The killer of her best friend wants her. What happens when the lines between hatred and desire begin to blur?
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╰┈⫸ 𝑺 𝒀 𝑵 𝑶 𝑷 𝑺 𝑰 𝑺:
𝐐𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢'𝐬 life takes a harrowing turn on her best friend's wedding day whe...
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I've never regretted returning the ring to Demetrius. Until now.
Now, as the red diamond shines on my finger, against my own unwillingness, holding the symbol of a forced bond, I regret everything.
The ring was supposed to be worn by Anastasia. Or so Rafael de Luca fooled all of us into believing.
I feel mortification. Guilt. And a familiar and unfamiliar emotion. Hatred and fear.
Hatred because of Rafael de Luca.
Fear because of Anastasia Rossi. My sister. What happened to her?
Where is my sister?
The man standing beside me, forcing me to make a vow I'd rather die than make, could do anything and everything. Including taking the last lifeline I'm holding onto.
"Now, you may kiss the bride."
He didn't care about the corpse before our feet, the unconscious people filling this venue where I tried my hardest to find Ana. No, he didn't. He kissed me without a care in the world.
It was harsh. Bruising. Painful.
Everything he had promised to inflict on me when he took the vows while holding his cousin's corpse in his arms.
The last thing I expected was to feel hurt. I shouldn't feel hurt that the man who kissed me did so without any affection. I shouldn't feel tears blurring my closed vision.
Rafael de Luca removed his mouth from mine, not even close to being as breathless as I felt. I didn't open my eyes to see him, fearing the tears he'd find there and laugh at my misery. But I felt his taunting, tainting gaze fixed on my face.
He stared for a long time until I opened my eyes, and then he turned his face away.
Maybe he couldn't face my eyes.
Had he felt this now? Had he felt the hatred I feel for him?
My lies will be worth it if he did.
He didn't say anything, neither did he wait for me to speak when he calmly held my wrist and took my lead, never asking once if I wanted to follow him at all.
Leaving behind the people oblivious to what happened just now, tonight, here, my eyes rove around the venue for the last time, with the last wish in my heart that I'll find my sister amongst them. Unconscious but alive, at least.
I find no sign of Anastasia. I don't see a lot more people. Romario de Luca, Rafael's brother, was not here. Neither was his sister or her husband. I hadn't seen a glimpse of that pretty woman named Genevieve either, along with her husband.
There were some more people who aren't here.
And there are only two possibilities. Either they just left sooner, or they had known what would happen tonight and left sooner.
Either way, that was a relief and a disappointment.
A black SUV awaited outside the venue which I found after we made our way out of the entrance, and I couldn't help letting out a sniffled chuckle.
How foolish we were.
The man beside me had everything planned on the inside, and no one, not even his own father, had any idea.
In a swift motion, I pulled myself from his grasp, and unsurprisingly, he let me do so. Because he knew I had no way of escaping.
I made my way inside the SUV, with my enemy and now my husband following my lead.
Rafael de Luca was still silent. I couldn't decipher if he was simply mourning, or just devising another heinous plan to punish me. However, I knew.
That man, when he ran his mouth unnecessarily, was the least dangerous. But his silence was eerie. Disturbing. Dangerous.
Because no one knows what's going on in his mind.
I couldn't make out his ocean-blue eyes in the dark when I tried taking a glimpse of his face. His head remained turned the other way as well. He sat far from my proximity, fortunately.
I was afraid the last bit of privacy would be snatched away from me as well.
At least, Rafael de Luca was decent enough to keep his distance from someone he hated.
The silence in the ride brought me back to thinking of my sister again, whatever happened to her. The girl has always been a survivor. And I hope she survives this time too, for me at least, before I find her.
I will find her.
My throat clogged up when I imagined myself in Rafael's shoes, having my cousin brutally murdered and not being able to do anything about it.
I have no knowledge of Rafael's relationship with his sister, if they were close or not, but his haunted reaction that was still etched into my brain told me they were indeed close.
By the time the SUV took us somewhere, seemingly the destination of my next hell, it stopped on the driveway.
I hadn't seen the face of the driver, neither did Rafael when he made his way out without waiting for me.
I could rot in this damned SUV for all he cared, I know.
So I was surprised when the door from my side opened, making me turn my head. I let out a small gasp upon having myself being carried up. By the very person I least expected.
The glint and grin on his face returned, the gloom and rage from earlier washed away like those expressions were never there in the first place. But I knew a facade when I saw one, especially if that someone was Rafael de Luca.
Had I not been so surprised and feared falling, I would've never hooked my arms around his neck, only to encounter his wicked smile in return.
Hell, I am far from being better, and sane, when I was at this man's proximity. His arms carried me around like a potato sack as he took me inside the large, gigantic mansion standing tall above the hill. I knew with one glance that I was within the de Lucas' residence, and where I'll be caged for who knows how long.
Even the paintings on the walls mocked me, and I could only blame my poor fate.
My body, my entire being, tensed when I felt Rafael de Luca's mouth close to my ear, his body, suffocating as it was before, and heard what drained the blood from my face.
