SOLD
Lucia's POV
My life has just ended and I was in a suffocating, heavy white dress.
It was the morning of my alleged wedding. It was not a dreamy ceremony every girl wished for rather it was a forced ceremony for me.
“Stand still, Lucia,” my aunt snapped, adjusting the veil over my face. “This is your only chance to save your family.”
Save my family.
The words echoed bitterly in my mind.
If this was salvation, then why did it feel like I was walking straight into hell?
Downstairs, the house was quieter than usual. No laughter. No music. Just tension thick enough to choke on. My father couldn’t even look me in the eyes. The same man who once called me his little girl had just handed me over like I was nothing more than payment.
Payment for his debts.
Payment to a man I had never met, Rio. Even his name felt dangerous.
“A Mafia boss,” I had whispered when I first heard.
“A powerful man,” my father corrected, avoiding my gaze.
A dangerous man.
My stomach twisted as the black cars pulled up outside. Through the window, I caught a glimpse of men in dark suits stepping out, their presence cold and controlled. And then… him.
Rio.
Tall. Calm. Terrifying. Dangerous.
He didn’t look like a monster in fact he was handsome. Dressed in a well tailored black three-piece suit, he looked like a fallen angel. That was the scariest part.
“Lucia,” my father finally said, his voice low, almost ashamed. “This is the only way.”
I turned to him, my heart breaking in slow motion. “You’re selling me.”
His silence was my answer.
The ride to the mansion was silent. I sat beside a stranger who now owned my future, my freedom and my life. Rio didn’t touch me, didn’t speak and didn't even look my way.
But his presence filled the entire car.
“You’ll learn,” he said suddenly, his deep voice cutting through the silence. “To behave like my wife.”
My fingers clenched in my dress. I tried to be strong but I was so scared. I blurted, “I will never be yours,”. For a moment, nothing happened. Then he turned slightly, just enough for me to feel the weight of his gaze. “We’ll see.”
The motorcade rode slowly what seemed like hours and we finally got to Rio's mansion. The mansion gates opened like the jaws of a beast welcoming its prey and just like that…
I was no longer Lucia. I was Mrs. Rio and my nightmare had only just begun.
Rio got out of the car before I could catch my breath and disappeared into the mansion. It wasn’t just a house, it was a kingdom built on power and fear. Towering iron gates gave way to a long, winding driveway lined with perfectly trimmed hedges and cold marble statues that seemed to watch my every move. The building itself stood tall and imposing, its dark exterior swallowing the fading sunlight, as though even the day refused to touch it. Rows of towering windows stretched across the walls, but none of them felt warm. None of them felt like home.
This place wasn’t meant for living. It was meant for control.
An old man whom I later found out is my butler clad in a white shirt and black trousers opened the car door for me as I stepped out and admired the building in front of me.
"Come with me ma'am, let me show you to your matrimonial room", said the butler. I paused dead in my tracks and asked, "am I going to sleep in the same room with him?". the butler responded, "yes of course, he is your husband". I smiled, the kind of smile that didn't reach my eyes.
Inside, the mansion was just as intimidating.
Marble floors stretched endlessly beneath my feet, polished so perfectly they reflected my trembling figure. A grand chandelier hung from the high ceiling, its crystals catching the light and scattering it across the room like fragments of broken stars. The walls were decorated with expensive paintings—faces of people I didn’t know, all watching, all judging.
Everything was beautiful.
And yet, nothing felt warm.
No laughter. No life. Just silence.
My heels echoed as I walked up to Rio who was now seated, the sound too loud and too final. Every step felt like I was sinking deeper into something I couldn’t escape.
“This is your home now,” he said coldly.
Home.
The word felt new on my tongue.
I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly cold despite the luxury surrounding me. This place wasn’t built for comfort. It was built for control and I was just another thing he owned within it.
As the doors shut behind me with a heavy thud, something inside me broke.
Because deep down…
I knew I might never leave this place again.
