⋆⁺₊⋆☽ | Verity’s POV | ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

I regret the day I saved Valentino Consani from drowning.

As little as I was, only eleven years old, I’d managed to pull a struggling child just like me out of the water using a fallen tree branch. Together, we collapsed soaking wet on the grass, and that young boy turned to me red-faced and breathing heavily to ask for my name.

“Verity.” I replied, not thinking much of it.

“Thank you, Verity. My name is Valentino.” And with solemn green eyes gleaming in the drying sunlight, Valentino said that very day, “When we grow up, I’ll find you and marry you. I swear it.”

What a funny, childish promise. I couldn’t help but giggle, peals of laughter alleviating the previous tension in my little body. But little did I know that Valentino was being serious.

As serious as the day he stormed my wedding.

Shouts erupted in the church, sharp and deafening as fists collided with Drew's body. My husband—No, my ‘fiance’. The priest had barely even pronounced us husband and wife before chaos descended. People screamed, scattering like leaves in a storm, diving behind pews or bolting for the doors.

Frozen in place, I could only watch in horror as their leader stepped forward, a menacing man cutting through the chaos. He knelt over Drew, knuckles streaked with blood, and with a final, resounding crack, he ended it. Drew crumpled lifelessly onto the marble floor.

My scream tore through the air, raw and piercing, and I fell to my knees, shaking in the pool of crimson that spread beneath me.

“Why…?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. I trembled with pain and tears leaked out of the corners of my eyes. Then something within me snapped, and my words erupted in fury. “Who the hell are you? Why are you doing this?!”

“Who am I?” His voice was chillingly soft as he turned to face me, a devilish smirk playing on his lips. “Sweetheart,” he cooed, his blood-streaked fingers brushing my cheek. “I’m hurt. Have you really forgotten? Ten years is all it took for you to forget the boy you saved?”

“D-Don’t touch me,” I stammered, recoiling. My words were meant to be a demand, but they came out weak, hollow. My gaze met his and that particular shade of green… It rang an alarm bell in my head, pulling at memories I had buried over the course of years..

His expression softened, almost tender. “We made a promise,” he whispered, his tone dangerously intimate. “You saved me from drowning, and I swore I’d make you mine. My sweetheart, my savior. Here I am, keeping my word.”

Before I could react, he tilted my chin with surprising gentleness and leaned in, his lips mere inches from mine. A surge of rage and adrenaline shot through me, and I struck him. Hard.

The slap rang out, sharp and defiant, slicing through the eerie silence that had descended over the room. Gasps echoed from the few who hadn’t fled, their terror palpable.

“Don’t you dare put your filthy hands on me, Valentino!” I hissed, infuriated and disgusted. “I never promised you anything!”

For a moment, silence hung between us. Then, he laughed. A deep, guttural sound that sent chills racing down my spine. It wasn’t the laugh of a man scorned. No, it was the laugh of a sick man who enjoyed my resistance, who fed off my fear.

“You remember my name,” he said, his amusement fading into something darker. “Good. That’s a start.” His gaze hardened, a cold look taking over his expression. “But you’ll learn, princess. You’ll learn never to break an oath. And you’ll learn what happens when you raise your hand against the man who loves you more than anyone else ever could.”

Valentino’s men moved swiftly, stripping everyone of their phones and locking us in. My family was helpless, their pleas silenced by the barrel of a gun or the cold steel of a knife.

That day, I finally became a bride. Not the bride I had dreamed of being, not the one who had pictured walking into a lifetime of love and joy with Drew.

Instead, I became the bride of a monster.

⋆⁺₊⋆☽ | Verity’s POV | ☾⋆⁺₊⋆

The man who claimed he loved me kept me imprisoned for three years in a villa on one of his private islands. I had no human contact save for the housekeepers who were all female—no other man but him was allowed near me.

When I first arrived, I tried to learn anything about him. All I could gather from the maids’ hushed whispers was that he led a mafia gang. Their fear of even speaking his name confirmed it and finally, the despair sank in—There was no way out from the grasp of such a powerful man.

Valentino visited every few days, trying to win me over with gifts and moonlit dinners. I refused it all and it vexed him deeply.

His obsession ran deep. Valentino found for himself a woman who looked like me to cope with my rejection. The same fiery red hair and honey eyes I had was present in her.

This woman, Aella, was the spitting image of me in the pictures Valentino shared. She could have very well been my twin, and I could not imagine how much he paid to find my copy, one who smiled and laughed, and seemed alive unlike me. But it did not matter. Such a thing couldn’t make me jealous as I imagined was his goal. I had lost my emotions a long time ago.

It was a Thursday evening when Aella stormed into the garden with her clique. I was confused when I heard their loud, nasally voice all the way from afar.

“Didn’t Mr. Consani say this villa is private and no one but him is allowed here? I don’t think this is a good idea, Aella.”

“It’s true. I heard he dug a man’s eyes out and broke his hands because he snuck a peek inside.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Aella bit out in response. “How can anyone sneak in here? It’s an island and that’s just a rumor. I must find out what it is he’s hiding…” She trailed off as she sighted me when they finally reached the garden.

“Who the hell are you?”

“You shouldn’t be here.” I warned quietly. “Leave before my husband gets back. Quickly—”

I could not finish speaking because the sound of a sharp slap rang out. My entire head was thrown to the side and pain spread across my flesh and jaw. I could not help but remember that fateful day when I had done the same to him.

“Your husband? How dare you, you wretched slut!” Aella screamed. She grabbed at my hair and started pulling, dragging me so hard pain rang through my skull, but not once did I retaliate or try to resist.

“You thought you could fool everyone, didn’t you?” Aella spat, words laced with contempt. “Getting plastic surgery to look like me? Sneaking into our private property? And for what? To try and steal Valentino?”

I said nothing. There was no point in fighting back. I had truly become a soulless husk because I could not find fear or anger in me to even react, and this infuriated Aella even more.

“Valentino is in love with me. Do you understand?! Using cheap tricks to try and replace me. I’ll make you regret the day you were born!”

“I didn’t choose this,” I whispered hoarsely. “I am Valentino’s real wife. I am telling you, you should get out of here before—”

“Valentino would never look twice at a pathetic, desperate whore like you. We’re going to deal with you today.” One of the girls said, cutting me off, and the others cheered.

Her words were a death sentence, spoken with chilling certainty. But Aella didn’t act so fast. Her confident demeanor faltered in the wake of my last spoken words, claws digging into my shoulder where she still held me tight. “What did you say? You’re Valentino’s real wife?”

“Yes,” I replied urgently. They had to understand before it was too late. “You’re just my replacement because I refused him. If he knows you’re hurting me, he won’t spare your life.”

Silence descended in the room at my chilling revelation, the sheer weight of it sinking in to all of them. But it wasn’t enough, because Aella’s confused futures contorted once more into rage.

“Liar!” She snarled. “Victor! Enzo!”

Two hefty, muscled men I didn’t see before entered the living room, tall enough that their heads were nearly touching the ceiling. I furrowed my brows in confusion.

“Yes, mistress?”

“Cut off her tongue.”

I used to think if death ever came for me, I would welcome it with open arms. It wasn’t that I couldn’t take my own life, but there were no sharp objects anywhere in the villa on Valentino’s command. I was also under 24/7 surveillance by both security cameras and the watchful maids that lingered around me at all times.

Death was not an escape option from the horror that was my life.

But as I watched those two strange men approach me, my heart did something it hadn’t done in three years. It began to beat, jackhammering away in my chest so hard I thought I was going to have a cardiac arrest.

I did not want to die…

I had no plan, no clear escape route. My mind was a chaotic swirl of terror and determination. I had to think fast. If only there was a way to confirm. Shit! I didn’t have my phone with me. My gaze snapped to Aella as I scrambled away from the approaching bodyguards.

“Wait! Just call him!” I yelled, stretching out trembling, pleading hands in desperation. “Please, I know Valentino loves you more. But you can prove it, yes?” Even my voice trembled, but I pushed on, “J- Just call him and see—”

“I’m giving you both this bitch to do as you see fit.” Aella cut me off, ignoring my pleas completely. “Whoever tortures her the most gets a reward of two million dollars this very evening!”

Immediately, one of the men lunged toward me and I screamed as I fell over myself trying to get away. Their eyes gleamed determinedly at the promise of money but determination settled in my gut beside the fear.

I did not want to die!

Adrenaline surged through me, fueling every inch of my body as I scrambled backward, falling over the concrete table beside me. The vase that was on it shattered on the floor and my hand darted toward the largest shard I could find, fingers trembling as I wrapped them around the jagged edge. The pain of it slicing into my palm barely registered over the fear coursing through me.

“Stay away!” I screamed, holding the shard out in front of me. My voice was hoarse, shaking, but filled with raw desperation.

The bigger of the two men paused, a smirk tugging at his lips as if amused by my pathetic attempt to defend myself.

“She’s got some fight in her,” he said, turning to Enzo.

“Not for long,” The other man replied, stepping forward.

The two men surged forward, but to my utter shock, it wasn’t them who got to me first. Aella and her clique took matters into their own hands and descended on me, a chaotic flurry of clawing hands and mocking laughter.

They tore at my clothes, ripping the fabric away as I thrashed and screamed, trying to fight them off. I fought like I hadn’t fought in years, not since three years ago when I was dragged kicking and screaming from that church into a black SUV.

But my strength was no match for their numbers, and soon I was left exposed and trembling. My dignity was stripped away along with the last shreds of fabric.

Tears blurred my vision, but I refused to let them fall. I refused to let her see me cry. “Valentino will—”

“Valentino will what?” she snapped, cutting me off. “You’re nothing to him. You think you can waltz in here and steal what’s mine?” Aella sneered, her eyes glinting with malice. “Since you’re so desperate for men, you can have a few, you slut.”

Aella stepped away and as promised, she ordered her bodyguards to defile me till I bled all over the floor.

Valentino did arrive that day, albeit late. His eyes were wide and unmoving as he took in the gruesome scene. And Aella, so foolish, ran to meet him.

“My love, I found this impostor dressed up like me to try and steal you from me. She called herself your wife, can you imagine?! Look, I took care of her for you.”

She smiled up sweetly and proudly, unaware of the murderous rage brewing in Valentino’s mind.