جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 100

The memory came back to me in pieces not because I wanted to remember it but my mind refused to let it go.It had happened a few nights before everything started falling apart.Before the headlines.Before Luca began smiling like he had already won.Before Serafina started looking at me like she was waiting for me to disappear.I had stepped out onto the long balcony outside my study, the one that overlooked the dark gardens and the narrow road that curved around the property gates. The air carried the faint smell of rain even though the sky was still clear. Somewhere in the distance a car passed slowly, its headlights sliding across the tall iron fence before disappearing again.I leaned my arms against the stone railing and watched the empty road.My mind was working the way it always did before a dangerous move.Every step.Every possible mistake.Every possible ending.I heard the balcony door open behind me.I didn’t turn immediately.Serafina’s footsteps were soft but quick, the

The conference room on the top floor of my company building had floor-to-ceiling windows that looked over half the city.I liked this room not because of the furniture or because of the view. But it reminded people who walked in here that I was the one sitting at the top.The city stretched below like something small and manageable. Cars moved along the roads like tiny metal insects. The morning traffic crawled slowly through the intersections while the sunlight bounced off glass buildings in the distance.I stood near the window with one hand in my pocket and the other holding a small glass of espresso.Behind me, my assistant moved around the table while placing printed documents into neat stacks.“Reporters are already downstairs,” she said while glancing at her tablet. “More arrived in the last ten minutes.”I took a slow sip of the coffee and watched a helicopter drift across the sky far away.“Good news,” I replied.She hesitated before speaking again.“Some of them are asking

The first thing I noticed when the car stopped in front of Luca’s mansion was the number of cameras.Not outside the gate.Outside the gate was normal.There were cameras inside the gate too.A black van with a long antenna sat near the fountain in the circular driveway. Two men leaned against it while holding equipment that looked expensive enough to buy a small house.I stared through the window for a moment.Then I turned slowly toward the driver.“Did Luca invite the media into his house now?”The driver gave an awkward little cough.“I… believe he calls it transparency.”I snorted.“Of course he does.”My phone buzzed in my hand.Another notification.Another headline.SERAFINA VALENTI EXPECTED TO RESPOND TODAYExpected by who?The United Nations?The entire internet apparently thought I woke up every morning just to update them about my emotional crisis.I shoved the phone into my bag before I could throw it at the window.“Open the door,” I muttered.The driver stepped out quic

The first time I returned to Luca’s mansion after agreeing to marry him, the guards at the gate looked at me like I had suddenly become royalty.The gate opened before my car even stopped.One of the guards stepped forward quickly and bowed his head slightly.“Miss Valenti,” he said respectfully while speaking into his radio. “Mr. De Santis is expecting you.”Of course he was.Luca De Santis liked control the same way other people liked breathing.The car rolled slowly up the long driveway. The fountain in the center sprayed water into the air like something out of a luxury magazine, and the mansion stood tall behind it like it had been waiting for centuries to watch people make bad decisions.My driver glanced at me in the mirror.“You look calm,” he said carefully.“I am calm.”“You’re about to marry the most dangerous man in this city.”I adjusted the sleeve of my coat. “Yes.”He hesitated. “That doesn’t concern you?”I opened the door before he could keep talking.“I’m more conce

If anyone had told me two weeks ago that I would be sitting in the middle of Luca De Santis’s mansion while three wedding planners argued over flower colors like their lives depended on it, I would have laughed in their face.Now here I was.Right in the middle of the madness.I sat on a large cream sofa in the living room while a woman with a tight bun waved a tablet in the air like it was a weapon.“White roses create a cleaner aesthetic,” she said firmly while pointing at the screen.Another planner gasped like she had just heard something illegal.“White roses are boring,” she argued while placing both hands on her hips. “Red roses represent passion.”A third woman clutched a giant binder and shook her head.“Red roses are aggressive.”I blinked slowly.Aggressive.They were talking about flowers like they were gang members.I leaned back into the sofa and rubbed my temple.This was only hour two.Across the room, Luca stood near the fireplace with Marco beside him. Luca had one h