I had fallen in love with my father’s friend—the man I was supposed to call “uncle,” Kael Viremont.

For a while, I thought he loved me too.

We even had this silly little promise—that if I turned twenty-seven and still want to be with him, then we could be together, publicly.

Five days before my twenty-seventh birthday, I overheard him saying he’d never liked me. That he was going to marry his childhood sweetheart.

And as if that wasn’t cruel enough, he was planning to use the wedding to cut me off for good.

So I did the one thing I should’ve done a long time ago—accepted that he and I would never belong to the same world… and disappeared from his life for good.

Seraphina’s POV

Today—like any other day—I stopped by to drag Kael out for dinner, only to overhear his confession. That he’d never liked me, he’d always thought of me as a burden, and that he planned to use a fake wedding with his childhood sweetheart to break my heart.

“You’re marrying Vivienne? And the wedding’s in five days?” one of them said, incredulous.

Kael’s voice came clearly through the door. “Yeah. She already had her dress fitting.”

I froze. My fingers clenched tighter around my bag.

Another man’s voice, “Wait, what about Lucien’s daughter? Seraphina? Weren’t you two… a thing? I mean, we were all just waiting for you to go public.”

My breath caught when I heard my own name.

There was a pause. A long, slow pause.

Then Kael chuckled.

“What about her?” he said. “I never planned on making her my girlfriend. Let’s be real. Lucien would kill me, and she’s not my type. Not like Vivienne.”

Not his type. Not… attracted.

Ouch, Kael.

The other man pressed further. “But if you ended up with Seraphina, Lucien would be forced to back you. He adores that girl. Marrying her? Taking over the Dusks? You’d be the most powerful man in New York.”

Kael laughed again, unbothered. “Yeah, but I don’t love her. I’ve been in love with Vivienne for as long as I can remember.”

And just like that, my chest cracked open.

He kept going. “The wedding won’t be official this time. I know Seraphina’s into me—I’m just using the whole thing to cut her off. Hopefully, it’ll also push Vivienne to see me differently. She only sees me as a friend right now, but after the wedding… who knows? Maybe Vivienne will finally see me the way I see her. After all these years… it could finally work out.”

Two birds. One stone.

I laughed—quiet, bitter, shaky. God, how naïve had I been? To think Kael and I could be together?

I could feel the blood drain from my face, my fingers going numb, my knees locking into place.

I turned, backing away from the door one step at a time.

Kael’s voice faded, but his words didn’t. They echoed—sharp, relentless.

“Don’t love her…”

“Not my type.”

“Cut her off for good.”

Each one hit harder than the last.

So all those years—the late-night dinners, the gifts, the quiet whispers that turned into kisses—had they all been lies?

Had he only been playing along while I believed in a future he never wanted?

There was only one thought left in my head—I have to get out of here.

So I ran.

As I did, my mind automatically began replaying the night it all began—my twenty-first birthday.

My father threw a lavish celebration that day. And Kael had been drinking more than usual the whole night.

“Seraphina, dear,” my father said as he clapped me on the back. “Take Kael up to the guest room, will you?”

So I did.

I slid my arm under his and helped him up the stairs, slow step by slow step. He mumbled something about being fine.

I ignored him.

And when I finally got him to the guest room and laid him down on the bed, I hesitated—my eyes lingering on the top button of his shirt, debating whether I should help him undress.

I’d always known I had feelings for him. It was forbidden. I knew that. Father made me call him Uncle Kael.

But I convinced myself that he was only ten years older than me. What I had.. what I could have with him was acceptable.

So that night, I decided to act bolder for once.

I reached out. My fingers brushed the edge of his collar, then the first button… and slowly, deliberately, undid it. Then another.

His hand shot up—faster than I expected—and caught mine.

“Sera,” he said, voice low, eyes hazy but focused. “What are you doing?”

I froze.

“I… I was just trying to help,” I mumbled, eyes darting anywhere but his face.

He didn’t let go of my hand for a very long time. He just kept looking at me—closing the gap between him and me.

He chuckled. “If I didn’t know any better,” he murmured, “I’d think you were interested in me.”

He sounded dangerous. Teasing, even.

“What if I was?” I shot back—before I even realized.

His mouth curved up, “You do remember I’m your father’s friend, right? Your Uncle Kael.”

“So what?” I leaned closer, lips just an inch from his. “You’re only ten years older than me. And what, doing something forbidden doesn’t excite you anymore? My father was just downstairs. And you and I…”

His gaze dropped to my mouth, but he didn’t move away.

“The mighty Kael afraid of a twenty-one-year-old?” I whispered.

He huffed a soft laugh. “I don’t date women who are too young for me.”

Then he tilted his head, thoughtful. “But if you turn twenty-seven and still feel the same way… maybe I’ll consider it.”

My eyebrows lifted. “Promise?”

His grip on my hand tightened, just slightly. “Promise.”

I leaned in, brushing the lightest kiss across his lips. “Stamp. You can’t break it now.”

It was stupidly romantic. Like something out of a fairy tale.

At the time, I thought so too.

I just never expected it would end like this, with Kael confronting that he’d never liked me, always thought I was a burden and nothing more.

I didn’t even realize how far I’d gone until the air changed. The city noise dulled. I slowed to a stop, breath shaky, and found myself standing in front of an ice cream shop.

Inside, a couple was laughing over a shared cone. I caught my own reflection in the window instead—red eyes, trembling hands, a version of me that didn’t know what to do next.

Except… I did.

I took out my phone and pressed call.

“Mom?” My voice cracked. “I’m thinking about flying to Italy. To join you and Dad.”

For a second, there was only static—and then her warm, familiar voice burst through. “Sera! Finally! Are you visiting, or—?”

“No.” I swallowed hard, eyes blurring against the glass. “I’m moving. For good this time.”

A pause. Then a soft, relieved laugh. “Alright, sweetheart. Take your time. We’ll be waiting.”

I nodded even though she couldn’t see me, wiping my face with the back of my hand.

“Just a few more days,” I whispered. “I’ll get everything packed… and then I’m leaving New York.”

Seraphina’s POV

After I hung up, the silence felt heavier than before.

Five days from now would be my twenty-seventh.

If life had gone the way I once believed it would, that day should’ve been the beginning of us.

The day the promise finally came true.

Instead, it was the date of his wedding.

My birthday. His wedding.

Was that deliberate? His way of making sure I’d remember it forever—not as the day I got everything I wanted, but the day he made sure I lost it all?

Of all the dates in the world, why that one?

Why turn the day I’d waited six years for into the cruelest joke imaginable?

I turned a corner and found myself at the mouth of a dark alley.

And somehow, that was all it took for another memory to surface—the very first time I met Kael.

I was sixteen.

Father had taken me to one of his endless mafia gatherings, the kind filled with expensive suits, false smiles, and too many eyes watching too closely.

Halfway through the night, I escaped.

Slipped out the back doors and into the garden, desperate for air. The pond shimmered faintly under the lights, and I thought maybe, for a few minutes, I could just breathe.

The men inside always looked at me like I was a prize tag instead of a person. If not for my father’s name, I probably would’ve been treated as entertainment.

I was walking along the pond when a group of four men appeared from the shadows. I recognized one—he’d been in the party earlier.

“Miss  Dusk?” he called.

Every instinct in me said leave.

“Yes,” I answered, forcing my tone steady. “If you’ll excuse me.”

I turned to go, but another man stepped in front of me—a burly one with a scar across his eyebrow. His voice was almost amused. “Not so fast, young lady.”

Panic tightened my chest.

It was the first time I’d ever been surrounded like that—by people from my father’s world, yet so clearly against him. Against me.

“What’s wrong?” I managed, trying not to show how scared I was.

One of them laughed, sharp and low. “Your father’s becoming a problem. If he wants to stay alive in New  York, he should stop stepping on our toes.”

“I don’t know anything about his business,” I said, keeping my chin up. “But if you touch me, my father will kill you.”

That made them laugh harder.

“Kill us?” one sneered. “He wouldn’t dare. Your father’s a coward. If it weren’t for a few friends of his we’d rather not upset, he’d already be dead.”

The burly one leaned in, his breath stale and warm. The overhead light caught in his eyes, turning them into something sharp and gleaming.

“And as for you…” he said, grinning slow and cruel, “I’ll make sure you’re very comfortable.”

“Asshole,” I snapped, though my voice shook.

There were no rules in the mafia world. Not really. And I knew these men meant every word they said.

Panic clawed up my throat. I felt it—hot and rising. But then—

A voice cut through the tension, smooth and laced with something deceptively calm. “Are these scumbags bothering you, Miss Dusk?”

I turned.

A man in a tailored suit stood behind me. His hair was slicked back, his features clean and composed. Too composed.

He didn’t belong in this world. Or at least… that’s what I thought.

Until the men around me went dead silent.

The one who’d just threatened me actually cleared his throat and stepped back.

Another one dipped his head. “Mr. Viremont, we didn’t know—”

“You didn’t know she was Lucien’s daughter?” The man, none other than the Kael Viremont, took a slow step forward. “Or is that exactly why you were bothering her?”

The air around him shifted. The danger didn’t come from volume—it came from the way he spoke, like he was giving them a chance to dig their own graves.

It was the first time I saw Kael, and he saved me. Even now, with my heart still aching from what I’d overheard in his office, I couldn’t stop the memories from flooding in.

Seraphina’s POV

Kael and I had built so many memories over the years, I’d lost count.

On his birthdays, I always baked him a cake—burned at the edges, lopsided, barely holding together. But it became our thing. Our ritual. And every time, without fail, he’d cup my face, smile like I’d just handed him the moon, and say it was the most special birthday he’d ever had.

There was the night we got caught in the rain, laughing as we ran through the empty streets, soaked to the bone. He grabbed my hand and didn’t let go until we reached his vineyard just outside the city. We curled up under a single blanket in the cellar, shoulders pressed together, hearts even closer.

And then there was the moment—maybe the hardest to remember now—when my parents asked me to leave with them. To start fresh in Italy.

I said no for so many times. All because I had a promise to keep.

I wanted to be here when I turned twenty-seven. For Kael, for us.

And Kael did take care of me since mom and dad left.

I thought that meant he loved me. I believed it meant he loved me.

But now? Now I see it clearly.

Maybe he liked me. Maybe he even enjoyed the way I looked at him like he was the center of my world.

But he never loved me.

That part? That sacred, real, terrifying part?

He’d always reserved that—for Vivienne.

…

As soon as I got back to my apartment, I started packing.

There wasn’t much to bring, really. Once I’d gone through my closet and pulled out the things I no longer wanted—half of which reminded me of him—I realized everything I truly cared about fit neatly into a single suitcase.

The rest? Clothes, keepsakes, gifts Kael had given me over the years—they were going to be sold or donated. Every cent would go to charity.

That part, at least, felt good. Clean.

I sat on the floor and let myself breathe for a second.

Then my phone rang. Lila. My best friend in New York. Also a fellow mafia heiress, though with far better taste in men.

“Hey girl!” she chirped, her voice spilling through the speaker like sunshine. “Ready to go shopping? Sorry we’re not doing a joint party this year—blame my boyfriend. He’s insisting I host it separately. I think he’s planning something. Maybe a proposal? I mean, it has been two years and he’s been acting all weird and romantic…”

She kept going, breezy and excited, until she finally paused—probably realizing I hadn’t said a word.

Lila knew me. She knew how much I loved Kael. How much I’d been looking forward to this birthday, thinking it would finally be our moment.

“What’s wrong, babe?” Her tone shifted. “Did Kael do something stupid again? I swear, if he—”

“It’s over, Lila,” I said quietly. “I’m done with him.”

The line went silent.

“Wait. What?” she asked, gentler now. “What happened? Weren’t you two… going to make it official on your this year’s birthday?”

I hesitated. For a second, I considered keeping it all to myself. But then I exhaled and said it out loud. “I’m not spending my birthday in New York this year. I’m flying to Italy to be with my mom and dad.”

“You’re leaving?”

Her shock wasn’t unexpected. She was one of the few people who knew just how many times I’d turned down my parents’ invitations to join them abroad.

I stayed—for Kael.

“Yes,” I said.

We didn’t speak for a while after that. Then Lila’s voice came through, soft and steady. “I respect your decision, babe. If that’s what makes you happy…”

“It will.”

She hesitated. “Are you going to tell him you’re leaving?”

She didn’t say his name.

“No,” I replied. “And I’d rather you didn’t either. I want to keep this quiet. I don’t need the drama.”

“Of course,” she promised. Then, a slight pause. “Wait—can you still come to my birthday party? I know Kael might be there and—”

“I’ll come,” I cut in gently. “You’re the only person I still care about here. And besides, I’ve had your gift picked out for months.”

After we hung up, I let myself sank onto the sofa, head tipped against the cushions, eyes fluttering shut.

I wasn’t sure how long I stayed like that before my phone buzzed again.

A message. From Kael.

“What’s your plan for your birthday party this year?”

I stared at the screen. Said nothing.

Then another ping.

“I might miss it this time. I’m getting married. Same day.”

My fingers hovered over the keyboard.

I typed one word. “Congratulations.”

And hit send.