Florence, Italy
Arohi's Apartment — 3:09 a.m.
The envelope trembled in Arohi's hands as if it were alive—dangerous, pulsing with the same fear currently running through her veins.
"Marriage?" she repeated, her voice breaking. "Is this some kind of sick joke?"
Dante didn't flinch. He stood like a statue of obsidian carved by violence, power, and secrets.
"I don't joke," he said. His voice was low, unshaken, the kind of voice that made people listen. Or beg.
She stared at the contract. Her name written in clean, sharp ink. Her full legal name.
How did he even get that?
"How do you know who I am?" she asked quietly, stepping back.
"I know everything about the woman who saw me bleed," he said darkly. "You should've walked away that night, Dottorina. But you didn't. Now your face is in every corner of my enemies' radar. Congratulations."
Her throat dried.
"I didn't ask for any of this!"
"No," he said. "But now you're involved. Whether you want to be or not."
He walked past her, uninvited, into her tiny living room. The power imbalance was suffocating—he looked like he belonged in marble halls and castles dripping in blood money, not in her small, struggling apartment with peeling walls and secondhand furniture.
She turned sharply. "You can't force me into this."
Dante turned slowly. "I can. And I will."
"You're crazy!"
He moved like a storm—calm one second, explosive the next. In two strides, he was inches away, his large hand curling around her delicate jaw, tilting her face up to meet his gaze.
"Careful," he murmured. "You have no idea who I am."
"I don't want to," she hissed, struggling against his grip.
But his hold was not cruel. It was... restrained. As if he were holding back something much more violent beneath the surface.
"I'm not asking for your love, Arohi. This isn't a fairytale. This is survival."
"Survival?" she repeated.
"You stitched up the devil," he whispered. "Now the angels want to see you bleed."
She froze.
Dante stepped back, brushing his hand through his hair as if trying to tame the storm behind his eyes. "There was a hit on me. Someone betrayed me. That hospital was not an accident."
She blinked. "You think... they lured you there?"
"No. I think they wanted to finish me off there. Quietly. No headlines. No body." His gaze met hers again. "But you changed the story."
Arohi's heart thudded painfully.
He took a step closer again, but his voice softened. "You're not safe anymore, Arohi. Not out here. Not in this apartment. Not in your hospital. They'll come for you. And if I don't stake my claim, they'll think you're disposable."
"You want to use me as a shield," she whispered.
"No," he said, eyes darkening. "I want to make sure no one touches what's mine."
She backed away, hands shaking. "You're insane if you think I'll marry you. I have a life. I'm studying, working—"
"That life ended the second you touched me."
His voice was quiet. Dangerous.
Tears burned behind her eyes, but she wouldn't let them fall. "And if I say no?"
Dante's smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Then I'll make you disappear, Arohi. Not as a threat… but as protection. They'll never find you. Not even your family."
She swallowed hard. "Why are you doing this?"
Something flickered in his expression. A shadow of pain, guilt... or memory?
But it vanished quickly, replaced by icy resolve.
"Because I made a mistake once. I trusted the wrong person. I lost someone."
His jaw tensed. "I don't lose people twice."
Her voice was barely a whisper. "Why me?"
He stepped close, so close she could feel the tension between them—hot, choking, magnetic.
"Because you saw me at my weakest," he murmured. "And you didn't run."
He turned and walked toward the door. "You have twenty-four hours. After that, your life as Arohi Sen ends. And you'll become Arohi Salvatore."
He left without another word.
And Arohi… was left trembling in silence, the contract still clutched in her hands, her world crumbling beneath her feet.
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Cliffhanger for Next Chapter:
Does Arohi choose to sign the contract? Or does she run? Why is Dante really doing this—what secret is he hiding about his past loss? And who exactly is hunting Arohi now?