Chapter 1

On the night before our wedding, I saw my fiancé kissing the woman who killed my brother.

The woman who had been obsessed with my fiancé, Kaelis Virel, for years was Selene Ravka, the daughter of the most feared crime syndicate in Europe.

Back then, House Sorell and House Virel had already arranged our engagement. Every major syndicate knew that one day, I would become Kaelis Virel’s wife.

Only Selene refused to accept it, as she had set her sights on Kaelis shortly after our first anniversary.

To steal him from me, she bombed three Sorell safe houses, poisoned my father’s most trusted men, and had me kidnapped so many times that I stopped counting the scars.

When Kaelis refused to leave me, Selene ordered my brother, Orin Sorell, to be dragged into an underground fighting pit, where he died begging for mercy.

He wasn’t made for the mafia world. He hated violence. He couldn’t even pull the trigger of a gun without closing his eyes.

Yet on the night he disappeared, Selene invited him to what she claimed was a peace negotiation between our families.

It was a trap.

By the time Kaelis and I arrived, Orin was already lying in a pool of blood. He died protecting the engagement ring Kaelis had secretly entrusted to him.

I still remember his last words.

“Don’t… let her… have him…”

Those words haunted me every single night. Kaelis nearly lost his mind after Orin’s death. But fate wasn’t finished with me.

Three months after Orin’s funeral, our convoy was ambushed while returning from a Commission meeting.

The explosion flipped three armored vehicles. I remember my father pulling me into his arms. I remember the flames.

Then… Nothing.

When I opened my eyes again, five years had passed. I was the only survivor. The doctors called it a miracle. The underworld called it destiny.

For five years while I lay unconscious, the underworld changed.

Kaelis Virel became its king.

He dismantled the Ravka Circle piece by piece, executed everyone connected to the attack, and placed a bounty worth hundreds of millions on Selene Ravka’s head.

He refused every political marriage arranged for him. He slept beside my hospital bed instead of his own mansion. He learned how to braid my hair, trimmed my nails himself, and never allowed anyone else to touch me.

When I finally woke up, he cried harder than I did. He proposed before I had even taken my first step. He designed my engagement ring. He built an entire cathedral for our wedding.

Everyone called Kaelis the only mafia king capable of loving just one woman.

I believed them.

Until the night before our wedding, when an unknown number called me.

“Kaelis still kisses me the same way. He still starts with the corner of my lips.”

The phone slipped from my fingers.

I knew that voice.

It was Selene Ravka.

—

The phone hit the marble floor with a dull thud. The call had already ended.

For several seconds, I stood there, staring blankly at the shattered screen.

No… It couldn’t be true.

I thought Selene Ravka was hiding somewhere far away.

For five years, Kaelis had searched every corner of Europe for her. He had destroyed the Ravka Circle piece by piece. He had sworn before my brother’s grave that he would never rest until Selene paid for everything she had done.

How could he possibly be with her?

Before I could think any further, I gasped as two familiar arms wrapped around my waist from behind.

“What’s wrong?”

Kaelis buried his face against my neck, his warm breath brushing my skin.

“You’ve been standing here all alone. I’ve been looking everywhere for you.”

His voice was gentle, exactly as it had always been.

“I missed you.”

My tense shoulders slowly relaxed. He turned me around before smiling helplessly as he brushed a strand of hair behind my ear.

“I thought…” He chuckled softly. “Since tomorrow we’ll be too busy with the wedding, maybe tonight we could stay home. Just the two of us, we’ll order dinner, watch a movie, just you and me.”

My heart, which had nearly stopped moments ago, gradually settled.

Maybe… Maybe it really had been a prank. Someone knew tomorrow was our wedding and wanted to ruin it.

I forced myself to smile. “Alright.”

He leaned down and kissed my forehead.

“That’s my girl.”

An hour later, after eating dinner, we were curled up together on the sofa. The movie had barely reached the opening scene when my phone vibrated.

Once. Twice. Three times.

I glanced down. An unknown number showed again. A cold chill crept up my spine.

Kaelis was focused on television. Slowly, I unlocked my phone. A single message appeared.

Unknown Number: Come see for yourself.

Below was an address. My fingers instantly turned cold. Before I could process it, another notification arrived.

Unknown Number: He’s leaving now.

Almost at the same moment… Kaelis’s own phone lit up. His expression changed, the smile faded from his face, and he read the message once before quietly standing.

“I have to go.”

I frowned. “So late?”

He slipped his phone into his pocket.

“The Commission called an emergency meeting.”

My eyebrows knitted together. “The Commission? But our wedding is tomorrow. They’ve known about it for months. Why would they suddenly summon you tonight?”

For the first time that evening, Kaelis hesitated. Only for a second. Then he smiled again.

“I’ll make it up to you.” He cupped my face between his hands. “I promise. I even have a surprise for you tomorrow.”

He kissed my forehead once more before winking. “You’ll love it.”

I wanted to ask more questions. Instead… I watched him walk out the front door.

The mansion fell silent. My eyes drifted back to my phone.

Come see for yourself.

The address was still there. I stared at it for nearly a minute before grabbing my coat. I wasn’t proud of what I was about to do. But something deep inside me refused to stay behind.

By the time I left the estate, Kaelis’s car was already several minutes ahead.

I kept my distance. Turn after turn, intersection after intersection, the route on my navigation matched the address perfectly.

My hands tightened around the steering wheel.

No… Please… Don’t let this be true.

Nearly forty minutes later, Kaelis’s car slowed before disappearing through the gates of an enormous mansion hidden behind rows of towering cypress trees. I parked far enough away that no one would notice me. My heartbeat thundered inside my ears as I stepped out.

The front door opened. A woman walked into the light, long black hair, crimson silk dress, the face I had seen only in nightmares.

Selene Ravka.

She walked straight toward Kaelis and struck him hard against the chest.

“You made me wait.”

Her voice carried through the still night. Kaelis caught her wrist before she could hit him again.

The next second, he pulled her against him. Then he kissed her. Not by accident. Not by force. Like two people who had done it countless times before.

Frozen behind the trees, I couldn’t move.

Selene shoved at his shoulder with an irritated laugh, but she didn’t walk away. Instead, Kaelis drew her back into his arms.

The villa door closed behind them.

I stood there alone, unable to breathe.

For five years… The entire underworld believed Kaelis had been hunting Selene. They believed he wanted revenge for my brother. They believed he would kill the woman who had destroyed my family.

But now I finally understood.

They had been looking for Selene all this time… Only for her to be hidden by the very man who had sworn to put a bullet through her heart.

The man I was supposed to marry tomorrow.