CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Serafina
I stared at the ceiling, counting the tiny flowers in the crown molding for what felt like the hundredth time.
My heart ached.
Two days had passed since my wedding, since Adrian had shattered my world with his cruel confession. Misery choked me every morning I woke up in this unfamiliar, dreadful place.
He never loved me.
The weight of that reality pressed down on my chest, making it difficult to breathe.
He never loved me.
“You’re my wife and it’s till death do us part.”
The words echoed in my mind, a relentless mantra that had kept me prisoner in this bed for two endless days.
He never loved me.
My husband was a despicable man and I was trapped with him until my miserable death. Indeed, how lucky of me to have such a fortunate fate.
I laughed, humorlessly and then I sobbed, brokenly.
I hadn’t moved except to use the bathroom, to splash water on my face when the tears became too much. My stomach growled, a painful reminder that I hadn’t eaten since... I couldn’t remember when.
My wedding day. The day I’d lost everything.
He never loved me.
I couldn’t even ask my father for help. He hated me for betraying our family, for ruining his alliance, and all of his carefully curated plans.
I was supposed to marry the Salvatore heir…
And I was supposed to give birth to the next heir.
That was my purpose.
That was what would have elevated my status and benefited my family.
But I married the spare. Adrian, who was reckless and his legacy that was filled with nothing but blood and dead bodies.
A fresh wave of tears spilled from my eyes, soaking into the already damp pillow beneath my head. The shame burned through me, hotter than any fever. How could I have been so foolish? So naive?
I’d believed his lies, had walked down the aisle thinking there was something real between us. That he would protect me.
But I had only been a foolish piece that he moved where he wanted in his dangerous game of revenge.
My phone pinged from somewhere in the tangle of sheets. I didn’t need to look to know it was Arabella. She’d been messaging me for days, growing increasingly worried with each unanswered text.
Arabella: Please just let me know you’re okay. I’m worried.
Arabella: or you could just be enjoying your honeymoon.
Arabella: That’s what I’m saying to convince myself. Because my gut is telling me something is very, very wrong.
Arabella: Wherever you are, I hope you’re safe.
Arabella: But if you need help… if you need to run, tell me.
Arabella: I know I’ve never said this before or even suggested it, considering the nature of our friendship, but I can get you out. If you truly want, I can and I will. Just say the word, Sera.
Arabella: My husband has the resources…
I closed my eyes tightly, guilt washing over me.
How could I explain any of this to her? How could I tell my best friend, the one person who truly knew the real me, that I’d married a monster who had used me as a pawn in his twisted game?
That I’d lost my virginity to a man who viewed me as nothing more than a means to hurt his brother?
The truth was too humiliating, too devastating to share even with her.
She wouldn’t understand. How could she? Her life was perfect with her husband on their little island and their beautiful kids.
Arabella wouldn’t understand the world I lived in.
There was a knock on my door. Elena again, probably, with another tray of food I wouldn’t touch. The housekeeper had been persistent at first, but after two days of me refusing to answer, her visits had grown less frequent.
“Mrs. Salvatore?” Her voice was muffled through the thick wood. “I’ve brought fresh towels.”
I didn’t respond. Couldn’t find the energy to form words. The silence stretched until, mercifully, I heard her footsteps retreating down the hallway.
My stomach clenched painfully. Hunger or grief—I couldn’t tell the difference anymore. The pain in my heart had become my sole companion and the grief in my soul festered pus like an untreated wound.
They’d become one and the same, a constant ache that consumed me from the inside out.
I hated Adrian with a passion that frightened me.
The intensity of it shocked me, this burning rage that seemed to grow stronger with each passing hour. I’d never hated anyone before, had never known it was possible to feel such pure, unadulterated loathing for another human being.
But Adrian wasn’t human. He was something else entirely—a monster who wore the face of a beautiful man.
Another knock came through, the sound jolting me out of my thoughts. I pressed my hands over my ears, blocking it all as the knocking became more insistent. Again, and again.
“Go away.” My voice cracked with the whisper. “Just go away.”
And then silence, almost as if whoever was on the other side of the door heard me even though that wasn’t possible.
My hands relaxed, dropping to my side again. I sniffled, closing my eyes, finding minimal reprieve in the silence—
My door opened without warning.
I sat up immediately, fury flaring through my veins. “I didn’t give anyone permission to enter—”
But it wasn’t Elena.
Or Adrian. Thank God. I didn’t know what I would do if it was him.
Maybe I would have scratched his eyes out.
Or maybe stabbed him in the heart.
I never knew I could possess such vehemence, but now I felt it, the violence burning through me, simmering under my flesh, rotting me from the inside out.
The person standing in the doorway was Giulia, her dark curls framing an expression of such genuine concern and pity that my anger faltered for a mere second.
“Oh, what has he done to you?” she whispered, her eyes taking in my disheveled appearance and the tear-stained pillows.
She crossed the room in three quick strides, setting a plate of elaborately decorated cupcakes on the nightstand before sitting beside me on the bed. Without hesitation, she pulled me into her arms.
I should have resisted. Should have maintained what little dignity I had left. But her warmth, her compassion, was too much to resist.
A part of me had craved such warmth.
I sank into her embrace, closing my eyes as fresh tears spilled down my cheeks.
“I spoke with Adrian yesterday,” Giulia said softly, her hand rubbing comforting circles on my back.
“I asked how you were settling in. He said you weren’t eating, that you’ve locked yourself in here since.
..” She trailed off, not needing to finish the sentence.
“I thought the newly-wedded bride would be in a much happier mood.”
My stomach lurched with the thought of Adrian discussing me… my misery, my humiliation… with his sister.
“Why does he care if I eat or not?” I pulled back, wiping angrily at my tears. “He ruined my life, and now he cares if I starve?”
Giulia’s expression shifted, confusion clouding her features. “What do you mean?”
“It was all a lie.” The words tore from my throat, raw and painful. “He married me to hurt Matteo. I was just a p-pawn in their twisted game.”
Giulia’s face fell. She didn’t seem surprised, which somehow made it worse. “Adrian doesn’t do... love,” she said quietly. “Not in the way most people understand it.”
“Do you know why he married me?” I asked, desperate for some explanation, some context that might make this nightmare make sense.
She shook her head. “No, but... his reasons have always been complicated. He has unconventional ways of doing things.”
“Exactly, and I’m paying for it.” I gestured wildly at the room, at myself, at the wreckage of my life. “Why am I collateral damage in the war between two brothers?”
“Adrian and Matteo are—"
“I don’t care what has happened between them.” My voice rose, surprising even me. “I won’t accept being used and discarded.”
Her eyes widened slightly, but she nodded firmly. “So what are you going to do about it then?”
I stared at Giulia, her words hanging in the air between us. What was I going to do about it? The question echoed in my hollow chest.
What could I do? I was trapped in this marriage, in this house, in this life I hadn’t chosen. Divorce wasn’t an option, not in our world, not for a woman like me.
“I don’t know,” I finally admitted, my voice scratchy from days of silent crying. “I’ve spent my entire life doing what I was told. Being the perfect daughter, the perfect fiancée, and now...” I inhaled, hating the next words that would come out. “I had to be the wife to a man I loathe.”
I wiped my tears, my chin wobbling. “My father thinks I’m a failure. I don’t know if he’ll ever even speak to me again.”
“You’re not a failure, Serafina.” Giulia squeezed my hand. “This is just a cruel situation you’ve found yourself in. You’re the catalyst of Adrian’s ruthlessness.”
“And Matteo’s obsession,” I added, bitterness coating my tongue. “I was never more than a prize to either of them.”
The realization that I had never truly been seen as a person by either brother cut deeper than any blade could. I was a trophy, a possession, a means to an end.
How pathetic of me. How stupidly naive I had been to think that I had been worth something.
“No,” Giulia said firmly, her voice hardening. “You’re a person, Serafina. And you have more power than you think.”
I laughed bitterly. “What power? I’m trapped in this house, with three massive dogs, married to a man who simply wants to use me.”
“You’re a Salvatore now,” she reminded me. “That means something in our world. And Adrian may have married you for the wrong reasons, but that doesn’t mean you have to play by his rules.”
My stomach dipped at her words. “What are you trying to say?”
“I’m suggesting you stop being a victim because you’re a survivor, Serafina.
” Giulia’s eyes gleamed with determination.
“You have survived our world, been the perfect daughter, dressed the way you were told, ate the way they wanted you to, talked how they expected you to, smiled even when it hurt, laughed even when it broke you. You. Survived. All. Of. It.”
My heart hammered against my rib cage, slamming with such force it made my breath hitch.
“You’re his wife now,” Guilia said. “Use your position to your advantage. Adrian is… complicated, but he’s not entirely without honor.”
“Honor?” I scoffed. “He destroyed my life for revenge.”
“He could have abandoned you after what happened,” Giulia pointed out. “He could have let you face the shame alone. Instead, he married you.”
“To hurt Matteo,” I insisted.
“Perhaps,” she conceded. “But he also protected you from more humiliation.”
“Please,” I begged, shaking my head. “Don’t try to make him sound like some kind of hero when he’s not.”
“I’m not saying that,” she argued quietly.
“But what I am saying is that you’re his wife now.
And you can either use that to your advantage or you can continue to allow yourself to be a victim.
Stay in this room until you disappear, until you’re living within these walls like a forgotten ghost. That is completely up to you, Serafina. ”
I sniffled, searching her face for some kind of lie or deception. Except there was nothing but truth and determination in her steady gaze. Unwavering support that I never expected.
Why did Guilia care so much?
“Why are you telling me all of this?” I asked, doubt creeping me. I was scared to trust another Salvatore. She may be different from her brothers, but she was their blood, after all.
Something in me wanted to believe her. Something else remembered that I had wanted to believe Adrian once, too.
“He’s your brother,” I said carefully. “Shouldn’t you be on his side?”
“I am on his side. But I’m also on yours. Men in our world think they can possess us and use us to their advantage. We need to start proving them wrong. We deserve better.”
Oh…
I could see her truth now.
She saw herself in me.
Arranged to be married to a man she barely knew.
She lived the same life, breathed the same suffocating air as me.
Guilia was as much of a pawn as I had been.
“And you want me to do that? To be the catalyst of this change?”
“I think you can do a lot of things with that rage and fire in your heart,” she said, her eyebrow raising as if to challenge me.
A silence settled between us.
“Now, will you please eat something?” she urged, pushing the plate of cupcakes toward me.
“You need your strength. I made these cupcakes myself, hoping they would tempt you into eating something. They’re chocolate with salted caramel filling.
” She hesitated, frowning slightly. “Though now I’m not sure if this is the best option for you to have on an empty stomach. ”
She tried to take it away, her brows furrowing with concern. “Let me ask Elena to make you some eggs and avocado toast.”
Some stubborn, hollow part of me wanted to refuse—wanted to refuse everything, wanted to go on disappearing. To become that forgotten ghost Guilia spoke of.
Maybe it was better that way. Maybe… just maybe, it would cause less pain. Less heartache.
But then… my soul would remain as broken as it was now.
Something shifted inside me. A spark of defiance, small but fierce.
I remembered Lucia’s words from before. Words I had forgotten until now.
I was a Morelli princess… and now I was a Salvatore queen.
And queens were not owned.
They were worshipped.
My lungs clenched. I would not be anyone’s pawn.
I reached for the plate, snatching a cupcake before Guilia could take it away. “Thank you. I’ll have one while Elena makes me something to eat.”
I took a bite, savoring the godly sweetness. “And thank you for not judging me.”
“I’ve always liked you, Serafina,” Giulia said simply. Her expression softened and she took my hand, squeezing it gently. “And I’ve always thought you were too good for my brother. Either of them, actually.”
It didn’t matter if she believed I was too good for either of them. It didn’t matter if I was collateral damage between the two brothers.
No…
Defiance coiled in my chest, pulsing through me like a second heartbeat, burning through my veins like venom, hot and reckless. Unrelenting. Untamed.
Adrian might have won this battle, but the war was far from over.
And for the first time since he’d shattered my world, I believed I might just survive it.