THE PRICE OF LOVING A MONSTER

Chapter One: Seven Years of His Love The city knew him as a monster. They whispered his name in fear. They said Damian Voss was a man who could destroy lives with a single order, a man whose empire was built on power, money, and blood. But I knew another side of him. The man who woke up before me every morning just to watch me sleep. The man who remembered how I liked my coffee. The man who held my hand under the dinner table like he was afraid I would disappear. Today marked seven years of our marriage. Seven years of being Mrs. Voss. I stood in front of the mirror, adjusting the necklace Damian had given me on our wedding day. It was beautiful, expensive, and impossible to ignore. Just like him. "Seven years," I whispered. Seven years since I married the most dangerous man in the city. The door behind me opened. I didn't need to turn around to know who it was. "Still wearing the necklace?" His deep voice sent a familiar shiver through me. I met his eyes through the mirror. Damian Voss stood behind me in his black suit, looking like the man everyone feared. His expression was cold to the world, but his eyes softened only when they looked at me. "Of course I am," I replied. "You gave it to me." He walked closer, wrapping his arms around my waist. "You know what I remember about that day?" he murmured. I smiled slightly. "What?" "The moment you walked toward me, I knew something." "What?" His fingers tightened gently around me. "That I would never let you leave." A strange silence filled the room. Because with Damian, promises were never just words. They were warnings. I turned to face him. "Damian..." He touched my cheek carefully, as if I was something precious. "You are the only thing in this world I can't lose, Elena." I wanted to believe it was romantic. I wanted to believe his love was enough. But sometimes love that burns too brightly can also destroy everything around it. And I was about to discover that my husband's love had a darker side.