When Arianna marries billionaire Zach Price to save her family, she doesn't expect to fall in love with a man who'd always consider her a second choice. An unexpected turn of events brings the couple closer together, but can a marriage based on lies and deceit ever survive? ***** When Arianna's older sister, Olivia, decides to run away on the day of her wedding, Arianna is forced to take her place to save her family from ruin. But her new husband is angry, heartbroken, and seems to hate her guts. The cold, elusive billionaire Zach Price has never quite struck Arianna as the kind of man she'd want to spend her entire life with. She was more than content with her sweet, thoughtful boyfriend Noah, but when circumstances force them together, Zach and Arianna's hearts get entangled in a way she never saw coming. As the couple grows closer, they must battle the demons of their past and of the lives they left behind - especially when Olivia returns and decides she wants Zach all for herself. Content/Trigger Warning: This story contains scenes of violence and sexual abuse, and mentions abortion and miscarriage. [[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]] Cover designed by Ren Tachibana

𝐈𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐲 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. ✞ ✞ ✞ He wanted to use her. She was the mastermind who planned for that all along. ✞ ✞ ✞ Power. Power built them. Power is what will destroy them. From sworn enemies to reluctant allies, there is nothing 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐚 𝐈𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐯 wouldn't do, nobody she wouldn't use to reach what her mind has been fixated on for years. Revenge. She's inhumane. Emotionless. Messed up in the head-a diagnosed ASPD mind turned into something precise, something dangerous. A machine. The underworld doesn't call her by name. They call her the flame behind the ghost don. The living requiem. Nyx. And when something like her sets her sights on a target? She takes. Uses. Burns everything necessary to get what she wants. And 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐑𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐨 became exactly that. There's nothing the Camorra king hates more than her-the ghost, the flame, the thorn in his side he's been chasing for years. The assassin behind the Russian don he wants nothing more than to take down. The one thing standing between him and full control over New York City. Blaze is forced to do the one thing he would rather die than do: Ally with the enemy. It was supposed to be simple. Temporary. Strategic. But temptation has always been a dangerous game, and Vera has never been the kind to walk away from a game. Especially one she knows she'll win. Because she's always ten steps ahead. And this time, she chose to play.

𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬 & 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐉𝐮𝐝𝐚𝐬 Loyalty. It's a simple philosophy of virtue, worn thin by the world. In his hands, it is sacred- A creed carved in blood and obedience. A faith sharpened by order, tempered in the fire of command. Trust is demanded- forged beneath the weight of discipline, Bound by the concept of duty. But in hers, those words are fables- Tales spun by desperate men to keep obedience alive. Loyalty's a language of the desperate- spoken loudest by those too afraid to stand alone. Trust is a fool's game for those who've never bled. And right is wrong, wrong the only right in the chaos she was made for. They were born to opposite sides of the same war- two souls carved from a single wound, destined to bleed for different flags. They were meant to ruin each other quietly. Ruin. Ruin. Ruin and call it mercy. Call it duty. Never to find warmth in the ashes they made. Never to seek solace in what was made to destroy, what was meant to bring death. But fate... fate has never cared for intention- It placed his oath at the mercy of the woman he was trained to destroy, Placed her wrath in the hands of the only man who could ruin it. Steal her fury. Quiet her rage. Unravel the reason she drew breath. And he truly meant to do it- Every bit of it. Meant to ruin, To steal, To quiet, Unravel. He meant to bring justice, Bring justice and strike down a woman born of vengeance until fate intervened once more- Until, somewhere between the hunt and the havoc, he forgot to destroy and learned to worship instead. But worship's not enough to blunt her truth- hungry dogs are never loyal- not even to the palm they once adored. And even the devout, in the end, turn on their gods. 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒔𝒐𝒐𝒏...

Born into a legacy of power and betrayal, Isadora Graviano has spent her life caged by lies. Framed for her mother's murder at the age of nine, she was locked away and branded as unstable-an illusion crafted by the man who should have protected her. But Isadora is far from broken. She's been waiting for the right moment to reclaim her power and destroy the man who stole her future. That moment shatters when her father arranges her marriage to Remo Falcone, the ruthless and feared Capo of the Camorra. Cold, brutal, and unwavering in his control, Remo sees women as liabilities, not equals. Their marriage is meant to be nothing more than a business transaction-a symbol of an uneasy alliance between two warring mafia families. But from the moment they meet, sparks ignite. Remo expects a submissive wife, but Isadora refuses to be tamed. Their battles are fought with sharp words, heated stares, and an undeniable tension that simmers beneath every touch. The more they push, the more the lines between hate and desire blur. And when enemies close in from all sides, their forced union becomes something neither of them expected-a dangerous temptation neither can resist. With betrayal lurking in every shadow and a war threatening to consume them, will their passion be their downfall, or will they find an unlikely salvation in each other?

Lila Simmons had plans - to escape her toxic home, graduate quietly, maybe disappear for good. But all of that ended the night her drunk, abusive father signed her life away to pay his gambling debts. He didn't just give her away-he sold her. To Antonio Russo. The world's most powerful, ruthless, and feared mafia king. A man who owns half the world, and now... her. Lila becomes his. His property. His responsibility. His problem. But the more she resists, the more Antonio is drawn in. Because she's not like the others. And for the first time in his cruel, calculated life... Antonio Russo doesn't want to break her. He wants to keep her. But love doesn't come easy when your world is built on control, secrets, enemies, and war.