Dante Moretti, the ruthless Billionaire CEO, hungers for power and control. Cold, calculated, he sends shivers down his rivals' spines with his cold, calculated way into any business deal that might pop up in his way. But inside the steely exterior of this man, a traumatic past torments him to have left him detached and numb as regards love. His goal is simple: solidify his control and paramountcy and build on an empire. Lyra Caine grew up privileged in a family that had disintegrated; the fortune of her father, Richard Caine, once a strong king of finance, had shrunk due to a number of bad investments. She needed to be married off to Dante Moretti, a man rumored never to have shied away from getting ruthless in whatever business dealings he had, so that their name would not be utterly ruined. Lyra had lived her whole life by what this great shadow of a father expected from her: fragile, with this inner fire barely apparent in herself. But here is the kicker that makes it even more twisted: Dante isn't marrying Lyra out of love or even because of business needs. He has an ulterior motive linked to her father's long-buried secrets, one that could totally unravel her family should it come to light.
View MoreLyra's feet carried her down darkened halls in the mansion, fingers tightening around a key she had discovered in the secret room. Every step pounded in her ears louder than her racing heart, and with each step, the weight of the unknown grew heavier. She could still hear Dante's words driving around in her head, the stranger's cryptic warning like an ever-present shadow: "You're the key to it all.".The cold metal pressed against her palm, a reminder of secrets yet to be excavated.She slowed as she walked into the appropriate grand staircase, her shallow breaths attempting to ground her in the house's opulence. For so very long, this mansion had been her prison and her sanctuary, gilding on a cage of steel that hid so much more than she'd ever realized. Now, with every secret she unearthed, it became more claustrophobic.Dante was not far off. His voice had been low, yet undeniable, speaking about her fate only moments before. But despite his love, his promises, she couldn't face hi
It was silence that smothered her in the room. Lyra did nothing but stand upright, leaning her back against the cold wall and staring blankly at the door that had just closed behind Dante. Her heart was now heavy in her ribcage, having sat there a while; it was like an anchor that dove deep into the abyss which a stranger had warned her of. All she had wanted was the truth. She had begged for it, but now that it was clawing its way into the light, she wasn't so sure she wanted to face it. Lyra's hands still shook with the weight of his touch. The warmth of his fingers to her shoulder had lingered long enough to remind her of the man she thought she knew-the man she once loved. But that man was a stranger to her now. Her eyes, roaming around the room, searched for something, anything, to moor her in this sea of thoughts. Her gaze finally came to rest on the mirror by the door. It reflected back an image, but the woman in the glass was no longer one she knew. The dark circles under
In this room, Lyra's world had shrunk, her heart thudding against her chest as the stranger's words echoed ominously. Every nerve of hers yelled for flight, yet the weight of Dante and the new one's presence refused to release her. The chill of the temperature rose, though it was as if even the very air took a step back from the tension between these two men.Dante's face darkened, every ounce of control he exuded now wavering at the seams. He never lost his composure, not in front of anyone, but from the way his eyes seared with barely concealed fury, Lyra knew this man's presence wasn't anticipated."You should go," Dante said, voice low and seething, an ironclad order. "Before you regret stepping into something you don't understand."The smile remained on the stranger's face, but now there was a predatory glint in his eye. "Oh, I understand perfectly." He took another step, measured in his movement as if to claim that piece of ground right beneath Dante's feet. "But it would appear
Lyra's breath faltered, the low timbre of Dante's voice washing over her like ice. He had a way of stepping into a room-a silent force that just seemed to drain all the oxygen right out, leaving nothing for anybody else. The sight of him now, standing with the same darkness, made her stomach roil as the weight of his thoughts suffocated her."Miss me?" Dante's lips twisted into an almost imperceptible smile, and he shut the door behind him with deliberateness. There was just that undertone of menace running in his voice-the predator cornering his prey. He was never ruffled, and his movements were calculated to such perfection that no one could tell what he really had in mind.Her eyes widened, and her pulse quickened as she sat up, straight on the bed, her muscles tight with tension. "What do you want?" Lyra's voice came as a whisper, shaking with fear that was barely held inside.Dante stepped closer, and it was like a storm cloud looming overhead, filling that gap between them. His
Lyra had lain fixedly staring at that contract all night long, her eyes never budging from its letters. She tried sleeping to shut lids over her dry, worn eyes but every time she had, there was Dante's cold gaze before her, the words of bad omen swimming in her head. The die was cast; it was done. And she had signed to him, bound herself over, though marriage was what the contract spoke of, it was more than that.She sounded to have just woken to the realization that she had become part of a much larger scheme, just a small pawn in this hide-and-seek game, whose rules were completely hidden from her.The morning after, her window was bathed in sunlight, with long shadows strewn across the floor. But that chill within her chest could not be warmed by it. Her gaze dropped at the tenderly placed invitation card on her nightstand white with embossed gold lettering announcing her engagement to Dante Moretti. It was a sham, a beautiful veneer cloaking the darkness that lay in store for her.
"I would rather die than marry him!" Lyra's voice shook, pacing the length of her father's study, her heart pounding against her ribcage. Her mind races with the weight of the decision being laid upon her, the contract clutched in her father's hands looming like a death sentence. It feels as if the very walls are closing in on her, inculcating an unnatural weight upon each breath.Lyra," Richard Caine's voice was soft, his face lined with exhaustion. Once-proud shoulders now slumped in defeat at the weight of their situation. He refused to look at her, choosing instead to gaze down at the papers on the desk in front of him. "You have no choice. This is the only way we can save our family. You don't sign, and everything your grandfather built, everything I've tried to protect, will disappear.The enormity of what was happening to her landed like a block of lead in her chest. Her whole life had been building to this, though she'd never imagined it would come to this-an agreement, bindin
"I would rather die than marry him!" Lyra's voice shook, pacing the length of her father's study, her heart pounding against her ribcage. Her mind races with the weight of the decision being laid upon her, the contract clutched in her father's hands looming like a death sentence. It feels as if the very walls are closing in on her, inculcating an unnatural weight upon each breath.Lyra," Richard Caine's voice was soft, his face lined with exhaustion. Once-proud shoulders now slumped in defeat at the weight of their situation. He refused to look at her, choosing instead to gaze down at the papers on the desk in front of him. "You have no choice. This is the only way we can save our family. You don't sign, and everything your grandfather built, everything I've tried to protect, will disappear.The enormity of what was happening to her landed like a block of lead in her chest. Her whole life had been building to this, though she'd never imagined it would come to this-an agreement, bindin
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