Prologue
316 Words
If I had known how much one alert on my screen would change my life, I would have shut my computer off the moment it started blinking.
It was late past midnight and my office was quiet except for the soft hum of multiple servers. I like it that way. It brought a certain kind of peace with it, predictable and far away from the noise of my family's world. Then a red warning sign flashed across my computer screen.
Unauthorized breach detected.
I frowned as I sat up straighter at my desk. I made sure I had built my firewalls carefully and they weren't easy to bypass. So whoever was slipping through them knew exactly what they were doing.
Lines of foreign codes spread across the screen and they were fast, precise even. I tried to shut the system down but before I could, a second message appeared and that instantly made me freeze.
Source trace to: Moretti network.
My family's network. This person made it look like I had caused the attack even if I hadn't touched a thing.
"No," I whispered, shaking my head. "This isn't me."
But to whoever was watching, the damage was already done. Fingers would point and in the world my family moved in, misunderstandings didn't remain peaceful for long. Just then, my phone rang with my dad's private number showing up on the screen. I let it ring until it stopped on the fourth ring. I already knew what he would say and what all the other families would demand. An alliance at best and the worst case would be a sacrifice. And somehow, that sacrifice was going to be me.
By morning, the entire underworld would know my name. By the next night Luca Romano would walk into my life. A ruthless leader that I'd be forced to marry just because of one attack I didn't cause.
- Writer
