Chapter: Chapter 4: Billionaire’s HouseI didn’t expect the penthouse to feel like this. When I imagined Koven’s home, I thought of sleek lines, polished surfaces, and luxury that suffocated you with its perfection. But standing here, I realized it wasn’t just the house that felt cold—it was him.The door to the penthouse opened with a quiet swish, and I stepped in, feeling the weight of the silence settle around me. The space was stunning, the kind of beauty that made you feel small. It wasn’t just a home; it was a fortress.Koven was already inside, of course. He didn’t wait for me. He never did.“Your room is down the hall,” he said, barely looking at me as he passed.I nodded, following his lead, my footsteps echoing in the vastness of the place. Everything was pristine. Too pristine. Like a museum that was never meant to be touched.When I reached the guest room, I hesitated. The door was already open, and the room was everything I could expect—expensive but cold, with no personal touch to make it feel like a home. No
Last Updated: 2025-04-17
Chapter: Chapter 3: Paper RingsI didn’t wear white.Not because I didn’t have the dress—I did. It hung in the closet like a ghost. Lace and silk and softness I didn’t ask for. But I didn’t wear it. I wore black. Not to make a statement, not to be dramatic.I just didn’t want to pretend.This wasn’t a fairytale.There were no flowers. No vows whispered through tears. No music swelling in the background while someone’s mother dabbed at her eyes.It was a room.A single room.No windows.Just marble walls, a thick oak table, and two chairs that didn’t face each other.He came in first. Koven Elrik Mavros.Black suit. No tie. Cold eyes like always. He didn’t say anything. Just sat down across from the lawyer and nodded once.I came in after.The silence swallowed me as soon as the door closed behind me.Even my heels felt too loud.No one stood. No one smiled. Not even the damn officiant, if that’s what he could be called. Just a man with a clipboard and a watch that kept ticking, like he had somewhere better to be.“A
Last Updated: 2025-04-17
Chapter: Chapter 2: Terms of SeductionThe contract sat in front of me like a trap dressed in velvet.Thick pages. Crisp corners. A golden pen clipped to the side, as if they wanted to make betrayal look elegant.I was alone in his penthouse office. Morning sunlight spilled through the tall windows, but the warmth didn’t touch me. It was quiet... too quiet. Just the sound of my nails tapping against the edge of the leather folder, my thoughts twisting tighter with each clause I read.No real intimacy.I blinked, reading the line again. My lips twitched into something close to a scoff. I don’t know why I expected anything else. Of course he’d keep this cold. Professional. Mechanical. Like he was buying a business merger, not a wife.No public outbursts.I rolled my eyes. As if I was some wild creature he needed to cage.No falling in love.That one? That one made me laugh.It was in italics, like some sick joke. No falling in love as if he thought I’d look into his deadpan expression, trace his perfect jawline, and suddenly
Last Updated: 2025-04-17
Chapter: Chapter 1: The Man In The Glass TowerI’ve never seen a man look so bored while offering someone twelve million dollars.Koven Elrik Mavros sat across from me like a statue carved out of winter. The windows behind him stretched to the ceiling, showing off the skyline like he owned the whole damn city. Maybe he did. Maybe that’s why his office looked more like a glass kingdom than a workspace. cold, quiet, untouchable.He didn’t smile. He didn’t blink. He just watched me, like I was a puzzle he already knew how to solve.I sat still, trying not to fidget. I hated that he made me feel small. I wore my most expensive dress, the one I saved for charity balls. My heels were sharp, my lipstick darker than usual. But next to him? I still felt... exposed.“I read the contract,” I said.“And?”I tilted my head. “You want me to be your wife. In public. For a year.”“Correct.”“In return, you clear my name, give me back my life, and pay me twelve million?”He nodded once.I let out a breath, short and sharp. “Why me?”“You’re conven
Last Updated: 2025-04-17
Chapter: PrologueThere are a lot of things you can survive if you learn how to look pretty while breaking.In front of the camera, I wore a smile like armor. My lipstick didn’t smudge, my heels didn’t shake, and my voice didn’t crack, not even when the press asked me the same question for the fifth time.“Zephyra, is it true you slept with your sister’s fiancé?”Click. Flash. Flash.My smile didn’t move. I tilted my head slightly, the way I was trained to. “Next question.”It didn’t matter how many times I said I wouldn’t answer it. They already made up their minds. Headlines spread faster than truth ever could."Socialite Zephyra Corvan in Fiancé-Stealing Scandal!From Heiress to Homewrecker—The Downfall of Zephyra Corvan"They loved to hate me. I gave them a show, and they devoured it.What they didn’t know was… it wasn’t my story to explain. It never was.Three days after the scandal exploded, I walked into my family’s mansion with shaking knees and a stubborn chin held high. Every step on the marb
Last Updated: 2025-04-17
Chapter: Chapter 7: Kade’s WarningThere was a storm coming.I could feel it in the silence. In the way the sky stayed gray even after sunrise. In how everyone moved slower that morning, like the cold had crept into our bones.But mostly, I felt it in the way Kade looked at me.He didn’t speak during the morning drills. Didn’t spar. Didn’t joke with the handlers the way he usually did, even when his jokes were dry enough to cut glass. He just watched.Me.I should’ve ignored it. Should’ve kept my eyes on the target and my mind wrapped around sttategy like I always did.But I felt his stare like heat across my spine.When we were dismissed, I turned to leave, but he blocked the path before I could take two steps.“Come with me.”I looked at his hand, not his face. “Why?”“You ask too many questions.”“And you’re too used to people following orders.”Kade didn’t move. His hand stayed by his side. His jaw was set, but not in anger. Something else simmered there. A warning he hadn’t spoken yet.I sighed and stepped past hi
Last Updated: 2025-04-19
Chapter: Chapter 6: The First TestI didn’t sleep.Not because I was scared. Fear was too soft for what twisted in my chest.I was restless.All night, my fingers played with the hem of the sheet, my body aching from the maze, and my mind tracing paths that didn’t exist yet. What I did yesterday… it worked. I caught Lucian off guard.But it wasn’t enough.Getting through the maze was survival.Getting close to him, that was the beginning of war.Morning came too fast. Pale light soaked through the barrack windows. Girls rushed around the bunks, excitement bubbling in their throats like champagne. Giddy. Nervous. Trying to convince themselves they had a chance.Mara handed me a piece of bread and a tight look. “They posted the next test.”“What is it?”“Combat rounds.”I chewed slowly. “Weapons?”She shook her head. “Claws. Teeth. Nothing but your own strength.”Figures.My body hadn’t fully recovered from the maze, but I didn’t let it show. Bruises could heal later. Bones could rest later. Right now, I had a part to pl
Last Updated: 2025-04-19
Chapter: Chapter 5: The Luna Trials AnnouncedI wasn’t expecting the announcement. No one was.The morning started like any other: gray light filtering through the frost-lined windows, the scent of burnt coffee drifting from the mess hall, and the usual murmurs of fighters nursing bruises from yesterday’s matches.I sat alone at the far end of the dining room, chewing dry toast that tasted more like cardboard than food. Across the room, Ronin was bragging about our fight to anyone who would listen.“She fights like someone who’s got nothing to lose,” he said.I didn’t look up. He wasn’t wrong. But it wasn’t a compliment either.Mara slid into the seat beside me, her tray clattering onto the table.“Eat something that’s not misery,” she said, eyeing my toast. “You’re acting like the world’s about to end.”“It usually does around here,” I muttered.She rolled her eyes and picked up a spoon. “You should be proud. You lasted against Ronin. That’s like surviving a damn tornado.”I took a sip of the bitter coffee. “Surviving isn’t the
Last Updated: 2025-04-19
Chapter: Chapter 4: The Alpha’s Shadow“You didn’t tell me you knew how to fight like that.”The voice came from behind me, smooth and lazy. I didn’t even need to look to know it was him.Lucian.The hairs on my arms stood on end, my body instinctively tensing. I kept walking, ignoring the way his presence filled every corner of the hallway behind the training grounds. My boots echoed against the cold stone floor, but his footsteps were silent. Still, I knew he was there. lurking like a predator who had no need to rush the kill.“I don’t owe you an explanation,” I said, not bothering to turn around.A pause. Then, “No, you don’t.”I stopped. My hand rested on the metal handle of the door leading outside, but I didn’t push it open yet. The air around us thickened, like fog laced with static. I hated how he made everything feel more alive. More dangerous.“But you walked into my territory,” he added, “and into my trials. You’re not exactly a ghost anymore, Sera.”I slowly turned around to face him. He leaned against the wall
Last Updated: 2025-04-15
Chapter: Chapter 3: A Dance of FlamesI should’ve seen it coming.The moment I stepped into the training grounds, I knew everything was about to change. I could feel it in the air, thick with the scent of sweat and raw power, the thrum of energy crackling just beneath the surface. The sound of wolves clashing, their bodies slamming against the earth in training, filled the space around me. But none of it mattered. Not when I was staring directly at him.Lucian Hale.Alpha. King of the Silvermist Pack. A beast with the power to crush anyone who crossed him, and yet... here he was, watching me like I was the most intriguing thing he’d ever seen.I can’t be distracted. Not by him, not by anything.I try to shake it off, focusing on the other candidates. I have to. I need to. but when I glance toward the edge of the arena, his gaze is already on me. It’s like a magnetic force, pulling me in. The intensity of his eyes almost makes my heart stop for a beat.He’s not just watching me. He’s studying me.The thought sends a jolt t
Last Updated: 2025-04-15
Chapter: Chapter 2: In The Shadow Of The Beast(Sera’s POV) My heart is still racing when I walk away from him.It’s not supposed to be like this. I’m not supposed to feel anything, especially not for someone like him. But here I am, my pulse erratic, my breath shallow, and my mind spinning in every direction. Lucian Hale, the Alpha of Silvermist Pack. The man who exudes power like a weapon, the one who’s not afraid to use it, and yet somehow... somehow, I can’t shake the thought of him.Maybe it’s because of the way he looked at me, or maybe it’s the fire in his eyes that’s dangerous enough to burn everything in its path. But whatever it is, it stirs something deep inside me. Something I’ve kept buried for years.I can’t afford to be distracted. Not now. Not when my mission is clear. I came here for a reason, and that reason isn’t to get tangled up in some Alpha’s games. I’m not interested in playing by their rules. And I’m certainly not here to fall for someone who thinks he can control me.But the thing is, I didn’t come here
Last Updated: 2025-04-15
Chapter: Chapter 16: Crossfire LoveThe Manila air carried a strange stillness that night.I knew I shouldn’t have left the penthouse. Matteo told me to stay put. But silence had become unbearable, and the air inside felt like it belonged to someone else. I needed space. I needed the city lights to remind me I wasn’t trapped in some nightmare carved out of family legacies and bloodlines.So I walked. Just past the side streets, not far. Just enough to breathe. I didn’t notice the van. Not until it screeched to a halt and the doors flew open.Three men, faces masked. Guns. One grabbed me by the arm, another shoved something cold against my back.“Quiet,” one hissed, dragging me toward the alley.My breath caught. I froze. My mind spun, but my body couldn’t keep up. Everything blurred.But then... Gunfire.A shot cracked through the air, then another.One of the masked men collapsed beside me, blood blooming across his chest like a violent rose.“Down!” someone shouted.I dropped just as another bullet tore past my ear, s
Last Updated: 2025-04-20
Chapter: Chapter 15: The Snake’s Tonguee silence between us the next morning wasn’t harsh. It was... still. Like the ocean before a storm. The kind of quiet that made you think everything might be fine until you realized you were just in the eye of it.I hadn’t spoken much since we left Cavite. Matteo didn’t push. Maybe he understood I needed time. Or maybe he was afraid of what I’d say if he forced me to look at him.I sat by the window in his Manila penthouse, legs curled under me, hands wrapped around a cup of tea I hadn’t touched. Below, the city never stopped moving. Lights, cars, people. Like none of them knew that my world had just cracked open.My father.The word tasted unfamiliar now.I grew up thinking of him as a quiet man. Faint laughter in my mother’s stories. A hand on my head in memories I wasn’t sure were real. A photograph on our altar, framed in dust and silence. But last night, he became someone else. Someone who made deals with men like the Valerios. Someone who signed his name beside blood.I didn’t h
Last Updated: 2025-04-20
Chapter: Chapter 14: Broken MirrorsThe house was quieter after grief. Not the haunted kind this time, but something softer. Like a sigh that never quite made it out of someone’s lungs.We stayed in Matteo’s study longer than necessary. Neither of us moved when the clock ticked past midnight. The fire burned low, and shadows crept up the walls, but it didn’t feel dangerous anymore. Just… honest.I traced the rim of the porcelain cup in my hands, lukewarm now, and leaned back into the couch. My body ached, not from injury, but from emotion. Like every tendon had stretched too far from feeling too much.Across from me, Matteo sat with his elbows on his knees, head bowed, fingers laced. He looked tired. Not physically, but the kind of tired you don’t sleep off.“How do you live with it?” I asked.He didn’t look up right away. When he did, his voice was quiet. “You don’t. You just learn how to keep breathing through it.”There was a pause. Not the awkward kind, but the meaningful kind.“You know what’s strange?” I asked, tr
Last Updated: 2025-04-20
Chapter: Chapter 13: Veins of IceThe halls were quieter after death.Not the still kind, but the haunted kind. Every step I took echoed too much, like the house was trying to remember where Lorenzo fell.He died in front of me.Matteo killed him in front of me.And now we were back in this silence, walking like nothing had cracked the air hours ago.I sat at the edge of Matteo’s study couch, hands wrapped around a cup of untouched tea. The porcelain felt too delicate for what I’d seen. For what I’d become a part of.Across from me, Matteo poured whiskey. No ice. Just amber and silence.“Why him?” I asked.My voice wasn’t sharp. Just tired.He didn’t look up as he answered. “Because I didn’t think it’d be him.”He took a slow sip, then leaned back, eyes fixed on nothing in particular.“I grew up with Lorenzo. He was two years older. Taught me how to fake a smile during meetings, how to cheat at cards, how to aim a gun without blinking.”He set the glass down.“When my father died, I was sixteen. The day after the fune
Last Updated: 2025-04-19
Chapter: Chapter 12: The BetrayerThere are moments when the air holds its breath. Like even the sky is waiting to see what you'll do.That was the kind of moment I walked into.The hallway was dim, quiet. Not the calm kind. More like the sharp, waiting kind, like right before lightning strikes.I was coming from the study, the warning note from the grave still folded in my jacket pocket. Matteo hadn’t said much after reading it. He didn’t need to. The silence he left me with was heavier than any answer.I turned the corner toward the west wing. I wasn’t even sure why I was going there. Maybe to think. Maybe to escape the thoughts already crawling under my skin.I didn’t see him at first.Lorenzo.He was standing near the window, back turned, one hand resting on the sill, the other holding something small. Something that caught the light.I paused.The instinct to walk away came too late.He turned.Not slow. Not fast. Just intentional.Our eyes met. His face didn’t shift. Not a single twitch of guilt. Not even curios
Last Updated: 2025-04-19
Chapter: Chapter 11: Hollow GravesThe grass felt different beneath my shoes. Softer, like it knew how to hold grief without letting it spill over.I never liked cemeteries. Not because they were haunted, but because they weren’t. Because they were quiet and polite and still, while everything in me stayed loud.The silence didn't match the chaos I kept inside.I followed the narrow path through stone and memory. Most of the headstones had names I didn’t recognize, but that didn’t make them strangers. Death made siblings out of all of us eventually.When I reached her grave, I hesitated.It had been too long since I visited.Too long pretending she was still alive in some parallel world, still stirring soup at dawn, still humming love songs like lullabies, still calling my name like it meant something soft.Angela R. Cruz1974–2013.Beloved wife, mother, dreamer.The letters had faded a little more since last time. The marble was cracked in the corner, like the earth had tried to remember her too hard and broken somethi
Last Updated: 2025-04-19
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