Chapter 3
Vivienne's POV
"Moretti, have you lost your fucking mind—" Xavier tried to intervene.
Dominic Reed blocked his path, Dante's right-hand man expressionless. "Stay out of this, Kane. Don't make it worse."
More guards poured into the room, surrounding Xavier.
Dante grabbed my throat and dragged me off the hospital bed. I struggled for air, my nails clawing bloody scratches into his arm.
"Take her home." He released his grip.
I collapsed to the floor, coughing violently. Two guards seized me and hauled me out like a dead animal.
Xavier's roar echoed behind me. "You'll fucking regret this, Moretti!"
Dante only sneered. "This isn't your business, Kane."
When we reached the Moretti estate, Marcus and Helena were already waiting in the living room.
"You vicious BITCH!" Helena charged at me and slapped me across the face. "Do you have ANY idea—ANY IDEA what you've done?"
I clutched my cheek, still processing, when Marcus grabbed my hair. "Celeste almost DIED! Because of YOU!"
"I don't know what you're talking about—"
"Still playing innocent?" Helena's voice grew shrill. "The doctor said she had severe anaphylactic shock! You KNOW she's allergic to mangoes! She told the doctor she only ate one thing before the gala—the cake YOU gave her!"
My blood ran cold.
Mango? I never gave her anything to eat!
"I didn't give her any cake!" I said desperately. "I SWEAR!"
"Still LYING?" Marcus kicked me hard in the stomach. "You think Celeste would lie about this? She almost DIED! Do you fucking understand that?"
Searing pain shot through me. I curled up on the floor, cold sweat soaking my clothes.
My baby...
"You're just JEALOUS!" Helena looked down at me with disgust. "Celeste has always been better than you, and Dante loves HER, not you! So you tried to KILL her!"
"I didn't..." I looked up at Dante, voice weak. "Dante... please believe me..."
He only stared down at me coldly.
"Lock her in the storage room." His voice was ice-cold. "No food, no water. Not until Celeste wakes up."
"NO!" My heart seized. "Dante, please! Don't lock me up—you KNOW how terrified I am of the dark! You've ALWAYS known!"
Everyone knew about my claustrophobia. As a child, whenever I upset my parents, they'd lock me in the basement. In that pitch-black space, fear would devour all reason. I'd scream until my voice gave out.
It was my deepest terror.
"Please..." I grabbed his pant leg. "I'm so scared of the dark... please, Dante, PLEASE don't do this..."
Dante kicked my hand away. "Should've thought about that before you poisoned her."
"Boss, wait—this could be a misunderstanding—"
Dominic suddenly spoke up, his voice careful.
Before he could finish, Dante kicked him in the chest. Dominic crashed to the floor, dropping to one knee, blood trickling from his mouth.
"Know your fucking place, Dominic. You work for ME, not her."
Dominic kept his head down and said nothing more, but I saw his fists clench.
Two guards yanked me to my feet and dragged me down to the basement.
"NO! Dante!" I struggled desperately. "I didn't do anything! I SWEAR I didn't do anything!"
No one listened.
The storage room door opened. Pure darkness.
They threw me inside and slammed the door shut.
The world plunged into absolute darkness.
I stumbled to my feet, groping along the walls for a doorknob. But there was only cold, damp stone. Nothing.
"LET ME OUT!" I pounded on the door. "PLEASE! SOMEBODY!"
Only echoes answered.
I slid down to the floor and hugged my knees. The darkness pressed in like a living thing, devouring my sanity. Fear spread through my body like a snake coiling around my heart.
I lost track of time. Could've been hours. Could've been a whole day.
Hunger and thirst tormented me, but the darkness itself was worse.
On the third night, I was barely conscious.
Suddenly, the door cracked open.
Faint light filtered in. I squinted, taking a long time to adjust before I could make out figures in the hallway—Celeste and Dante.
"Dante, how could you lock her up like this?" Celeste was crying. "This is all my fault... I was so careless..."
"None of this is your fault." Dante's voice was so tender it broke my heart. "She played you."
I held my breath, staying perfectly still.
Celeste sobbed softly.
"But Vivienne must have done this because of me... She thinks I took everything from her... But Dante, she's my SISTER. I would never... even if you were... what I wanted most..."
Her voice trailed off, heavy with implication.
Dante sighed and pulled her into his arms. "You're too kind. If she hadn't pulled those tricks five years ago, we would've been together all along. What's happening to her now—she brought it on herself."
My heart felt torn apart.
A memory flashed back from five years ago—
A hotel room. Dante lying in bed, burning with fever. I pushed the door open to call an ambulance when Celeste suddenly appeared and shoved me inside, then locked the door.
"Sis, you take Dante." She smiled. "He's just some broke bastard son anyway. I'm going abroad to find someone worth my time. You can have him."
The next day when Dante woke up, he thought I'd drugged him and set everything up.
But it was Celeste who drugged him.
She looked down on Dante back then—just an illegitimate son with no money, no power. She wanted to go abroad and find someone better. She never expected he'd destroy his half-brothers and become the new Don.
So she came back. Armed with lies.
Celeste leaned against Dante's chest, her voice soft and fragile.
"Dante... now that we both know how we feel, when will you... marry me? Dragging this out isn't good for anyone. What if Vivienne does something crazy again..."
Dante fell silent for a moment.
"I'll handle it." He said. "She's stubborn as hell. If I push for divorce, she'll fight it tooth and nail. I need to make her... want out herself."
"But—"
"Celeste." Dante cut her off, his tone turning serious. "You don't want her going crazy and causing problems, do you? She's still your sister. Give me time to handle this right."
Celeste bit her lip but said nothing.
Just then, a subordinate rushed over and whispered in Dante's ear.
Dante frowned. "Damn it... I need to deal with this. Get some rest."
He strode away, footsteps fading.
Celeste watched Dante leave. Her tender expression twisted into cold hatred the moment he was gone.
"Cut the bullshit! I KNOW you're awake!" Celeste shoved the door open and kicked me hard. "Look at you! Got Dante all worried about poor little you!"
I bit back the pain and said nothing.
She crouched down and grabbed my hair, forcing my head up.
"Feeling proud now? Touched?" Her voice dripped with venom. "Listen up—don't kid yourself. You're not his wife anymore. I've got a hundred ways to make him dump you. That cake was just the beginning."
I gritted my teeth. "You psycho..."
"Yeah, so what?" Celeste laughed. "What are you gonna do? Nothing. That's what. I'll make you watch Dante marry me. Watch you lose EVERYTHING!"
She released my hair and stood up, smoothing her skirt.
"Enjoy the darkness, sis."
The door slammed shut. Darkness swallowed everything again.
I don't know how much time passed before I heard soft sounds outside the door.
A hand slipped something through the crack—my phone.
"Ma'am..." Dominic's voice was barely a whisper. "I'll work on the Boss. Just... hang in there a little longer. Please."
Then hurried footsteps retreated.
I grabbed the phone with trembling hands.
The screen lit up, the harsh light making me squint.
There was a friend request.
Unknown account. One message: "If you want out, I can help."
Xavier Kane.
I stared at those words, my finger hovering over the screen.
In my first life, I never asked anyone for help. But this time, I had to survive. For my baby.
And Xavier was the only person who could stand against Dante.
I accepted the request and typed with shaking fingers.
"Get me out of here. Please. The sooner the better."
