EPILOGUE

Annizah sat in the dimly lit hospital room, her eyes fixed on the steady rise and fall of Fiore’s chest. The soft beeping of the heart monitor was the only sound that filled the silence. It had been a long three weeks since the incident, and though Fiore had recovered physically, the emotional scars were harder to gauge. Annizah’s heart ached just watching her daughter sleep, knowing the toll their world was beginning to take on her.

Leaning back in the stiff hospital chair, Annizah exhaled deeply, her mind racing with thoughts she hadn’t fully processed until now. For years, she had been grateful—truly grateful—for the life she’d built. Coming from a modest background and marrying into the powerful Romanov family had been a whirlwind of changes. But Vincenzo… he had been her rock, her protector, and their love had felt unshakable. She had thought, perhaps naively, that with him by her side, everything would be okay.

But now, as she sat there, the weight of their reality pressed down