Till Death Do Us Part

The wedding gown is suffocating. I can feel it tightening around me with every breath I take, every step I make toward a future I don’t want. White. Pure. The image of something I’m supposed to be, something everyone expects me to be. But this gown—it feels like a trap, and I’m the prey. Matteo stands there, waiting. His dark eyes are calm, too calm. His smile isn’t real, it never is. We both know this is a game we’re playing. The vows, the promises, they mean nothing. Not to me. Not to him. But to the world? To the guests who have come to see us? To them, it’s the perfect story. The fairy tale. But then the doors open. A chill floods the room. The air shifts like something heavy and dark has entered. I don’t need to see him to feel it. The weight. The power. The danger. Lorenzo. My heart stutters, then skips a beat. His name tastes bitter in my mouth, like I’ve been chewing on glass. I turn. He’s standing there, tall, cloaked in black, the mask covering his face. But I don’t need to see his eyes to know who he is. His presence is enough. He steps forward, and I freeze. My pulse thrums in my ears, too loud, too fast. Everyone else is confused, startled. But I can’t move. My body is locked in place, as if all my sins, all the things I’ve tried to bury, are coming for me in that one moment. Lorenzo reaches me before I can think, his hand grabbing my wrist with a force that makes me gasp. There’s no kindness in his touch. No mercy. “You ruined my life,” he says, voice low, like the rumble of thunder in the distance. “Now, I’m going to ruin yours.” My throat tightens, and I want to scream. I want to run. But my feet don’t move. My mind doesn’t move. I’m already trapped, and the worst part is, I deserve it. He pulls me toward the exit, through the stunned guests, through the doors, into the cold night air. And then, the screens. The ones I thought were turned off. The ones I thought I had erased. The footage starts playing. My voice, clear and unmistakable, ordering the hit that destroyed him. That sentenced him to hell. The lie I told to cover my tracks. To cover my sins. I feel the eyes of the guests on me. The shock, the disbelief. They saw me as the victim, but I’m not. I never was. Lorenzo’s eyes are cold, cold as death. His lips curl into a smile that doesn’t reach his eyes. "Did you really think you could escape this?" he asks, his breath warm against my ear. "This is just the beginning." I want to push him away, but I can’t. His grip is like iron, and I know—I know—there’s no way out now. I ruined his life. And now, he’s going to ruin mine.