5. Determined

SOPHIA'S POV

The first few days of married life in the Moretti household were strange, to say the least. If it weren’t for the solid weight of the gold ring on my finger, I might have convinced myself that the wedding had been some surreal fever dream. The ceremony had been so brief that it didn’t feel like I had stepped into a marriage at all, only into a performance.

The estate felt different now. Every step I took was more cautious, more deliberate, as though the walls themselves were watching me. The staff, once polite but distant, seemed even more reserved. Some avoided my eyes entirely, while others offered me tight smiles that didn’t quite reach their eyes.

And then there was Luca.

He was a constant presence—not physically, but in my mind. When he wasn’t in meetings or attending to his mysterious business affairs, he moved through the house like a shadow, always just out of reach. His intensity hadn’t waned since the day of the wedding; if anything, it had grown sharper, like a blade honing itself.

Despite my best efforts, I found myself studying him when he was near. The way he carried himself, the way his eyes seemed to take in everything around him without giving anything away. He was an enigma, and I hated how much of my attention he commanded.

But my focus had to remain on Clara.

I was in the library with her one afternoon, taking her on mathematics. Clara had been surprisingly open to the idea of having a stepmother, but I knew it was partly because she still didn’t understand what that meant. To her, I was simply her teacher with a new title.

“Do you like dinosaurs, Sophia?” Clara asked, her pencil hovering over her notebook as she sketched the outline of a T. rex.

“I do.” I said, smiling. “I used to love them when I was your age. I even wanted to be a paleontologist at one point.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? Why didn’t you?”

I hesitated. The real answer was complicated, tied to a childhood spent navigating instability and financial struggles. But I didn’t want to burden her with that. “I guess I realized I loved teaching more.” I said finally.

Clara nodded, satisfied with the answer, and went back to her drawing.

I watched her for a moment, marveling at how unaffected she seemed by the chaos surrounding her. She was so full of light, so innocent. But how long could that last in a world like this?

“Clara,” I said softly, “can I ask you something?”

She looked up at me, her expression curious.

“Do you ever feel... scared here?” I asked.

She tilted her head, thinking. “No. Dad makes sure I’m safe. And Marco and the others are always around. Why?”

“I was just wondering.” I said quickly, not wanting to alarm her.

Clara smiled. “You don’t have to worry. Dad says nothing bad will happen as long as we’re careful.”

Careful. I wondered if that was Luca’s way of shielding her from the truth. Did she know why she was supposed to be careful? Did she know what her father was? What he did? Or was she blissfully unaware of the darker side of his life?

Before I could ask anything else, the door to the library opened, and Luca stepped inside.

“Clara.” He said, his voice calm but firm. “I need to speak with Sophia.”

Clara nodded and packed up her supplies without hesitation. “Okay. Can I finish this later?”

“Of course.” I said, ruffling her hair.

She beamed at me before skipping out of the room, leaving me alone with Luca.

He stood by the door, his presence filling the room even though he hadn’t moved a step closer.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, folding my hands in front of me to keep them from trembling.

“No.” He said, though his tone suggested otherwise. “I wanted to discuss a few things with you.”

I nodded, gesturing for him to sit. He didn’t. Instead, he walked to the window, his gaze fixed on the estate grounds outside.

“This arrangement,” he began, “is as much about Clara as it is about you and me.”

“I know.” I said quietly.

“Do you?” He asked, turning to face me. His gray eyes were sharper than ever, pinning me in place.

“She’s my priority." He continued. “Everything I do is for her. That’s why I can’t afford mistakes—not from you, not from anyone.”

I swallowed hard, the weight of his words sinking in. “I understand. I won’t do anything stupid.”

He studied me for a moment, as though trying to determine whether I meant it. Finally, he nodded.

“Good." He said. “Because the people in my world will look for any sign of weakness. They’ll test you, Sophia. They’ll try to find cracks in this marriage. You need to be ready for that.”

I frowned. “And how exactly do I do that?”

“You’ll learn.” He said simply.

His lack of explanation was infuriating, but I bit back my frustration. He wasn’t the kind of man who handed out answers freely, I had learned that already.

“Clara trusts you.” He said after a pause. “That’s the only reason I agreed to this arrangement. Don’t betray that trust.”

The implication stung, but I nodded. “I won’t.”

For a moment, neither of us spoke. The silence was heavy, charged with something I couldn’t quite name.

“Is that all?” I asked finally, my voice quieter now.

“For now.” He said. “But there’s one more thing you should know.”

He stepped closer, his expression unreadable. “In this house, loyalty is everything. If you ever feel... tempted to step out of line, remember what’s at stake.”

I nodded, my heart pounding in my chest. That was a warning hidden in that statement.

“Good.” He said, his voice softening slightly. “You can go.”

I left the library with a heavy heart, feeling like I had just walked out of a battlefield.

*****

That night, as I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, Luca’s words played over and over in my mind. The people in his world would test me, he had said. They’d look for weaknesses, for cracks.

He had looked at me like he was sure that I was going to break under all the pressure.

The thought terrified me. But it also lit a fire in me—a determination to prove him wrong.

I wasn’t just some pawn in his game. I was stronger than he thought, stronger than I even realized.

And if this marriage was going to be a test of my strength, I was determined to pass it. Whatever it took.