Chapter 10: Three Days
1142 Words
Damien read the message for the fourth time.
YOU AND ADDIE STERLING WILL BE MARRIED IN THREE DAYS.
His phone lay on the desk.
Luca stood across from him, equally confused.
“This has to be a joke.”
Damien slowly leaned back in his chair.
“The Serpent doesn't make jokes.”
“But marriage?” Luca ran a hand through his hair. “Why?”
Damien's expression darkened.
“Control.”
Luca looked at him.
“You think they're forcing an alliance?”
“I think they're forcing something neither of us understands yet.”
His eyes returned to the message.
ADDIE STERLING.
Not Adeline Vale.
Addie Sterling.
The Serpent knew her real identity.
Which meant—
“They know who she is,” Damien said quietly.
Luca frowned.
“Who?”
Damien didn't answer.
Because that was the problem.
He didn't know.
He had spent days investigating Addie, following her movements, watching her disappear from surveillance, and studying every lie hidden behind the identity of Adeline Vale.
But even now—
He still didn't know who Addie Sterling really was.
And in three days—
She was supposed to become his wife.
The thought should have angered him.
Instead, that strange feeling returned.
That warmth.
That unfamiliar flutter in his chest.
Damien immediately stood.
“No.”
Luca looked at him.
“No?”
“I don't accept orders.”
“But Boss—”
“No one decides who I marry.”
His voice echoed through the office.
Silence followed.
Then his phone buzzed again.
A new message.
REFUSAL IS NOT AN OPTION.
Damien's eyes hardened.
For the first time in years—
Someone had issued him a threat.
ADDIE'S HOTEL — SAME NIGHT
Addie sat on the edge of her bed, staring at her phone.
Three days.
Three days until she was expected to marry Damien Moretti.
She should have been furious.
Instead, her mind was already working.
Calculating.
Analyzing.
A forced marriage would give her something she had struggled to obtain since the beginning.
Access.
Direct access.
To Damien.
His home.
His routine.
His secrets.
His weaknesses.
Addie stood and walked toward the window.
“Interesting.”
Her phone rang.
She answered.
“What?”
Her handler's voice came through.
“You received the message.”
“Yes.”
“And?”
Addie looked down at the city below.
“I'll accept.”
There was silence.
“You're willing to marry Damien Moretti?”
“Marriage is just another cover.”
“And the mission?”
“Doesn't change.”
Her expression became cold.
“I'll get closer.”
A pause.
“And when the opportunity comes?”
Addie's eyes darkened.
“I'll finish it.”
The call ended.
Addie looked at her reflection in the window.
She had spent her life becoming someone who could disappear into any identity.
A student.
A socialite.
A stranger.
Now she had one more role to play.
A bride.
THE NEXT MORNING
Damien was waiting.
Addie knew immediately.
The moment she entered the private café, she spotted him sitting near the window.
She approached his table.
“You called?”
Damien looked up.
For a brief second, that strange feeling returned.
There she was.
And despite everything happening around them, seeing her again brought that same unfamiliar sense of relief.
He hated it.
He didn't understand it.
So he ignored it.
“Sit.”
Addie remained standing.
“You don't own the chair.”
Damien's expression remained blank.
“You received the message.”
It wasn't a question.
Addie finally sat.
“Yes.”
“And?”
“And what?”
“What do you plan to do?”
Addie studied him.
“What do you plan to do?”
“I asked first.”
“And I ignored it.”
For several seconds, neither spoke.
Then Damien leaned forward.
“You know this isn't normal.”
“Obviously.”
“Someone is forcing us into this.”
“I noticed.”
“Then why aren't you trying to stop it?”
Addie raised an eyebrow.
“Who said I'm not?”
Damien watched her carefully.
She was too calm.
Too composed.
As though the idea of marrying a man she barely knew wasn't enough to disturb her.
But then again—
Addie had never behaved normally.
“Who are you?” Damien asked.
Her expression didn't change.
“You've asked me that before.”
“And you never answered.”
“Maybe because you keep asking the wrong question.”
His eyes narrowed.
“What question should I ask?”
Addie leaned back.
“Why would the Serpent want us married?”
That silenced him.
Because she was right.
This wasn't about them.
It couldn't be.
The Serpent wanted something.
And whatever it was—
Their marriage was the key.
UNKNOWN LOCATION
A figure stood in the darkness.
A large screen displayed photographs.
Damien and Addie.
The library.
The gala.
The docks.
Their movements had been documented for weeks.
A man stepped forward.
“They're suspicious.”
“Of course they are.”
“What if they refuse?”
The shadowed figure looked at a photograph of Addie.
“She won't.”
“And Moretti?”
The figure was silent for a moment.
Then—
“He doesn't know it yet.”
“What?”
The figure smiled.
“He already has a weakness.”
The screen changed.
A photograph of Damien watching Addie.
Then another.
And another.
“He just hasn't realized what it is.”
MORETTI ESTATE
That evening, Damien stood alone in his office.
Luca entered carrying another file.
“You need to see this.”
Damien took it.
Inside was an old photograph.
His expression changed.
“Where did you get this?”
“Anonymous delivery.”
The photograph showed Damien years ago.
Standing beside his father.
But there was something else.
Someone in the background.
A young girl.
The image was blurry.
Almost impossible to identify.
But Damien recognized the pendant around her neck.
A silver serpent.
His eyes hardened.
“The Serpent.”
Luca nodded.
“There was a note.”
Damien turned the photograph over.
Three words were written across the back.
SHE REMEMBERS NOTHING.
Damien went still.
“What does that mean?”
“I don't know.”
His eyes moved back to the photograph.
The girl.
The Serpent.
The forced marriage.
Addie.
For the first time, Damien considered something impossible.
Was Addie somehow connected to his past?
Before he could think further, his phone buzzed.
A message.
TWO DAYS.
Damien stared at the screen.
Then looked back at the photograph.
Something was coming.
Something buried long before Addie Sterling entered his life.
And now—
With every step closer to the altar—
They were walking closer to the truth.
A truth neither of them was prepared to uncover.
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