𝐃𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈𝐧 𝐃𝐞𝐛𝐭𝐬

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞

In the light of the wedding hall, Celeste Vinci stood at the altar, her heart heavy with fear and uncertainty. At the age of nineteen, she was just a girl cloaked in the illusion of a bride bound to a man she barely knew. From a young age Celeste had longed to escape her crumbling family, a chaotic household that had scarred her childhood.

In her heart she envisioned a life filled with love and security — a marriage built on genuine affection. Yet, that hope turned to ash when her family's desires forcefully placed her in an arranged marriage with Leonardo Capriano. He was powerful, commanding respect with every word yet his gaze held a tenderness that surprised her.

As they exchanged vows, she felt a weight of her own expectations pressing down on her — expectations of becoming the perfect wife, a perfect mother. Little did she know that the very foundation of her new life was already cracking beneath the surface.

In the early days if their marriage, Leonardo tried to nurture her, to build a home where love could flourish. Yet the shadows of his world — brutal and harsh — hung over them. He tried to be the man she needed pouring every ounce of his strength into the family. He sought help, offered support and made promises but it felt like nothing could lift the darkness that surrounded them.

Celeste found herself lost in the jungles of her new life, struggling to meet the demands of her role while battling her own insecurities. It was during these hard days that she first tasted the escape of drugs, offered by a friend who claimed it would help her relax, help her feel alive. What started as an escape quickly spiralled into a relentless cycle. The drugs became her solace, filling the void left by her unfulfilled dreams.

Leonardo noticed her changing, the way she would sometimes gaze out the window lost in a fog of her own thoughts. But he was preoccupied by the weight of responsibilities, the expectations of his family pressing down on him like corruption. He wanted to protect her. He could only do that physically but there was nothing he could do to protect her from herself.

When she discovered she was pregnant, a flicker of hope ignited. She expected it to change everything. She longed to be the mother her own had never been, to shower her child with the love she felt she had missed. The main problem was that the deeper she sank into addiction, the further she drifted from that dream. Once Dante was born, the thrill of motherhood faded into exhaustion and the drugs that had once offered comfort now wrapped her in chains. Leonardo felt like a stranger in his own home, torn between the love for this wife and the need to shield his children from the chaos surrounding their home.

As the years passed and more children came — Killian, Domenico, Nico and the twins — Celeste became increasingly consumed by her addiction. The drugs turned her into a ghost, haunting her children's lives, unable to embrace the joy of their laughter or the warmth of their hugs. She often stood by their doors at night, watching them sleep, whispering apologies that hung in the air. "Im so sorry," she whispered to her children in the quiet moments when the drugs had not yet taken her. "I'll be better. I promise."

Those promises lingered like smoke in the air fading before they could be acted upon.

In the shadows, the gang loomed like a dark cloud. They had once been allies offering the escape she craved.

When she discovered she was pregnant with Kaileah she felt a chance for redemption. But with the gang closing in on her debts , their threats echoing in her mind — a constant reminder of her mounting debts
all fuelled by her need for drugs— the hope quickly turned to fear. In a desperate wish to please the demons that haunted her she signed away her daughter's future; sealing the fate of a life she had yet to even see. The family would never know of the babys gender but that mattered very little to celeste, lost in her feelings of guilt.

When kaileah was born, the pain of her choices intensified. The weight of her descison was unbearable but she felt she had no option. When the sky was painted pitch black she slipped away with the gang, leaving only a note that shattered her family into pieces.

Dear Leo,
If you're reading this Ive made the choice Ive dreaded most. I wish i could find the right words to explain.

My heart aches as i write this. I fear i cant fight this battle anymore. My debts have been closing in and my attempts to numb the pain have come back to haunt me. I thought i could shield everyone from my mistakes but I've only dragged you into the shadows with me.

If it brings you some peace my decision has been tearing me apart. Ive signed away the life of our child. No, not any of the boys who are sleeping in their beds as we speak. The baby that you hadn't even realised i was carrying. I hope this will somehow make things easier for you — though i know it wont.

Please know this doeant mean i'll love you any less. I love you more than you know. My love for you and our kids has been my light but its not enough to keep me from the darkness. Kiss my boys for me, be the parental figure i could never be. They deserve a life filled with happiness even if i cant be the one to give it.
— celeste.

The note had shattered the family, leaving each of them mourning the sibling they never knew existed, haunted by fears and concerns of the child's future. They didn't mourn their mother as they should've — she had really never been there mentally, her mind was consumed by her own monsters. Instead, they grieved the absence of a mother figure, the warmth and guidance they had longed for. Their lives were now stained by betrayal as they longed to hold the baby that could've brought them together.

I think i overdid it and wrote too much... i don't know if anyone will actually read this and im scared my book will flop.

Guys a confession is that this prologue alone took 1 whole week. Hopefully with time i will get better and gain readers :)
Please vote and comment, it'll mean the world to me.

- lolo