Lahat ng Kabanata ng Ruined by Desire: Kabanata 141 - Kabanata 150

The morning unfolded like a held breath. Light spilled through the sheer curtains, pale and slow, touching the edges of the room with a kind of reverence. Sienna lay awake before Luca stirred, her head on his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat — the sound that had become her anchor in all the noise of the world.Outside, the city was beginning to wake. The faint hum of traffic, the distant call of gulls, the soft rush of wind against glass. But inside, everything was still. The air carried that fragile quiet that only comes after a storm — not silence, but peace earned through honesty.She traced the line of his collarbone with her fingertips, slow and absent‑minded, feeling the warmth of his skin beneath her touch. He shifted slightly, his arm tightening around her waist, his breath deepening as he woke.“Morning,” he murmured, voice rough with sleep.She smiled against his chest. &ldquo

Luca had a bad feeling the moment Matteo insisted on picking him up personally. The car pulled up outside the penthouse with the kind of dramatic flourish only Matteo could manage, the engine purring like it had been tuned specifically for intimidation. Luca stepped outside, adjusting the cuffs of his shirt, and found Matteo leaning against the hood with sunglasses on despite the fact that the sun had already set. It was a performance, and Luca knew it.“You look tense,” Matteo said, pushing off the car with a grin that was far too pleased with itself.“I’m getting married in three days,” Luca replied. “I’m allowed to be tense.”Matteo clapped a hand on his shoulder, squeezing with a little too much enthusiasm. “Exactly. Which is why tonight, we remove the tension.”“That sounds like a threat.”“It is,” Matteo said cheerfully.

Sienna hadn’t expected nerves. Not today. Not after everything — the hen night, the hangover, the soft morning wrapped in Luca’s arms, the quiet certainty that had settled in her chest like a warm stone. She thought she had moved past nerves entirely. She thought she had reached the part of the story where everything simply aligned. But as she stepped into the atelier, the familiar scent of silk and steam and delicate perfume wrapped around her, and something inside her tightened. The space was quiet, sunlit, serene — a stark contrast to the glitter‑soaked chaos of the night before. The walls were lined with gowns in soft shades of ivory and champagne, each one shimmering faintly in the morning light. It felt like stepping into a dream she wasn’t sure she was ready to touch. Alessia walked beside her, steady and calm, her presence a groundin

 Luca knew something was wrong the moment he stepped into the penthouse. He had expected the usual rhythm of the afternoon's in recent weeks — the soft hum of conversation, the faint clatter of cups in the kitchen, the quiet comfort of knowing Sienna was somewhere in the space, moving through it with the gentle presence he had grown to crave. Instead, the air felt tight. Still. Heavy. He found Alessia in the living room first. She stood near the window, arms folded, her expression composed but strained. Emilia paced behind her like a storm contained only by force of will. Neither of them noticed him at first. Then Alessia turned, saw him, and exhaled in a way that told him everything. “Where is she?” he asked, his voice low. Alessia nodded toward the

 Sienna woke to sunlight. Not the harsh, insistent kind that dragged her into the day, but a gentle warmth that touched her cheek like a blessing. For a moment she didn’t move. She lay still beneath the soft sheets, breathing in the quiet, letting the morning settle around her like a whisper. It was her wedding day. The thought drifted through her slowly, tenderly, as if her mind wanted to savour it before letting her heart fully absorb it. She pressed a hand to her chest, feeling the steady beat beneath her palm, and exhaled a breath she hadn’t realised she’d been holding. She had expected nerves. She had expected chaos. She had expected the kind of frantic energy that made her feel like she was running toward something she couldn’t quite see.