Chapter Two CHIARA
The next afternoon, I realized the moment I stepped into Papa’s study that he already knew about my little escape. The neat, expensively furnished room felt smaller than usual. Colder.
My siblings were lined up along the far side. Aurora was rigid, Matteo staring at the floor, and Sienna was clutching the edge of her dress like she could disappear into it.
Papa himself stood behind his desk, perfectly still. That was always worse than when he was visibly angry. It felt calculated. Just like that snake, getting ready to bite.
“Close the door,” Papa said.
I did. The click echoed louder than it should have. My ankle throbbed as I stepped forward, still bandaged, still weak. But I kept my chin up. I wouldn’t limp in front of him.
“You left your room last night during the dance,” he said. Not a question.
“Yes.”
His gaze sharpened. “You made your siblings lie for you.”
“Yes.”
Aurora shifted beside me, a subtle movement, like she wanted to speak, but didn’t dare. Papa walked around the desk slowly, each step measured. Controlled.
“Do you understand what you risked?” he demanded.
“I do,” I said.
“Do you?” His voice dropped, quiet enough to make my stomach twist. “You walked into a room full of men who would have taken one look at you and decided you belonged to them.”
My fingers curled at my sides. I said nothing.
His eyes narrowed. “And yet you came back untouched… Apart from a snake bite. Making us all worry. Making us rush in a doctor to treat you.”
He was right, and I was embarrassed. Papa was pulled away from the dance, and told about the bite last night. He was angry when the doctor came. Not because he was worried about my health, but because I’d disobeyed him.
“Who found you after the snake bit you?” Papa asked.
My pulse spiked. I kept my gaze steady. “A maid.”
He studied me. Waiting. Digging. I felt it, his suspicion pressing against my ribs, searching for cracks.
But all I could hear was that voice in the dark.
The mysterious, masked stranger who’d sucked the venom out of my bloodstream…
who had my blood running down the corner of his mouth.
My skin erupted in goosebumps when I remembered what he’d said.
Our little secret.
“A maid?” Papa repeated.
“Yes, Papa.”
His jaw tightened. He didn’t believe me. His hand moved so fast I barely saw it. The crack of his slap split the room in half.
My head snapped to the side, pain blooming across my cheek as the force of it knocked me off balance. I caught myself before I fell, my vision blurring for a second.
Sienna gasped.
“Do not lie to me,” Papa said. I tasted blood, wiping it off my face before turning to face him again. He’d hit me before, and he’d hit me again.
“I’m not,” I said quietly.
Papa took another step closer. He loomed over me now.
“Then tell me why no one told me what was happening,” he hissed. “Not even one of your own siblings. I taught you better than that, didn’t I?”
I swallowed uncomfortably. He was trying to get them all in trouble again, and it was all my fault.
“I don’t know,” I said. His eyes went cold.
“Wrong answer.”
He grabbed my arm, fingers digging hard enough to bruise, and dragged me toward the center of the room. My ankle screamed in protest, but I bit it back, refusing to cry out.
“Since you seem to think you can make your own choices,” he said, his voice turning sharper, “I’ll remind you what happens when you forget your place.”
Aurora stepped forward. “Papa, please don’t hurt her!”
“Stay where you are,” he snapped. She froze. So did Sienna and Matteo. I didn’t look at them again.
Papa released my arm only to shove me forward. I stumbled, barely catching myself before my injured foot gave out completely.
“On your knees.”
My breath hitched. I didn’t move fast enough. His hand closed around the back of my neck and forced me down. The floor was cold beneath my palms. The position was humiliating, and deliberate. Meant to be seen. Witnessed by my poor brother and sisters.
“Look at her,” he said to the others. “This is what happens when you forget who you belong to.”
Belong.
The word twisted something sharp in my chest. I pressed my lips together, staring at the floor, refusing to cry. I wouldn’t give him that.
“Last chance,” Papa said. “Admit your siblings helped you. That you deceived them. Forced them to lie to me. And tell me who helped you. You’re too dumb to pull this off on your own.”
My heart pounded.
Our little secret.
“No one.”
Silence followed, but not for long.
Pain exploded across my back as the first strike landed.
I gasped despite myself, my fingers digging into the carpet as the shock of it rippled through me.
Without looking up, I knew Papa had taken his belt off.
He’d hit me with it so many times before, I was familiar with the way the leather felt, cracking against my skin.
My ankle throbbed harder, my whole body going rigid. The second hit came faster. Hotter. Sienna started crying.
“Stop, Papa. Please!” she begged.
“Quiet,” Papa seethed. “Who helped you, Chiara?”
I shut my eyes, breathing through it, forcing myself not to break. Not to scream. Then, I whispered, “No one.”
Another strike. Another breath dragged through clenched teeth. I held on to the only thing I had left. The memory of the masked stranger. My only little sin in this gilded cage.
Our little secret.
I wasn’t going to betray the stranger. No matter how hard Papa hit me.
The next morning, every inch of my body hurt. Not just the sharp, lingering sting across my back or the dull ache in my ankle, but deeper. Bruised pride. Bruised anger. Bruised ego, maybe.
I stayed in bed longer than I should have, staring at the canopy above me, replaying the snake bite and the masked stranger over and over, until an urgent knock sounded at my door.
Before I could answer, it burst open. “Chiara!”
Aurora’s voice broke. I pushed myself up on my elbows, wincing as pain flared down my spine. She rushed toward me, eyes red, face pale, hands shaking.
“Aurora?” My voice came out hoarse. “What’s wrong?”
She stopped at the edge of the bed, staring at me like she didn’t know how to say it. “They’re taking you.”
The words hit like a slap. “What? Who’s taking me where?”
“The Morettis,” she repeated, tears spilling now. “Papa… Papa said you’re getting married off. You’ll meet… him… today.”
A cold dread crept into my chest.
“No,” I said. “No, that’s not possible. Papa would have told me. I’m supposed to debut, go to dances… meet people…”
“He didn’t tell you because it wasn’t his decision,” Aurora choked out. “The Morettis didn’t give him a choice. Chiara… the maids said you’re leaving with… him today.”
My stomach dropped. “Leaving with who?”
Aurora hesitated. Just for a second. But it was enough to send chills down my bruised spine.
“The maids said…” Her voice trembled. “They said The Serpent asked for you personally.”
The room tilted. The Serpent? It couldn’t be true.
He was just a scary story. A legend invented to scare little kids like Sienna.
“No,” I repeated, louder this time. “No, that’s… not possible. That doesn’t make any sense.”
Aurora grabbed my hands, squeezing tightly. I couldn’t breathe. My mind flashed back to those dark eyes behind a mask, blood on his mouth, his voice in my ear.
Our little secret.
Did my masked stranger really betray me in the worst possible way? Give me up to a villain?
“You’re lying,” I whispered. “You must be. I don’t even know him!”
“I wish I was,” Aurora whimpered. “Someone must have told that man about you.”
Panic surged, hot and suffocating, taking over every cell in my body. Could it be true?
“The Serpent isn’t real,” I managed. “He’s just a scary story.”
Aurora shook her head. “I saw him.”
“You… what?” I snapped my head in her direction, but she couldn’t even meet my gaze. “How did you meet him?”
“I saw him coming out of Papa’s office,” Aurora admitted. “The maids were whispering his name. I knew he was important. Nobody dared look him in the eye. Not even Papa.”
I sank back into the bed, reality hitting me like a freight train. It was true. My father was going to marry me off before I had a chance at a life. And not to someone I liked. To someone with a killer reputation.
“He’s going to kill me,” I said, the knowledge crashing into me all at once. “Aurora, you said it yourself. The Serpent poisons people. He tortures them. Why would he… why would he want to marry me?”
Aurora shook her head helplessly. “I don’t know. But Papa is furious. I’ve never seen him like this.”
A sharp knock cut through the moment. Before either of us could move, the door opened and two maids stepped inside.
“Signorina Chiara,” one of them said softly. “You need to get ready.”
“For what?” I snapped, though my voice wavered.
They exchanged a glance before the other spoke up. “To meet your fiancé.”
The word twisted something ugly in my chest. Aurora let go of my hands slowly, like she didn’t want to.
“I’ll come back to see you later,” she whispered. “I promise.”
Then she slipped out of the room, leaving me alone with the maids. They moved efficiently, helping me out of bed despite my protests, guiding me into a bath, into a dress, making me into something presentable. Something sellable.
My body screamed with protest through every movement, but they both ignored it. Of course they did. This wasn’t about me, the person. I had become a pawn in Papa’s goal to keep the Moretti satisfied at all costs.
“Please,” I said at one point, gripping the edge of the vanity. “Just help me get out of here.”
“Your father is waiting for you,” the maid said gently.
My reflection stared back at me in the mirror. I looked luminous, pretty. But I could see the ghost of the girl I used to be shining through. My eyes were soulless. My life faded before my watering eyes. My body looked pale. Bruised. Not mine anymore.