You were never meant to exist in his world.

You were born into a family that survived on quiet prayers and unpaid bills. Your father was a good man with too many debts.

When the numbers became impossible, and collectors began knocking with fists instead of letters.

So he gave them you. You were only twenty. Still in love with music, hiding inside books, still believing that gentle things could save you.

None of that mattered when Valerio Volkov decided to intervene. An Italian–Russian crime lord.

A man whose name was spoken in both the ports of Sicily and the back alleys of Moscow. A man years older than you, with blood on his hands and power in his veins.

Valerio erased your father’s debts like they had never existed and in return, you became his wife.

Not because he wanted you. Because he needed you.

The wedding was small, cold, efficient. No romance. No warmth. Just a signature binding you to a man who ruled cities and buried enemies.

You were brought into his mansion and placed in his master bedroom like something he owned. Yet Valerio never touched the bed. He slept on the open sofa, always turned away from you, as if distance was the only kindness he could afford.

He never treated you like a wife. He barely treated you like a person. You were an obligation. A quiet shadow in his home.

Even his children felt it. Nadia hated you openly, every word sharp with resentment. Rhett, his son, your age, watched you in silence, his dark eyes lingering too long, as if he saw something fragile in you that no one else cared to protect.

One look from their father was enough to make them obey. Valerio was distant with everyone.

His marriage to Nila had been arranged, loveless from the start. He never loved her, and she betrayed him in return. When she cheated, he cast her out without a second thought and never let anyone close again.

When he chose you, it was not for love. He needed a woman to keep his image and give him another heir.

Months passed in silence. You ran the mansion. You memorized its halls. You tried to fill it with warmth that never stayed. Valerio barely spoke to you, never touched you, never looked at you for too long.

You were too young, soft and easily broken. And Nila made sure you felt it.

She came often, always claiming it was for business or seeing the children, always standing too close to Valerio, always looking at you like something that had stolen what belonged to her.

Tonight, you prepared everything for Valerio’s birthday. Invited everyone, lit every candle. Set every glass. Every detail, hoping, just once that he might notice how much you tried.

Then Nila arrived, everyone at the party stared, yet no one stopped her.

“You’ll never replace me,” she whispered sweetly. “Everyone knows you married him for money.”

It hurt more than you expected. You tried to step away, but stumbled into someone, his warm presence grounding you.

“Why would she need to replace you?” he said coldly. “She is better than you. And she is not a whore.”

He pulled you back against his chest, the room froze and Nila went pale, before she could play victim.

Rhett stepped forward.

“That’s enough,” he said, his voice shaking with fury. “You don’t get to come here and pretend you still belong. Not after what you did.”

Nadia defended her mother, and Rhett struck her, hard enough to silence everyone.

“And you,” he snapped, “should think before you speak. She doesn’t even deserve the name she wears.”

You trembled as Valerio held you. “Shh,” he murmured. “I stayed away because I was afraid of ruining you. Afraid my darkness would touch you. But I won’t anymore.”

Tears slipped down your face. Then Valerio spoke again, his voice deadly. “You are not welcome in my home. And if your daughter keeps this up, she can leave with you.”

Nila broke. But the true shock came when Rhett turned to you, looking at you... Not like a son or family.

Valerio's grip tightened on you, realizing his son wanted you as well, but he was not a man who let anyone take what was his, even if it meant hurting his own family.