Echo A Novel

My marriage to Dante Moretti, the heir to the Moretti family, was arranged when we were kids. But after my father died, he publicly refused to marry me. Three times. Each time, he used his dead mother as an excuse, and I couldn't argue. The third time, I walked in on him with some starlet on the anniversary of his mother’s death, and I overheard him sneer: “A boring woman like Isabella? Who the hell would want her?” “So desperate to marry me. It’s pathetic.” I looked down at my white wedding dress, turned on my heel, and knocked on his father's door. Later, on the day I moved into the Moretti estate, I ran into Dante. He thought I was there to force his hand and ran his mouth. But he had no idea I was already his new stepmother.

I was a nobody, but for three years, I was in love with Dante, the heir to the Blackwood family—Chicago's biggest name in the mob. The day I found out I was pregnant, I was overjoyed. I couldn't wait to tell him the good news. But then I heard his twin brother, Marco, ask him, "Bro, when are you gonna tell Rose it was me in her bed every night, pretending I was you?" Dante's voice had a coldness I'd never heard before. "At the wedding, in one week. I'll expose everything, then I'll propose to Isabella." Isabella. The rich girl who used to bully me. So, this was all just payback for his precious Isabella. But what Dante didn't know was that the wedding he'd so carefully planned would be missing its bride.

Durante la media noche, mi esposo comenzó a hablar mientras dormía. —Mi pequeño tesoro, papi te llevará a ti y a mami a la nueva casa mañana. Sin embargo, nosotros estamos usando protección. ¿De dónde demonios había salido un niño? Entonces desbloqueé su teléfono. Vi las transferencias de dinero enviadas a otra mujer, todos eran gastos en cosas malditamente lujosas y una casa. En los álbumes de su galería había fotos de ella en un diminuto traje de stripper, y se mostraba un pequeño bulto en su vientre. La última fue un ultrasonido. Parecía que estaba de cuatro meses. No dije nada. Solo guardé las pruebas. Ellos estaban a punto de descubrir el precio de traicionar a una princesa de la mafia.

Five years into my marriage to Dante Moretti, the Don of the Chicago Outfit, the entire underworld knew he loved me more than life itself. He’d had a violin—for me—tattooed right next to his family crest, a symbol of loyalty that could never be erased. Until I got the photo from his mistress. A cocktail waitress, sprawled naked in his arms, her skin marred by the dark bruises of rough sex. She had scrawled her name right next to the violin he’d gotten for me. And my husband had let her. "Dante says only being inside me makes him feel like a man anymore. You can’t even get him hard anymore, can you, sweet Alessia? Maybe it’s time to step aside." I didn't reply. I just made a single call. “I need a new identity. And a plane ticket out.”

The day I came of age, I had to honor the pact: marry a son of the Blackwood family. In my first life, I chose Julian, the man I’d loved for years. But after we were married, he treated me as nothing more than a tool for his pleasure and cheated on me with my adopted sister, Seraphina. They flaunted their affair right in front of me. In the end, they poisoned me, leaving me to die a bitter, hateful death. Reborn, when the Don Blackwood asked who I would choose for the marriage pact, I didn’t hesitate. I pointed to the sickly Damien. This time, I’d let Julian and Seraphina have each other. But this time, Julian was the one filled with regret.

Di kota metropolitan futuristik yang dipenuhi oleh teknologi canggih, Ava, seorang insinyur perangkat lunak berbakat, dan Ethan, seorang ilmuwan data misterius dengan latar belakang yang ambigu, secara tidak sengaja bertemu dalam konteks proyek kolaboratif di perusahaan teknologi terkemuka. Meskipun awalnya ada ketidakpastian dan kecurigaan di antara mereka, tarik-menarik berkembang ketika Ava mulai merasa tertarik pada misteri di balik kepribadian Ethan yang bertentangan. Namun, ketika Ava menyelidiki lebih dalam, dia menemukan bahwa Ethan terlibat dalam proyek rahasia yang berpotensi berbahaya. Konflik mencapai puncaknya ketika Ethan terungkap memiliki keterlibatan yang lebih dalam dalam proyek tersebut, mengungkapkan sisi gelap yang tidak diketahui sebelumnya oleh Ava. Dihadapkan pada pilihan sulit, Ava harus memutuskan apakah akan mempercayai atau meninggalkan Ethan. Namun, keduanya bersatu untuk menghadapi ancaman dari proyek rahasia tersebut, menggunakan keahlian dan sumber daya mereka untuk melawan musuh yang tak terduga. Dengan mengorbankan diri untuk melindungi satu sama lain, mereka berhasil mengalahkan musuh dan membangun masa depan yang lebih baik bersama. Akhirnya, Ava dan Ethan memulai babak baru dalam hubungan mereka, siap menghadapi apa pun yang datang bersama-sama, sambil berkontribusi pada masyarakat dengan integrasi teknologi dan kebaikan hati mereka.

The sixth year I gave up my family, my name, everything, to be with Marcus. That’s when I found out I was just a stand-in for the one he could never forget. And now, she was back. I accepted my family’s arrangement. The marriage alliance. The day my engagement dress arrived at the office, Marcus looked pissed. “I thought we agreed we’d get married when my career was more stable.” I said nothing. But when the wedding invitation arrived, Marcus finally broke. The groom wasn't him. It was the heir to the Moretti family.

My marriage to Dante, the Moretti heir, was meant to be a union of power, an alliance of empires. But for me, it was also the real deal. Then his adopted sister, Clara, showed up at a party. She was wearing his custom leather jacket, straddling his prized Ducati, and she looked right at me with a smirk. "Dante says," she purred, "that I suit these precious things better than you do." My smile froze. Dante had her on a plane overseas so fast it was like she'd never existed. Five years later, the night before our wedding. I found him staring at the design for our wedding rings. He'd changed the engraving. The "Amor Aeternus"—Eternal Love—was gone. In its place: "Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa." My sin, my greatest sin. I took off my veil right then and there. "The wedding," I said, my voice like ice, "is off."

My Alpha was gravely wounded in a battle with a rival pack. But I wasn’t worried. I wasn’t even flustered. I let him go, three thousand kilometers away, to be healed. Because in my past life, Damien got himself injured on purpose, all to give his healer mistress, Isla, a shot at glory. Worried sick about him, I forced our pack’s healers to treat him instead. But Isla lost her one shot at fame. Without it, she couldn't secure her place in any pack and eventually killed herself. Damien's life was saved, but he blamed me for her death. He poisoned me, leaving me to die in agony. When I opened my eyes again, I was back. Right before Damien got hurt.

For five years, Marco Falcone was the perfect man. Or so I thought. The illusion shattered on the night of our engagement party, when his mistress crashed it, a five-year-old boy in tow. The boy ran straight to Marco, crying, "Daddy! Daddy, I finally found you!" It had to be some kind of sick joke. But then Marco turned to me, his voice stripped of all warmth. "This is my son, Leo. A… mistake Sofia and I made five years ago." "Leo is the Falcone heir. I have to legitimize them. That means I'll be engaged to Sofia first." "But Lydia, believe me, I still love you. We can have our engagement party in six months. You're going to be the Donna of the Falcone family. I expect you to be generous and understanding. This is non-negotiable." I laughed, a cold, sharp sound, and slid the engagement ring off my finger. My eyes scanned the room and locked on the man in the corner—Lorenzo Moretti, the most powerful Don in New York. He held another title, one only I knew: the man who’d been trying to make me his. "Don Moretti," I called out, my voice clear and steady. "I find myself in need of a new fiancé. Are you interested?"