I flopped onto my bed, the tablet glowing in my hand. A notification popped up, an encrypted email from an unknown sender. My heart skipped.
"The ink is dry, Jennie. You belong to the Ruggiero estate now. Don't look back."
There was an attachment that looks like a digital copy of the contract I hadn't even read. I deleted it immediately, my hands shaking. I didn't need to read the fine print to know I had just traded my freedom for the chance at revenge.
***An hour later****
The chauffeur opened the door with the grace of a true gentleman, allowing me to slip into the luxurious car Vincenzo had sent after I signed the contract.
"Thank you," I murmured, offering a faint smile that barely touched my lips even when my heart wasn't in it. He shut the door carefully.
The car began to move a strange heaviness settled in my chest. My fingers curled slightly on my thigh, as if they still remembered the weight of the pen.
A pen that had changed everything about me especially my life.
"This is your only chance, Jennie." My aunt voice echoed in my head.
I stared at the portfolio for a few moments before signing without bothering to read a single word written inside.
Who cares?
I already sold my life the moment I agreed to this. One moment I was holding the pen… the next, I was swept away like a pawn on his chessboard.
My throat tightened at the memory as my vision blurring as years threatened to fall.
'No..... don't I forced myself to stay composed, clinging to the one thought that me from breaking.
I have to win, No matter what...I must
I quickly wiped my tears from my eyes and turned my gaze to the city beyond the window as the car glided smoothly through the streets. Fear and curiosity tangled in my chest, clouding every thoughts of mine. I didn't even realize we had stopped until the driver's voice pulled me back to reality.
"We've arrived, ma'am."
I startled,my eyes snapping open. As I stepped out of the car, the sight before me stole my breath and not in a comforting way. The mansion loomed ahead, massive and eerily pristine, its stark white walls standing in sharp contrast against the sprawling garden. Only… it wasn't much of a garden. There were no vibrant flowers here, no chaotic beauty. Every hedge was trimmed to sharp, punishing edges, it doesn't look like a garden but a landscape of stone and green as calculated as the man who owned it.
A line of maids stood at attention near the towering entrance, clad in crisp black and white. Their posture was flawless, their heads slightly bowed in a way that somehow made me nervous. They looked like beautiful,silent statues than people welcoming, yes, but with an undertone that made my skin crawl.
A man with dark brown hair approached me, accompanied by an older gentleman in his sixties or perhaps early seventies carried himself with quiet authority of a man who knew every secret in the msnsion.
"I'm Tyler," the younger man said, offering a polite,empty smile. "And this is Elio,the house butler. You may go to him for anything you require."
"Please, allow me to escort you to your quarters," Elio said warmly.
I followed him inside, my eyes drinking in every inch of the interior. The halls were wide and bathed in golden light, and everything around me whispered wealth and power. I felt like I had stepped out of the reality into a golden cage entirely.
When we reached my room, my breath caught in my throat. It wasn't just a bedroom but it wasa cathedral of luxury...High ceilings, heavy velvet drapes, polished marble floors reflected the shimmer of the chandeliers above. My heels clicked sharply on the stone, as the sound echoing in the empty space.
Everything was perfectly arranged, as if my arrival has been decided for years ago.
I sank into the edge of the bed, the velvet cool beneath my palms.
My chest tightened suddenly when I remembered my life in New York, my personal assistant Emily. I hadn't spoken to her in days, my mind had been consumed by Vincenzo. His name alone had become a storm cloud hovering over every moment in me.
I pulled out my phone just to see several missed calls from Naomi flashed on the screen. I sighed,staring at her name, she must be worried sick about me, especially after I told her about the 'marriage'. But I left out the part about the contract... and the chilling truth my parents.
'Hey, I'm marrying the man who killed my parents to get revenge'
Those words felt insane even in my head. I let my phone call on the mattress. She deserved the truth but how was I supposed to explain something I barely understood myself?
I hesitated, thumb hovering
No... Not over the phone, Not when even I wasn't sure what was real anymore.
Silver chandeliers glimmered above, casting soft reflections on the walls. Outside, the sky was already bruising into twilight.
A soft knock echoed on the door.
"Come in," I called, my voice sounding lower than usual.
The door creaked open and Elio stepped in, bowing slightly. "Dinner will be served shortly,Miss Jennie. Mr. Ruggiero has requested your presence."
I nodded slowly, a chill running down my spine "I'll be there shortly."
He bowed again, disappeared quietly he came like a ghost.
I stood up, smoothed my clothes, forcing my breath to steady. Tonight, I would face the him, I would sir across the man who now controlled my fate, the man I was supposed to destroy, yet whose presence had begun to stir a traitorous spark inside me. I couldn't name the feeling, and that was the most terrifying part of all, that I might actually want to be in the presence of the man I was supposed to destroy.
And the most frightening part of all is that I wasn't just walking into his house but his arm.