Total pages in book: 108
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105679 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 528(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 352(@300wpm)
“I understand.” This time, there would be no tardiness. Not even by a second. Perfection was expected. No, it was demanded.
I secured the mask over the upper half of my face, and it turned out to be the perfect, beautiful armor that I didn’t realize I needed. A barrier between my true self—the one I hid deep inside the crevice of my soul, and the role I had to play tonight. And maybe for a very long time, until I accomplished what I had set out to do.
Weeks… months… years… I didn’t know.
I stood up and pushed the chair away to give myself enough room so I could take it all in. The white dress, the silver mask, the makeup, my hair… everything was perfect.
Regal. Elegant. Poised. Untouchable.
After one final glance at the mirror, I walked out of the room. The white satin of my gown whispered against the marble steps as I walked down the wide corridor that led to the ballroom.
Everything was unfamiliar.
The walls, the floor, the tapestries.
It was as if I was walking in the darkness of the complete unknown. The shadows followed me closely, threatening to swallow me whole, to put me into their never-ending abyss.
I had tried to ask my father if we could have the engagement at our private estate in Chicago. But he refused before I could even finish my sentence.
He said we needed to make a grand statement. My wedding was a once in a lifetime spectacle, after all. So, I was put on our private jet with Lucia and flown to the Biltmore Estate this morning. My father and brother flew separately, of course. Safety measures, my father claimed.
The Biltmore Estate was a literal chateau-styled mansion. I had never seen such beauty and magnificence before at such a level and if I hadn’t been filled with so much shuddering dread all day… I would have truthfully appreciated the architecture and the grandness of this place.
But I couldn’t bring myself to be excited about anything.
How could I? When I was walking right into the jaws of my own impending demise.
My fingers trembled slightly against the banister as I watched the ballroom from above. The weight of my diamond necklace felt like a spiked collar around my neck.
From above, the ballroom resembled a black and red chessboard. Expensive black suits and lavish burgundy gowns—pieces moving in deliberate patterns. Each with their own agenda, carefully hidden behind their masquerade masks.
Crystal chandeliers spilled golden lights across the polished marble floors, catching on the expensive jewels and champagne flutes.
I couldn’t swallow past the heavy lump in my throat.
Thud. Thud. Thud.
The orchestra’s melody wound through the air, but the thundering of my pulse was louder in my ears.
And then the clock chimed. Precisely at nine o’clock.
Once. Thud.
Twice. Thud. Thud.
Thrice. Thud. Thud. Thud.
Conversation died mid-sentence. The orchestra paused.
It was pure mocking silence for a mere second before hundreds of eyes turned toward the grand staircase, their attention diverting to me like the gaze of a hawk.
Calculating. Assessing. Admiring.
I took my first step down the stairs. There was a single breath between the taunting silence and the first note of the cello from the orchestra.
I made my way down, with utmost care and elegance as the cello’s fury bounced off the walls of the ballroom. The tempo intensified, each beat rippling through my body like a wave. Frenzied and with utter madness.
My heart slammed into my rib cage like a thundering storm.
I can’t breathe…
My steps faltered momentarily when a large figure in a tailored black tuxedo walked up the stairs. I knew it was Matteo, even with the mask hiding half of his face. It was planned this way. My father told me so. Matteo would meet me up at the stairs and we would walk down together. As one.
Oh God…
The dress felt tight around my chest, the fabric pinching into my skin, almost like it was tearing into my flesh with a personal vengeance.
He put his hand out, waiting for me to take it.
I… can’t… breathe…
I couldn’t faint. Not now. I simply couldn’t. No.
My father wouldn’t accept such a mistake.
Enzo Salvatore would think me weak… too fragile to marry his heir.
And Matteo? I knew he would be the most disappointed.
I had to be… perfect.
Tonight, there was no room for error.
So, I placed my hand in my betrothed’s and he guided me down the rest of the stairs.
Even as I suffocated inside. The feeling of absolute dread and misery filling my bones, poisoning my veins and saturating my lungs.
The rest of the orchestra had joined the cello, but it all sounded distant, muted. My blood roared between my ears as we walked off the last step of the stairs.
The orchestra slowed to a crescendo and then came to an abrupt end before the sound of applause echoed through the ballroom.