into a rasp. Her legs nearly gave out as she reached for the tablet, but Carlo pulled it back just enough to keep it out of her reach.

“Your brother from your whoring mother and God knows who. You didn't think we had forgotten about him did you?” He asked, with a soft tone that made it more cruel.

“You know, it wasn't really that hard for us to get to him before you'd pick him from his school. That place needs a good security system. Who knows what would have happened if I hadn't shown up?” He asked in fake horror.

“Don't you dare bring my brother into this! If you hadn't shown up, he'd be safe there, waiting for me to come pick him up.” She snapped, fire surging through her voice.

“And yet,” Silvio chimed in, “He is safe from the lack of a good security system. All thanks to us.”

Tears burned her eyes, but she refused to let them fall, “You're sick, both of you,” she spat. “What the hell do you want from me?”

Carlo stepped closer, his smile gone now. “It is simple, sis. You will be getting married.”

She stared at him, jaw clenched. “And if I don't?”

Carlo didn't answer right away. Instead, he tapped the screen again, showing it to her so she could see Luca clearly.

His image shifted, showing him seizing slightly while the heart monitor beeped rapidly.

Her scream cut through the silence. “Stop it! Stop it now! I said stop!!!!”

“We control his dosage,” Carlo said softly, clearly unbothered by her outburst. “We can keep him stable… or we can just let nature take its course. The choice is yours.”

Millicent trembled in rage. She looked at her brothers and her father who had done nothing to stop them. Rage and helplessness twisted inside her. “You’re monsters. You all are monsters.”

“No, dear sis,” Carlo said. “We? We are family.” He whispered.

Family?

The only family she had was Luca. He was the only one she had. And sadly…he was also her weakness.

Sighing, she turned her face away, her voice low. “When do I leave?”

He smiled. “In two days. You will be a beautiful bride, dear sister.”

“To who?” She managed to ask, trying to keep her voice steady.

Carlo’s smirk deepened. “L’Angelo Nero… the Dark Angel himself. The Don of I Corvi.”

L'Angelo Nero???

Her world tilted.

She couldn't believe it.

In a life full of lies, everyone had a weakness. But she? She had two.

Luca… and—

“As you can guess, his real name is Angelo,” Carlo added casually, unaware of the swirling storm she was battling with within.

“Angelo De Angelis.”

Her chest tightened.

The air left her lungs.

He didn’t know. None of them did.

Angelo.

Her Angelo.

The boy she betrayed.

The boy she once left bleeding in an alley for money.

The boy she stabbed and left to bleed to death.

The man who now held the power to destroy her, to break her as he pleases.

And now?

She was being delivered to him like a lamb to the slaughter.

She was being forced to marry him.

A Don with a grudge.

A man who never forgets. Especially betrayal.

Milicent swallowed hard, but her mind was already screaming.

They thought they were forcing her into a marriage. But she knew better.

She wasn’t walking into a marriage.

She was walking into a war.

A war she probably wouldn't survive.

And somewhere in the pit of her stomach, she knew… Angelo wouldn't just hurt her.

He would enjoy it.