7 parts Ongoing Mature"You have five seconds to explain, Mrs. Russo."
Her heart jerked. She turned slowly to face him, throat bobbing.
"I..." Her voice was barely audible. "I didn't mean to-"
"Five." He took a step toward her.
"Four." She backed into the edge of the glass table.
"Alaric-please-"
"Three." His tone hardened. Her chest rose and fell in shallow gasps.
"Two."
"Stop-just stop-!"
He didn't blink. "One."
She broke. "I got a message!" she cried, the words tearing out of her. "An anonymous number. They sent coordinates-said Saisha was there. Said I had thirty minutes to find her alive."
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She was never meant to be his bride. He was never meant to be her savior.
On the day of her political marriage to Alaric Ruso-a man she had every reason to hate-three Stalteri relatives were found dead. That night, an even bigger body dropped.
What she didn't expect was Alaric defending her to a room full of wolves, claiming her as his wife, yet warning her: "No love. No emotion. No betrayal."
But Daphne? She was made to break things.
Their marriage was born from ruin, sharpened by rage, and bound by secrets.
And with every broken rule, the cracks beneath their fragile alliance deepened, revealing secrets far deadlier than betrayal. A past soaked in blood. A present drowning in conspiracies. And a future where neither may survive-unless they burn everything to the ground first.
But when someone tries to take her life, again and again, Alaric nearly dies to save her-everything shifts.
Because Daphne is not just a pawn. And Alaric is not just a man of rules.
There are monsters in their pasts, and Daphne is the deadliest of them all.
What happens when the girl meant to be broken becomes the blade itself?
And the man who vowed not to love, begins to bleed for her?.
