Chapter One
POV: Saraphina Lorenzo
The wedding song played softly, but it felt like a funeral dirge.
Every step I took down the aisle was a betrayal of myself and everything I promised myself.
The cathedral smelled faintly of roses and old incense, yet all I could taste was ash.
The white silk of my gown clung to me like a burden, and the veil over my face blurred the sight of the man waiting at the altar.
Kai Russo.
My husband-to-be. My enemy and the man I hated most.
The whispers of the guests floated through the air like pollution.
They saw beauty, wealth, power. They didn’t see the war I was walking into.
Those older shareholders were there too. I will never forget their roles in this dangerous game.
I walked down the aisle without anyone because I wouldn't let any of these greedy men take my dad's position.
My heel wobbled on the floor, and for a split second, the world around me blurred, not from nerves but from memory.
My mind dragged me back to the moment this nightmare began.
Three Weeks Earlier
The boardroom of Lorenzo Enterprises, with its floor-to-ceiling windows reflecting sunlight onto polished mahogany.
My father’s scent still lingered; cinnamon and tobacco.
This was his kingdom. The empire he had built contract by contract, brick by brick.
And it should have been mine.
That morning, I dressed like an sss queen.
Black tailored suit, flowery blouse, the emerald pin my father wore to every major negotiation.
Today, I will take his seat as the CEO of Lorenzo Enterprises.
Today, I would prove to the board that Lorenzo's blood still meant something.
The old men sat waiting, their faces carrying a mixture of disapproval and faint amusement.
Mr. Adam, who once shook my hand when I was a child at company galas.
Mr. Falkas, whose breath always reeked of cigars and whose favorite phrase was that “women belonged in villas, not boardrooms.” To them, I was a little girl playing dress-up.
I raised my shoulders, ignoring the disapproving stares I got from them.
"Gentlemen," I said, sliding into the headseat. "Let’s begin."
The doors opened before I could continue. And in walked Kai Russo.
The richest and the most powerful man in Germany currently.
The room seemed to shrink. The temperature dropped ten degrees.
Sunlight still streamed through the windows, but it was him who drew every eye. He was tall, towering and at least six-foot-five.
His hair was jet black, swept neatly back without a strand out of place. His eyes, an impossible shade of ocean blue, fixed on me. It was cold and calculating.
He didn’t glance away. He didn’t blink, he didn’t need to. Presence clung to him like a sharp weapon impossible to ignore.
Why would Kai come to Lorenzo's company? He didn't have any business with dad as much as I can remember.
“Mr. Russo,” Adam breathed, half-standing in disbelief.
“Gentlemen,” Kai’s voice was smooth, deliberate. The kind of voice that could order your death while pouring you wine.
He adjusted his cufflinks and his assistant set a leather briefcase on the table. "Apologies for the interruption. I came bearing urgent business.”
His deep accent couldn't be ignored, maybe an Italian accent or Arabian accent.
I forced confidence into my voice. "This is a private board meeting. You were not invited."
His gaze cut towards me, steady, assessing, as though I were a piece on his chessboard he had already anticipated.
Then, ignoring me completely, he opened the briefcase and pulled out a thick folder.
Inside, bound by a notary seal, was a document that should never have existed.
My father’s signature glared back at me. The contract.
It transferred ownership of Lorenzo Enterprises in its entirety to Kai Russo.
The room erupted. Voices rose, papers shuffled, chairs scraped against the floor.
My pulse roared in my ears as I scanned the words, my father’s name bleeding ink at the bottom.
“No,” I whispered. My throat tightened. “This is impossible. My father would never give his company to you.”
“He did.” Kai’s voice sliced through the chaos, quiet but absolute.
“Your father signed this agreement before his death. In exchange for a loan. I was promised full control of Lorenzo Enterprises as collateral.”
The words hit harder than any blow. “You’re lying.” I was in disbelief.
“Am I?” His lips curved, not in amusement, but in triumph.
He slid the notarized seal closer to me, the weight of its authenticity crushing.
“You may not like the truth, Miss Lorenzo, but you cannot escape it.”
Mr. Falkas leaned forward, eyes gleaming. “This explains the liquidity last quarter. He saved the company from collapse. Without Russo, we would have gone bankrupt.”
My fists clenched beneath the table. “So you’ll all just hand over my father’s empire to a stranger?”
Adam cleared his throat. “Not a stranger. Russo has been a silent partner for years. It seems your father trusted him more than he trusted you.”
For years? I wasn't aware. These old men are with Mr. Russo.
Heat seared my skin, rage boiling, “Because I’m a woman, isn’t it? That’s what this is about.”
Falkas snorted, “The board needs strength, Miss Lorenzo. Mr. Russo brings power, experience, and money. You bring sentiment and… inexperience.” His eyes traveled to my suit with disdain.
“Pretty suits and pins won’t change that.” He muttered quietly.
I shot to my feet. “I am my father’s blood!”
“And yet,” Kai drawled, finally turning to me, “blood does not guarantee worth.”
His words cut sharper than a knife.
My vision blurred. Betrayal. Fury. Desperation. All tangled inside me. I wanted to scream, to tear that contract in pieces.
But the board watched me with thinly veiled satisfaction. They wanted me to break. They wanted me small.
I forced myself still. “You may have a contract. But you will never have my father's company.”
For the first time, something flickered in his gaze. Interest or maybe a challenge.
“On the contrary, Miss Lorenzo,” he said softly, leaning just enough for his words to coil around me like smoke. “I already do.”
The memory shattered as I blinked through my veil, the altar looming closer.
My fists clenched around the bouquet until the lilies pricked my palms.
I should have fought harder. I should have burned that contract in front of them all. But instead, here I was, walking toward the man who had torn my life apart.
The whispers rose again as I reached him. Some pitied me. Some envied me. None of them knew the truth.
This wasn’t a wedding. It was a deadly trap, and I was walking straight into it.
After the wedding rituals, it was time to go home with the mobster that ruined me.
The car rolled to a stop in front of the Russo estate, a fortress of glass and stone that bloomed against the night sky. It wasn’t a home to me, it was a warning.
Kai stepped out first, offering his hand like some high-class gentleman.
I ignored it, gathering my gown and climbing out myself.
The marble steps beneath my heels were cold, echoing with every defiant click.
Inside, the grand hall stretched wide, chandeliers dripping with crystals that caught the light like frozen fire.
The shareholders were already there, sipping champagne, laughing, celebrating our union as if it was their victory too.
But the room fell silent when Kai raised a hand. All eyes turned to us. “My wife,” he said, his voice carrying through the hall.
The word wife slid off his tongue like a claim of ownership. “The new Mrs. Russo. Together, we will take Lorenzo Enterprises into its new era.”
The crowd erupted in applause. My stomach turned.
Then Kai slipped an arm around my waist and leaned in just enough so only I could hear.
“Keep smiling, Saraphina. They’re watching.”
I did. Until the applause softened. Until a butler stepped forward with a silver tray. Until I saw the envelope resting there like ivory, sealed with red wax.
Kai plucked it from the tray and handed it to me.
“A gift,” he murmured. “From someone who couldn’t attend the wedding.”
Confused, I broke the seal. My eyes scanned the single line scrawled inside in neat, deliberate handwriting:
“Don’t trust your husband. He knows about it… your father's death.”
The paper trembled in my hands. The surrounding hall spun. I looked up and Kai was watching me. Not surprised. Not alarmed.
Smiling.
He knew about the letter?
