Gabrielle Serenity had never been afraid of wealth. She’d grown up in Serenity Hotel Resorts, surrounded by marble, gold, and silence, her grandmother’s sharp eyes always watching. But wealth had never meant safety, and it had certainly never meant morality.

Her grandmother had pleaded with her for days, yelling, crying, throwing her weight against Gabrielle’s stubbornness. “You’re throwing your life away!” “You think you can tame him? He’ll ruin you!” “You’ll regret this forever!”

None of it mattered. Gabrielle packed her things and left the mansion behind.

Her husband, Dom, was a name that made people stop breathing. One of the most notorious human and drug traffickers in the country, he owned warehouses, shipping lanes, and streets, and no one dared cross him. He didn’t care about loyalty, charm, or respect — only obedience and profit.

She still used her last name — Serenity. She didn’t need to change it to survive in his world.

Tonight she sat in one of Dom’s offices, deep in a narrow alleyway behind abandoned warehouses. The room smelled of smoke, oil, and iron. Luxury clashed with decay — marble desk, leather chairs, gold pens — but every inch of it whispered fear.

Dom had stepped out to bring in another man who owed him money. Everyone waited in silence. No one breathed louder than the hum of the flickering light above. All except Vince.

Vince was fifty, scarred, hardened by decades working for Dom. Cigarette dangling from yellowed teeth, he leaned back in his chair, watching Gabrielle with contempt and cruel amusement.

He exhaled smoke and said, “Let’s cut the crap — you think Dom married you for anything but that body? Pretty little whore, sittin’ here thinking you’ve got some kind of power. You’re just decoration. That’s it.”

The words hit the room like a hammer. Silence swallowed everything. The younger men shifted uneasily. Rain tapped against the broken window.

Gabrielle didn’t flinch. Didn’t answer. Didn’t even blink. She knew the truth — she’d married Dom for survival, or perhaps she hadn’t even thought about why. It didn’t matter. In this world, truth was whatever Dom decided, and appearances were the only thing that counted.