Chapter 2

Let me start by introducing myself properly

My name is Ezebel Moretti. I'm twenty-two, born into a family I once believed was built on love, legacy, and respect. My mother, Alina moretti,was kind but quiet, always hiding something behind her gentle eyes. And my father, Marco Moretti? He was powerful, respected….. and now I know, feared.

Everything changed exactly one month after he died.Before that, life was simple-at least on the surface. University classes, friends I barely trusted, family dinners that felt more like rehearsed performances than real connection.But I didn't question anything. Why would I ? My father was my hero.Until he wasn't.

One month after his funeral, men I'd never seen before started showing up. Watching me. Following me.Asking questions I didn't understand-about documents, about land, about promises.

And then, that night came.The night everything I believed about my life shattered.The night they came for my mother and me.The night I met him-the man who would ruin me.

—

When I woke up again, everything was spinning.

My head throbbed, and my eyes struggled to focus. The ceiling above me was cracked and dimly lit by a single bull that buzzed quietly-mocking the silence around me.

I sat up slowly, every muscle aching.The air was cold and stale. The floor beneath me was bare concrete. No windows. Just four walls, a small iron door, and nothing else.Was this a room?Or should I call it what it truly felt like-a cell?

There was no bed, no clock, no sense of time. Just isolation... and the weight of everything crashing down around me.

I looked around the room thinking my mom was still beside me but no it was just me I touched the side of my face where he had hit me earlier. The sting was dull now, but the humiliation burned fresh.

I was no longer just a hostage.I was a prisoner.And everything he had planned to do next... had to survive it.

And then-I heard the sound.The door creaked open slowly, its hinges groaning like a warning.Footsteps followed. Heavy, confident.It was him.The man. The mafia boss.He stepped inside, calm and collected, dressed in black from head to toe like death wrapped in silk.He stared at me for a long moment, his eyes cold and unreadable-like frozen glass "You're awake," he said, in a low voice .Then, after a pause: he said "Do you know who I am?"He didn't wait for my answer.

"My name is Dario Valerio."The name hit the air like a threat, full of blood and legacy.Then he moved.

He leaned in-slow and deliberate-until his face hovered inches from mine.I could feel his breath against my cheek, warm and terrifying.

"Your father worked under mine for ten years. Ten years of loyalty... until betraval."

His voice hardened.

"Now you'll repay the debt he left behind."

I swallowed hard, trying to keep the tears from falling."I don't know anything," I whispered.

It was the truth.But he didn't care about truth.Only control."You will "

That was all he said before standing again.! wanted to scream. Hit him. Beg him.But none of it would matter. He wasnt a man you could reason with.

I leaned back against the wall, the cold seeping into my skin.

Was this how it ends?

Then, out of nowhere, a memory flooded back. A flash of my mother's voice one night when I couldn't sleep.

"You are stronger than you think, Ezebel. Even in darkness, you carry light."

I held unto that desperately.

Dario's POV

She looked small in the corner. Weak.But her eyes…those eyes had fire.The same fire Marco Moretti had before he stabbed my family in the back.

Now his daughter would burn for him.