I've been with Dominic Hayes, a gang leader, for ten years.

But on the day he goes clean and leaves the underworld behind, his men address someone else as his woman.

The hands that once held guns and spilled blood now gently slip a crystal shoe onto another woman's foot.

He says, "Violet, she's not like you. You were willing to follow me through chaos without needing a title, but she can't do that."

That day, I don't look back.

What Dominic doesn't know is that I'm the only daughter of an underground mafia king. When my family found out I was running wild, they quietly prepared a good man for me. All that's left is for me to say yes.

The day Dominic Hayes decided to go straight, he took me to bed with such intensity that the world seemed to spin. I stared at the shredded lingerie on the floor, momentarily speechless.

"Dominic, is the world ending?" I asked.

His insatiable demeanor made me believe there might not be a tomorrow. Dominic was smoking, his heavy-lidded eyes giving him a distant, dreamy look.

"Violet, if I were to break things off with you, you wouldn't get all dramatic about it, would you?"

Though he spoke with the cigarette between his lips, making it sound like a casual joke, his words sent an icy chill down my spine.

After ten years with Dominic, I knew his temperament well. He liked obedience, yet appreciated defiance and rebellion.

Just like now, I took the half-smoked cigarette from his hand as I suppressed my churning emotions, and raised an eyebrow languidly.

"Dominic, do you think I'm still 18 years old?"

If Dominic had abandoned me when I was 18, I would have stormed into his club without any regard for my own life.

However, I was 28 years old now.

I felt somewhat choked up, unable to finish my sentence. Dominic ruffled my hair and stubbed out the cigarette that nearly burned my fingers.

"Violet, this is where it ends," he said. "Stop smoking. Stop treating your body like it doesn't matter. We're not kids anymore. You can't keep living like this."

In that moment, I was completely stunned. There were unspoken rules for breakups at 28 years old. The first to shed tears would lose it all, and smeared makeup would only broadcast my defeat for the world to see.

I pretended to be casual as I reached for my jacket on the floor, ready to leave. Nonetheless, Dominic's arm hooked around me, pulling me back into his embrace.

Storm clouds gathered like spilled ink across the sky outside the window. Rain hung in the air, ready to fall at any moment.

Dominic's kisses fell on my back as he skillfully adjusted the straps of my dress. He bit my earlobe just like he always used to do.

"Hear that?" he whispered.

I didn't answer, but he wasn't bothered. His tone carried the easy authority of someone used to having his commands obeyed without question.

"It's going to rain. Stay a bit longer, hmm?"

After ten years together, we'd learned to smooth all our conflicts into a veneer of calm. Dominic had probably forgotten that my temperament wasn't just for show.

It should be a clean break with no loose ends if he wanted to end it. I straightened my back and pushed away his sculpture-like, handsome face, giving a slight laugh.

"How long do you think this rain will last?" I asked.

How much longer could he keep me around anyway when his heart belonged to someone else?

Dominic's brow twitched at that moment, but he quickly composed himself. His introduction of that woman was rather simple.

"Violet, you're a smart woman," he said. "Her name is Lily Morgan. She's different from you.

"You can be with me without needing a title, and you don't mind the mess we create together. She can't do that. She's too innocent."

I felt choked up again, looking down at the disarray around us, suddenly unsure what to say. What did he mean I could be with him without needing commitment?

I thought about the black stockings, high heels, and slip dresses. Dominic had dressed me according to his preferences for so many years. Now that I'd grown accustomed to this seductive style, he suddenly found it vulgar?

In that moment, I wanted to confront Dominic. Yet he placed a finger to his lips, signaling me to be quiet.

He got a call from that woman named Lily.

"Dominic, didn't you say you'd come pick me up?" her voice came through the phone. "I'm alone and really scared..."

Dominic left me behind.

As the engine roared in the underground garage, I received a text message from him. "I'll be away for a while. Clear your things out of the house. I'll have someone change the locks in two weeks."

I didn't reply. I silently cleared away all traces of myself from the mansion where I'd lived for five years.

After a long while, my phone screen lit up again from a text. Dominic had probably met with the terrified Lily by now and was attempting to wrap up our ten-year relationship with some semblance of dignity.

"Call me if you need anything. We're still friends even if I couldn't commit to you."

I had loved Dominic for ten years, only to be casually dismissed as a friend.

…

That torrential rain continued for two full days. Westbrook was drenched in the downpour, leaving everything feeling cold and clammy.

I couldn't sleep and repeatedly got up in the middle of the night to click my lighter.

The year I got together with Dominic, he was just a broke troublemaker who couldn't pay rent and lived in a half-basement apartment.

Only the flame from the lighter provided illumination in the humid air. The small blaze ignited, then died, over and over.

Back then, the buzz-cut Dominic stared at me in my school uniform as he said, "Think carefully, Violet. A guy like me won't amount to much. I can't give you the future you want."

I was painfully innocent back then. I took off my rain-soaked sneakers and pushed my cold feet onto his chest. Dominic's body heat was like a torch through his thin tank top, gradually igniting my body.

With nothing but that tiny lighter flame illuminating us, I stubbornly nodded as I told him, "Dominic, I don't give a damn about my future. I only want you."

Dominic and I had lived on the edge together. During nights permeated with the smell of bandages and antiseptic, we'd do it repeatedly by pushing ourselves to the edge of consciousness before coming back.

Dominic once said that if he were to go clean and finally leave the underworld behind, the first thing he would do was marry me. Yet now that he was going straight, his first priority was cutting ties with me.

At 28 years old, I truly wasn't young anymore. I couldn't keep living recklessly. My family had even set me up with someone, and they were just waiting for me to make it official.

I decided to leave Westbrook.

I went to find Dominic with the keys to the mansion. I didn't bother with makeup and simply put on jeans with sneakers. Many of his men didn't recognize me when I walked into the club.

When I finally removed my cap, the guys who used to eagerly call me "Mrs. Hayes" fell silent. They obviously knew about Dominic's change of heart. The younger guys who were close to me tried to lighten the mood.

"Violet, we all think you and Dom still make the best couple."

"We can't believe he went for some college chick. Please. He'd be embarrassed to be seen with her in public."

"Why don't you try to sweet-talk Dom? He always listens to—"

I merely let out a bitter laugh.

I'd developed a certain image during my ten years with Dominic. I had naturally innocent features, but my look transformed into something dangerously alluring with thin arched eyebrows and red lips.

Many men watched me from afar, but Dominic was always my protector. Anyone who dared touch a hair on my head was sent for "punishment duty"—his euphemism for the worst assignments.

If I shed even a single tear, Dominic would drop everything to comfort me. That had once been my exclusive privilege.

But this time, the guys couldn't even finish their sentences. A ceramic mug flew across the room, striking someone's brow bone before breaking into two.

Dominic's face darkened dangerously.

"One would think this was Violet Ingram's territory or something," he snarled. "Is this how you lot handle business when I'm not around?"

The entire club fell instantly silent. That was Dominic's influence. Except now, that influence was being used against me.

I tried to explain, but the young woman behind him peeked out cautiously as she remarked with feigned innocence, "Dominic, is this the Violet you told me about? She dresses just like me!"

Dominic frowned slightly as he examined my outfit. Simple jeans and sneakers were indeed identical to Lily's style.

He looked at me suspiciously. "Violet, have you been investigating Lily?"

Looking closer, Lily did resemble my 18-year-old self. The similarity was uncanny, especially in those jeans and sneakers.

I recognized the young woman's little game but refused to acknowledge it. Rather than me investigating Lily, it seemed more like a certain someone had carefully studied Dominic's preferences.

Nonetheless, even after ten years together, Dominic couldn't even trust me this much. I pressed my lips together stubbornly.

Dominic scoffed. "Dressing like her won't make you 18 again. Why are you being so difficult with me, Violet?"

I blinked, hardly believing what I'd just heard.

"How about this?" Dominic said as he licked his lips, showing no mercy. "Name your price for the ten years."

I froze. I had been with Dominic for ten years. I had taken bullets and faced knives for him, yet none of those moments had ever hurt like this one.

I dug my nails into my palms as my voice trembled. "What did you just say, Dominic?"

"I said, since I've wasted ten years of your youth, you should name your price."

Dominic stood with his hands in his pockets. Despite the turmoil in his eyes, he forced himself to finish speaking through a strained voice.

My legs nearly gave out after hearing this. Meanwhile, Lily tugged at Dominic's sleeve, quietly trying to mediate.

"Don't be so harsh, Dominic. Violet hasn't done anything wrong."

Dominic lowered his head and gently nuzzled her nose. "Be good now, and listen to me."

He then pulled her behind him protectively. "I won't let anyone upset you."

Dominic used to protect me the same way. I couldn't bear to watch and felt bitterness rising in my throat.

Looking down, I noticed the silver bracelet on my wrist. It was snug when Dominic first gave it to me.

Yet the deeper I fell in love with him, the looser it became.