Chapter: Chapter 11FBL CHAPTER 11CELESTE P.O.V.I woke up gasping. For a moment, I had absolutely no idea where I was. My heart pounded violently against my ribs as I stared up at the unfamiliar ceiling. Then memories came rushing back. The mansion. The marriage. Alessandro. The escape. The forest.I sat upright too quickly and immediately regretted it. My head throbbed. My entire body ached. Like I'd run a marathon while being repeatedly hit with a truck. Fantastic.I closed my eyes briefly. The last thing I remembered was running. Branches scratching against my skin. The sound of something behind me. Chasing me. The memory was blurry. Like trying to recall a dream after waking up. I remembered fear. Pure, primal fear. I remembered running until my lungs burned. And then… nothing.The bedroom door opened. My eyes snapped up immediately. Alessandro walked in. Of course. Who else? His expression was dark and cold. He looked furious. Oh great. At least I wasn’t the only one having a terrible morning."Y
Last Updated: 2026-06-14
Chapter: chapter 10CELESTE'S P.O.V.The air left my lungs instantly. For a second, I couldn't move, couldn't think. Couldn't even blink. Alessandro's blue eyes locked onto mine from across the room. Gwen noticed his attention shift and turned her head slightly. Her eyes found mine. A slow smile spread across her face. Not a happy smile. A victorious one. The kind of smile someone wears after winning a war.The room suddenly felt too small. Small and wrong. I stepped back, took step after step until I turned and walked away. I didn't run, even though I wanted to. But I refused to give either of them the satisfaction.He saw me. There was no mistaking it. He saw me standing there, saw the horror on my face, saw exactly what I'd walked in on. And he didn't stop.My stomach twisted. Something ugly settled in my chest. Not jealousy. Definitely not jealousy. I barely knew Alessandro. The man had kidnapped me, caged me and then forced me into marriage.I wasn't heartbroken. I was disturbed. And strangely angr
Last Updated: 2026-06-11
Chapter: Chapter 9CELESTE’S P.O.V. Gwen stood inside the bedroom like she owned the air itself. And maybe before all this, before me, she did. The door clicked shut behind her softly, but the sound still made my stomach tighten. Her eyes dragged over me slowly, cold and furious. Well, this was not going to be a friendly girl chat. I stayed seated on the edge of the bed, acting calm. “You know, knocking usually comes with waiting for permission.” “That’s rich coming from the woman who stole my fiancé.” “I didn’t steal him,” I said carefully. “Trust me, if theft was involved, I’d be demanding a refund.” Her jaw clenched. Up close, she was beautiful, despite the fact that she looked at me like she wanted to skin me alive. Blonde hair, sharp cheekbones, perfect makeup despite the public humiliation she’d just survived downstairs. “You think this is funny?” “No,” I answered honestly. “I think this is deeply insane.” Her eyes narrowed slightly. “So that’s why he chose you.” I blinked. “What
Last Updated: 2026-06-10
Chapter: Chapter 8CELESTE P.O.V. “Who the fuck is she, Al?” The room went dead silent. The blonde woman stared at Alessandro like she was debating whether she could kill him with the heel of her shoe and get away with it. Then she asked again, slower this time. “Who. Is. She?” Alessandro finally moved his gaze from her to me briefly before looking back at her. “Remember your place, Gwen.” Gwen blinked. Once. Like she genuinely couldn’t believe those words had just come out of his mouth. “Her name is Celeste,” Alessandro said evenly. “And she’s my bride.” Well, there it was. The collective tension in the room could probably be bottled and sold as a weapon. Gwen laughed. A short, sharp laugh that sounded dangerously close to a breakdown. “What do you mean she’s your bride?” Honestly? I had the same question. “I am your bride.” The older man beside her stepped forward. “This was not the arrangement.” His voice carried enough authority to silence the room again.
Last Updated: 2026-06-09
Chapter: Chapter 7CELESTE P.O.V. I stared once more at the body at my feet and couldn’t help the strangled sound that clawed up my throat. I scrambled backward until my spine slammed against the bars behind me. My stomach twisted violently. “Oh God…” The words barely left my mouth before my stomach lurched. I turned away and vomited onto the concrete floor. The gunshot still rang in my ears. One second she was alive, crying—the next… dead. Alessandro stood exactly where he’d been, calmly flicking the safety back onto his gun. Click. The sound made me flinch. “You’re evil,” I whispered shakily. “I heard you the first time.” He wiped the blood from his gun with a handkerchief, as if this happened every Tuesday afternoon. The guards behind him didn’t even blink. Alessandro glanced at the body. “Remove her.” The guards dragged the girl away, blood smearing across the floor behind them. “Should we clean up sir?” one of the men asked. “No.” My eyes shot up. “Let her marinate in t
Last Updated: 2026-06-04
Chapter: Chapter 6CHAPTER 6 Celeste POV The word sold tasted like copper and bad decisions. I shifted against the mattress, which felt like someone had stuffed a sack with gravel and called it furniture. The cement walls radiated cold like they had a personal vendetta against warmth. I was freezing, but I was too scared to care. “My father?” I repeated, letting out a sharp, bitter laugh. “you’ve got the wrong girl, cause my father died 15 years ago.” I swallowed hard despite myself. “Please… let me go you psyco. I didn’t do anything.” Alessandro didn’t respond. Just closed the distance between us… slowly, deliberately. The dim light overhead barely illuminated his face, but I could see enough. Enough to know I should probably shut my mouth. Tall. Expensive suit. Cold eyes that never left mine, searching my face like he could read my thoughts without effort. “Smart mouth, huh?” he muttered, almost to himself. “We’ll have to work on that if this is going to work.” A frown crea
Last Updated: 2026-05-30
Chapter: WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS GODDAMN FAMILY?Valentina’s POVAnd then I heard her.“You think I wouldn’t do it again?” Her loud voice was followed by an even louder thud, a chair, or maybe something heavier.“Goddamn it, Davina…” Christopher’s grunt, cut off as quickly as it came.“She wouldn’t let it go,” Davina said, almost too calmly. I leaned closer, barely breathing, as I pressed my ears against the door harder“She kept digging.” Wait, is she talking about me? But this couldn’t be? Christopher spoke again, but his voice was heavier now. “What did you do?”Silence.Then, finally, her reply, just one unapologetic sentence..“Whatever I had to.”I sank, crouching next to the door. Then her voice slipped through again, like she wanted every word to hit.“If she heard this…”A pause.“…tell her to stay in her lane.”A second later, the door sprang open. Davina walked out of the study, and immediately, her blazing eyes met mine.I heard it.She knew I heard it.“Congratulations,” she sneered. “I didn’t think you had the spine
Last Updated: 2025-08-10
Chapter: THAT’S HOW DUMB YOU ARE?Valentina’s POVShe stood in the doorway, her red lips curled into that signature smirk she always wore, and beside her, just a step behind, was Christopher. “ What is he doing ?” I pondered in my mind, but snapped right back when her smirk deepened when she saw my face fall.“Oh,” she cooed, her tone venomous as always, “I didn’t know you’d be here on our date tonight?”My spine stiffened. “Date?”Christopher turned his head slightly towards her direction. “It’s not a date,” he interjected.She laughed. “Oh, darling, I was only teasing. Don’t be so serious,” she purred, gliding across the room.Her eyes flicked back to me. “You don’t mind if I borrow my husband for a bit, do you, Valentina?” Oh, now you remember he’s your husband. Funny. Davina’s presence disgusted me to my very core. The fact that she could just waltz into our space acting like she’s some model wife, like she is not breaking every marital law. Yet, again, she is his wife, even though he doesn’t know the truth.“ V
Last Updated: 2025-08-10
Chapter: GREAT, THE SNAKE BROUGHT BACKUPValentina’s POVOne month later“ HAPPY BIRTHDAY AIDAN,” we cheered.Though there were layers of cake heaped to the ceiling, Aidan's giggles, the aroma of vanilla cupcakes, and the sound of our laughter were more than enough. In a way, the break room had changed. Jasmine sneaked in some party napkins with small cartoon animals, Laura put together a few streamers, and I was able to secure a bag of candles, which we lit with a stolen kitchen match.He turned four today. Four. God, it felt like only yesterday I was rocking him to sleep in that stuffed apartment, wondering if we were going to make it till next week. We did!"Make a wish!" Jasmine chimed, and Aidan puffed his cheeks and blew out the crooked number four candle. He looked so proud of himself that I wanted that moment to freeze forever.Laura handed him a small wrapped box, and Jasmine crouched beside him with her phone already recording. Aidan tore into t
Last Updated: 2025-07-31
Chapter: WELP, DIDN’T NEED TO SEE THAValentina’s POVBy the time I reached the West Wing’s hallway, my steps were lighter.Not exactly light, let’s not get crazy, but focused. I had a plan, even if it wasn’t a great or fully formed one. I just needed to see him. Maybe talk - ask him if he ever thought about repainting the walls or moving his desk out of that dungeon. Something, anything that wasn't just me biting my tongue and watching from the corners while his own family tore him apart.But just as I reached the door to the study, I heard it.A loud, hard thud. Then“Christopher!”Finlay screamed, panicked. I pushed the door open fast, without thinking twice.“Sir?”The tray I was carrying clattered to the floor, spilling the pastries all over the place. With one hand clutching his ribs and the other reaching wildly for nothing, Christopher lay on the ground, hunched over on his side. Felix gave him a single ba
Last Updated: 2025-07-31
Chapter: LIARS, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEMValentina’s POVIt has been a week, but I still couldn’t shake the weight of it, the freaking sight of that day from my mind. And now here I am, standing in the study in the dimly lit study, serving brunch like I wasn’t the biggest traitor to exist in the room.“ Thanks, Val,” Finlay smiled, as I placed his cup of chai beside him, careful not to clink it too loudly or spill a slight drop, careful not to let my hands show how badly they were still shaking, from my anxiety.. Christopher sat across from him, his expression unreadable as always, like a doll you didn’t dare touch, except I had, hadn’t I? “I’m telling you, Chris,” Finlay groaned, gesturing with his fork, “the board is getting antsy. They want reassurance, not riddles.”“It’s not my job to make cowards feel safe,” Christopher replied coldly, tapping his fingers against his book.“They are our investors. They want to know their money isn’t being buried with your pride.”“It’s not pride, it
Last Updated: 2025-07-30
Chapter: WELCOME TO THE CIRCUSValentina’s POVThe study was quiet. Too quiet.I stood by the windows, scrubbing the spotless mosaic windows. A desperate attempt to ease my insane nerves - again. Attempting to escape my demons had already become a ritual in my life, but this time, it was worse. In the past, no matter what happened, Aidan was never caught in the crossfire, except for the one accident, and after that, he was in the safe zone, just like I wanted. And now…“ Fuck, how did I let this happen” I scraped the wooden corner of the window frame, holding back my tears my voice completely quiet. I can’t let him notice I was sobbing like a child. AgainIt had been almost twenty-four hours since my confrontation with Xavier, and I still couldn’t stop shaking. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Xavier’s face, that ugly smirk on his face. The way his hand hovered near Aidan’s hair, like he was already reaching to steal him. It wasn’t an empty thre
Last Updated: 2025-07-29