All Chapters of The Devil Mafia Captive Bride: Chapter 11 - Chapter 18

The air in the ballroom was thick with the scent of expensive cologne and cheap lies. Hundreds of the city’s elite had gathered to celebrate my father’s 50th birthday, but their attention wasn't on him. It was on the man at my side."That’s Alexus Cloud’s daughter," someone whispered, the sound cutting through the orchestral music. "The daughter of the legendary Executioner... and she’s walking in on the arm of Demi Shire.""A lamb leading a wolf," another muttered. "Does Cloud know he’s powerless against a monster like Shire?"I kept my chin high, my hand resting on Demi’s sleeve. Let them whisper. They saw a captive bride I saw a weapon. Demi had promised me a month of freedom if I proved I had a heart of stone tonight. And I was hungry for the hunt.Before the main event, I found her in the powder room. My stepmother. To the world, she was the "Gilded Lady," a portrait of loyalty and grace. To me, she was the parasite that had infested my home."Hi, Mom," I said to her refle

Later that night, from the shadowed upper floor of the adjacent building, Demi and I stood side by side, watching through the lens of a high-powered telescope. Below, in the sprawling grounds of the main mansion, my father was dealing with his second wife and the sight stirred something dark and satisfied deep within my chest. Even though I could not hear the words exchanged, even though every insult and plea remained muffled by distance and night, the scene itself was more than enough.Through the glass, I saw him strike her hard, sharp, unforgiving—then shove her so roughly she stumbled backward, nearly falling to the marble floor. He moved with cold, ruthless efficiency, gathering all her belongings and tossing them out onto the gravel driveway, one by one, as if she and everything she owned were nothing more than trash to be discarded. A cruel, bitter smile curled slowly across my lips. My father was a man feared across the city people called him an executioner, a man who ruled w

I knelt on the cold hardwood, fingers brushing splinters and dust as I gathered the bruised grapes one by one. Hunger gnawed at my stomach so fiercely it blurred the line between dignity and despair, and before I could stop myself, I lifted one to my mouth and bit down. The skin burst with familiar sweetness, tainted by floor grime and the bitter taste of my own humiliation. Glancing up, I caught my reflection in the floor-to-ceiling mirror—hair wild and unbound, dark circles like bruises beneath my eyes, clothes rumpled and stained. I looked less like a person and more like a scavenger, a stray creature picking through what its master had discarded. A laugh bubbled up my throat, quiet at first, then rising sharp and wild until it bounced off the walls, sounding nothing like my own. “What a life!” I screamed, the words tearing out of me, and laughed again until tears spilled hot down my cheeks, carving tracks through the dust on my face. The laughter died in my throat as the door

Later that evening, Demi returned to the house his domain, his cage sinking into the velvet armchair like a king taking his throne. His long legs were sprawled wide, the top buttons of his black jeans undone, one arm draped lazily over the armrest while the other lifted a cigarette to his lips. Smoke curled slow and silver around his sharp jaw, vanishing into the dim, shadowed corners of the room. Two of his men stood rigid at his sides, hands resting on the holsters at their hips, eyes scanning every shadow like wolves guarding their master.I never knew exactly what business called him away for days at a time, only that he never left without a heavy gun strapped to his waist, its weight pressing into his hip like a second heartbeat. I’d heard whispers—blood money, territory wars, transactions sealed with lead instead of ink. But whatever he was, however handsome he looked in the low light, with eyes like storm clouds and a face carved from marble… I would not belong here forever. T