| NOT A MARRIAGE STORY | Never thought I'd see him again. Not after that day at the mall, when I was just a scared little girl, watching everything unravel-watching him lose everything in the blink of an eye. He was 16, unlike me, but so much older. So much stronger in the way he handled the horror, like he was already prepared for the worst. His eyes... they were full of pain, but also a strange kind of resilience. I've thought about him every day since that moment, even though I tried so hard not to. I don't know why, but when I saw him again, as Ridham Kohli-the CEO, the untouchable man-I felt something inside me snap. All the walls I built around myself for years... crumbled. It wasn't just the way he looked, successful and confident. It was his eyes. The same eyes, the same depth. It was like I had known him forever, like I wasn't just seeing him for the first time after all these years, but seeing a piece of my past that never really left me. I thought I could stay away. I thought I could control this-these feelings that were rushing through me. But when he looked at me the way he did, I realized I had no control at all. And then... then I ran. I ran because that old fear, the same fear from that day in the mall, crept up on me. The threats-they were real. I couldn't drag him into this. I couldn't let him get hurt because of me. But the truth is... I don't know how long I can keep running. I don't know how long I can live with this guilt, this pain... this longing to be with him. I've already lost him once, and I don't know if I can survive losing him again. Torn into tears.

The Lombardi family is the most notorious group in the crime world. They rule both the American and Italian mafias and have many others bowing at their feet. Lombardis show no mercy to anyone who gets in their way. Alina is just shy of 4 years old, but her short life has been a living nightmare, full of pain and suffering. She is the unwanted daughter of the Russian Bratva, the Ivanovs. Alina was sent to the States shortly after birth to be "raised" by her older brothers. But she's nothing more than a burden to them, right? Though seemingly impossible, one day, Alina escapes and unknowingly falls right into the hands of her enemy, the Lombardi family. Little did they know who exactly had just changed their lives forever. For the better? Or for the worse... ---- "Brothers," I point to the boys. "Mommy," I grab her hand. "Daddy," I reach for his, but I'm lifted off the ground instead and pulled into his warm embrace. "And our little Allie." This is my family. ---- [WARNING] Contains - mature content, bad language, abuse, and other violent behaviors ---- Recommended 15+