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Todos los capítulos de The Debt of the Virgin Widow: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 10

108 Capítulos

CHAPTER 1

Chapter 1: The Blood-Stained Veil"Smile, Bianca. It’s your wedding day."The voice belonged to my father, but the hand gripping my upper arm felt like a meat hook. I stared into the vanity mirror. The white silk of the couture gown felt like a shroud. Behind me, Don Moretti—a man with skin like curdled milk and eyes that lingered too long on my chest—adjusted his silk tie.He was sixty. I was nineteen. To my father, I wasn't a daughter; I was a bank draft sent to clear his gambling debts."He’s a monster," I whispered, my breath fogging the glass."He's a Don," my father snapped, leaning in so close I could smell the cheap scotch on his breath. "And you’re the payment. Now get out there and act like a bride before he decides your younger sister is a better fit for the dress."The reception hall was a sea of black suits and fake smiles. Moretti sat at the head of the long mahogany table, his hand heavy on my thigh, squeezing until the lace of my dress dug into my skin. I stared at the

CHAPTER 2

Chapter 2: The Golden CageThe ceiling was the exact shade of "April Cloud" blue I had picked when I was six. I blinked, my lashes sticky with dried salt. For a heartbeat, the smell of lavender and the soft weight of a goose-down duvet convinced me the wedding, the fire, and the blood were just a fever dream.Then I moved.The heavy iron shackles around my ankles snapped against the mahogany bedpost. The cold metal bit into my skin, a jagged reminder of reality. I sat up, the room spinning. It was a perfect replica—the white vanity, the porcelain dolls, the lace curtains. But when I looked at the windows, the sunlight was sliced into strips by reinforced steel bars."You're finally awake. I was beginning to think Dante hit you too hard."A woman sat in the armchair by the corner, peeling an orange with a silver paring knife. She looked like an angel—golden hair, wide blue eyes, and a smile that didn't reach her pupils."Who are you?" My voice was a dry rasp."Sofia. Dante’s sister." S

CHAPTER 3

Chapter 3: The Butcher’s Mercy"I’ll do anything. Just don’t kill him."The words felt like ash in my throat. I was on my knees, the silk of my nightgown pooling on the floorboards, looking up at the man who had turned my life into a graveyard. Dante stood by the window, his silhouette cutting a jagged hole in the morning light."Anything?" Dante turned. He didn't look triumphant. He looked bored, which was a thousand times worse. "That’s a heavy word for a girl who has nothing left to sell.""Please," I whispered. My fingers dug into the carpet. "He’s an old man. He’s weak.""He’s a thief, Bianca. Thieves lose hands. Liars lose tongues." He walked toward me, the floorboards groaning under his weight. He stopped inches away, his shadow falling over me. "But I’m feeling uncharacteristically generous today. I have a gala tonight. The 'Gala of Shadows.' Every snake in the city will be there, waiting to see if I’ve gone soft after the Moretti fire."He reached down, his fingers hooking un

CHAPTER 4

Chapter 4: The Mask of DevotionThe heavy oak doors of the Vane estate closed with a final, echoing thud. I leaned against the wood, my legs shaking so violently I thought I might collapse. The perfume of the gala—cloying lilies and expensive sweat—still clung to my skin like a second layer of filth.I touched the bodice of my dress. The spot where Sterling had gripped my arm felt cold. A safe house. Canada. Freedom. The words should have been a lifeline. Instead, they felt like a lead weight in my stomach. I looked down the long, shadowed hallway toward Dante’s study. He was already inside, the thin line of light under the door the only thing cutting through the gloom.He had saved me from Moretti. He had wiped blood from my face with the gentleness of a lover. But he had also held me like a prisoner while his sister fed me to the wolves.I walked toward the light. My heels clicked against the marble, each sound a heartbeat. I reached the door and pushed it open.Dante was sitting be

CHAPTER 5

Chapter 5: The Breaking Point"Where is he, Dante?"I held the silver charm up, the blood on the leather cord still tacky, staining my trembling fingers. The scream from the basement had faded into a wet, rhythmic thumping that vibrated through the floorboards.Dante didn't flinch. He sat back in his leather chair, the light from the desk lamp carving his face into sharp, unforgiving angles. He picked up a crystal tumbler and swirled the amber liquid inside. The ice clinked—a cold, final sound."I told you the cost of the debt, Bianca," he said, his voice as flat as a blade. "I told you what happens to thieves. Why do you insist on asking questions you already know the answers to?""He’s my father!" I slammed my hand onto the desk, leaving a red smear across his pristine blotter. "Is he dead? Tell me to my face!"Dante leaned forward, his eyes locking onto mine. There was no pity there. No regret. Just a vast, predatory stillness. "Your father ceased to exist the moment he put a price

CHAPTER 6

Chapter 6: The Silence of the LambThe red light of the camera didn't blink anymore. It just stared. A tiny, unblinking eye recording my transformation.I sat on the edge of the bed in the replica room, my hands folded in my lap. The blood under my fingernails had dried into a crusty, black rim. I didn't wash it. I didn't move. I waited for the heavy vibration of his boots in the hallway.When the lock turned, I didn't flinch.Dante stepped in, his presence casting a long, jagged shadow over the April Cloud blue carpet. He was braced—shoulders wide, jaw set, eyes scanning for a thrown vase or a screaming accusation. He wanted a war. He was dressed for one.I didn't give him the satisfaction."You're awake," he said. His voice was a low grate, searching for friction.I stood up slowly. I kept my gaze fixed on the third button of his shirt. I let my shoulders slump, my spine curving into the shape of a girl who had finally been crushed under the weight of his world."The tea will be col

CHAPTER 7

Chapter 7: The Orphanage Records"Ten minutes, Bianca. If I find you outside of your quarters when I return, I'll double the guards."Dante didn't look back as he checked the chamber of his Beretta. The metallic clack-slide echoed in the foyer, a sharp punctuation to his threat. He stepped out into the rain, the heavy front doors sealing with a magnetic hiss that signaled the lockdown.He thought I was a pampered doll. He thought my father had raised a decorative piece of furniture.He was wrong.I waited until the taillights of his SUV vanished into the treeline. My heart hammered a frantic rhythm against my ribs, but my fingers were steady. I stripped off the silk robe and pulled on a pair of black leggings and a sweatshirt.In my father's house, I had been the "ghost in the machine." I had spent years fixing his encrypted ledgers and bypassing the security systems he used to keep me trapped. Dante’s system was top-of-the-line—a fortress of firewalls and biometric sensors.But every

CHAPTER 8

Chapter 8: The Mirror of TraumaDante stared at the crushed petals in his palm. The grey dust drifted to the floor, settling like ash. The room felt smaller, the air thick with the smell of rain and his rising heat. He took a step toward the bed, his shadow stretching over me until I was buried in darkness."Where did you get this, Bianca?"His voice was a low, jagged rasp. He didn't wait for an answer. He grabbed my shoulder, his fingers digging into the bone, and hauled me out from under the duvet. I hit the floor hard, the cold marble shocking my skin."Answer me!" He roared. He slammed his fist into the mahogany nightstand, the wood splintering under his knuckles. "You’ve been in my files. You’ve been digging in the filth."I didn't cower. I didn't even move to cover myself. I stayed on the floor, my hair tangled over my face, looking up at him through the mess. I needed him to see the void."I didn't have to dig far, Dante," I whispered. I forced a dry, hollow laugh to scrape pas

CHAPTER 9

Chapter 9: The Poisoned Gift"The floor isn’t going to scrub itself, sweetheart."Sofia’s voice cut through the morning quiet like a rusty blade. She stood in the center of the grand hallway, her arms crossed over a pristine white blazer. At her feet sat a galvanized bucket of gray, lye-heavy water and a coarse bristle brush.I gripped the banister, my knuckles turning white. Two guards stood by the mahogany doors, their faces unreadable stone masks."I’m not a maid, Sofia," I said. My voice was low, practiced in its new, hollow resonance."In this house, you’re whatever my brother says you are." Sofia kicked the bucket. The water slopped over the rim, soaking into the expensive rug. "And right now, Dante is busy cleaning up the mess your father left at the airfield. Since you’re so fond of 'serving,' start here. On your knees."One of the guards cleared his throat, shifting his weight. Sofia’s head snapped toward him, her blue eyes flashing with a jagged, manic light. "Problem, Mille

CHAPTER 10

Chapter 10: The First "I Love You""Don’t look down, Bianca. The world below us doesn’t matter tonight."Dante’s hand was a warm weight against my spine as he guided me toward the edge of the rooftop. The city of Oakhaven sprawled out beneath us, a jagged carpet of neon blues and bleeding reds. Up here, the wind whipped my velvet dress against my legs, the fabric heavy and bruised-purple. A single table sat under a canopy of iron beams, lit only by the flickering glow of thick wax candles and the distant, cold hum of the skyline.He pulled out my chair. His movements lacked their usual predatory snap. Tonight, the Butcher wore a suit that cost more than my father’s life, and his eyes—usually pits of obsidian—held a strange, shimmering fever."It’s beautiful," I whispered. My voice caught in the wind.Dante sat opposite me. He didn't reach for the wine. He just watched me. The way a man watches a miracle he expects to vanish. "I built this place for moments like this. To be above the f

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