Rovinam Dolcemente(Ruin Me Gently)**

She's promised to him by ink. But no one asked what silence sounds like when you're sold.

Alessia Romano doesn't cry anymore. Not after the slap, not after the wine, not after the contract. At twenty-one, she's been signed over to Luca Moretti-a man who doesn't smile, doesn't speak often, and according to the files she shouldn't have read... may not be safe to marry.

Her father says this is survival. Her sister sees the weight she's carrying but doesn't know what to name it. Alessia? She calls it normal.

Until it isn't.

Bound by bloodlines and bedroom politics, Alessia begins to unravel inside a house that taught her silence is a virtue. She doesn't understand her depression-it's too quiet to be dramatic, too consistent to be new. But as whispers of her mother's secrets echo through cracked courtyard stone, and Luca's shadow steps into her world for the first time... everything shifts.

This is not a love story. It's a warning.

He will not ruin her loudly. He'll do it gently. And she might let him.