Ariana's POV
My teeth chattered as I stood in the winter snow.December — a month meant for joy, family, and celebration — felt like nothing but another cruel joke.Christmas was days away, but for me, it wasn’t warmth or love that came with it.It was misery — another day to endure.
Every year, Christmas meant the same thing: spending it with Nicola.One moment he’d rage like a storm, the next he’d be this gentle, charming man — the kind I foolishly believed I could love after Alessandro.But I was wrong.So wrong.
This year was different, though.It was going to change my life forever...in the worst way possible.
On the 25th of December, I, Ariana Vallezi, would marry Nicola Luciano.
The thought alone crushed me.My chest ached as I shut my eyes, tears spilling freely down my face.D’Angelo had set the date himself — my own father, sealing my fate with his signature.I was marrying the man I hated most, the man who made my life a living hell.There was no way out.
A week left.
Just one week until I’d belong to a monster.
Right now, I was standing outside a boutique, the snow biting at my skin while Nicola searched inside for a wedding dress.When he told me this morning that we were going shopping, I’d forced myself to smile.For a moment, I was even excited — the idea of leaving the mansion was like breathing air after drowning.But the closer the day crept, the heavier my heart felt.I couldn’t pretend anymore.
I couldn’t do this.
The only reason I was tolerating today was because it meant freedom — temporary freedom — from those suffocating walls.Nicola never let me leave without him.Control and power were his obsessions, things he learned too well from D’Angelo.Shopping for a wedding dress felt like attending my own funeral.I wanted to run, but I couldn’t.
I thought of the night he confessed to killing his family — his own family.The way he’d broken down, begging me for forgiveness, clutching me like a lifeline while I froze in horror.The man I was forced to marry was a murderer.And somehow, I was supposed to smile through it.
“Detka, do you not like this store?”
His voice snapped me back, and I spun around to find him standing behind me.The sound of his voice alone made panic claw up my throat.My body stiffened.It had been two days since his last outburst — two days of peace — and I wanted to keep it that way.
I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to gather warmth that wasn’t there.“Y-Yeah...no...I love it,” I stammered.
“Then why are you outside?”His tone sharpened, irritation flaring in his eyes.
“Nicola,” I whispered, reaching for his hand even though it made me tremble, “I just...needed some fresh air.”
For a second, his gaze darkened — that familiar, terrifying spark of anger flashing behind his pupils.My heart dropped.I could feel the storm coming.
“There’s nothing for you to wear in this shop.We’re going to another one,” he growled.
“There’s no need for that, Nicola.I can choose from this one—”
Before I could finish, he seized my wrist, his grip iron-tight.Pain shot up my arm and I flinched.His eyes bore into mine — cold, cruel, unyielding.
“If you don’t listen to me, I’ll do something you won’t like.”His voice was low, venomous.“I said we’re going to another shop.Do you understand, detka?”
I nodded quickly, too afraid to breathe.
“Say something.”
“I-I was thinking...”I stuttered, mind racing for an escape, “w-why don’t y-you choose my dress?”
His expression flickered with confusion.“What?”
“I want you...to choose my dress,” I said again, forcing a small, trembling smile.
For a moment, silence stretched between us — and then his face softened, the corners of his mouth lifting into an almost boyish grin.“Do you really mean that?”
“Yes.”
“Ariana,” he murmured, “I’d love to do that.”
