On the morning of our seventh wedding anniversary, I was supposed to be boarding a flight overseas, ready to present my groundbreaking nerve-interface design at an international medical competition. Instead, I found myself in a government office, staring at a piece of paper that suddenly felt completely meaningless.
Out of habit, I skimmed through the information.
Then I froze.
"Excuse me," I said, looking up. "There's been a mistake. I'm married... not divorced."
The clerk behind the glass didn't even seem interested. She lazily clicked through a few screens, treating my life like just another case file.
Married.
I was married.
Luca Devereaux wasn't simply my husband. He was my entire world.
To everyone else, he was a nightmare in human form—a mafia king whose name was spoken only in whispers. People believed he could reduce cities to ashes if the mood struck him.
But to me...
He was mine.
Calling him possessive didn't come close. Once Luca claimed something, he never let it go. And from the day we married, he'd made it clear that I belonged to him.
Even if I had wanted to walk away, he never would have allowed it.
So how could I possibly be divorced?
The employee searched the records again.
Then a second time.
Finally, she looked at me as though I were the one making no sense.
"The information is correct," she replied without emotion. "You and Mr. Devereaux legally divorced four years ago. On the very same day, he remarried. What happened? Did you hit your head? Honestly..." She clicked her tongue in annoyance.
The air caught in my lungs.
"T-That's impossible," I stammered. "There has to be some kind of mistake."
"There isn't." She lifted an eyebrow. "His wife is Celeste Harrington. Does that name mean anything to you?"
Did I know Celeste Harrington?
Something inside me seemed to crack.
"...Yes," I answered quietly. "I know exactly who she is."
God.
I knew her better than I ever wanted to.
Seven years ago, she'd stormed into my wedding ceremony determined to stop it. She cried, screamed, and threw herself at Luca in front of everyone. He didn't spare her so much as a glance.
"Get this woman out of here."
His order was enough. Twenty bodyguards dragged her away while I stood there trembling in my wedding gown.
Four years ago, she'd broken into Luca's office, stripped naked on his desk, and shamelessly offered herself to him, insisting she'd do absolutely anything if he'd just give her a chance.
Luca never even looked at her.
He calmly picked up the phone.
"Send the police over," he said. "I've got a problem in my office."
She spent the next fifty days behind bars.
Then there was five years ago...
My right hand suddenly throbbed, as though my body remembered before my mind did.
She had burst into my office without warning, consumed by fury.
Everything happened so fast.
Before I could even defend myself, she'd pulled an axe from her bag and brought it down.
The blade severed my right hand.
I still remembered the scream that tore from my throat.
When Luca learned what she'd done...
I'd never seen him lose control like that.
His eyes were bloodshot, every muscle in his body shaking with murderous rage.
"I'm going to kill her," he'd snarled. "I swear to God, Camille, I'll rip her apart piece by piece."
I was lying there, bleeding so badly I could barely stay conscious.
Still, I reached for him.
"Luca..." I whispered. "Please... don't."
He stared at me, unable to understand why I was stopping him.
But he listened.
He always listened whenever it was me.
Instead of ending Celeste's life, he imprisoned her somewhere no one could ever find, making certain she suffered every single day for what she'd done.
Once, while gently cupping my face, he'd told me in a voice so soft it almost hurt to hear, "Anyone who lays a finger on you will wish they'd never been born. I'll make them pay a thousand times over."
That was Luca Devereaux.
Merciless.
Brutal.
A man who never forgave.
Except when it came to me.
Never me.
So how...
How could the same man marry the woman who had destroyed my life?
My phone vibrated.
I stared blankly at the screen before unlocking it.
Camille, it's our seventh anniversary today. I'll be home tonight. I'm still dealing with that crazy woman. She won't be causing trouble much longer. Don't stay awake waiting for me. I'll wake you when I get back.
Another message appeared almost instantly.
I love you.
A lump formed in my throat.
He always ended his messages that way.
Every text.
Every phone call.
Every lingering glance that made me feel like I was the center of his universe.
I love you.
When we first met, I had nothing.
I was just another surgeon struggling to build a career.
Luca, meanwhile, lived in an entirely different world.
Untouchable.
Powerful.
Dangerous.
Yet somehow...
He chose me.
He pursued me with relentless determination, as though I were the rarest treasure he'd ever found. He crossed continents just to spend a few stolen hours by my side. He shut down entire streets so he could put on fireworks displays just to make me smile. The flowers he sent were so exotic I couldn't even pronounce most of their names.
Whenever I got sick, he'd abandon everything and fly back immediately.
Then he'd march into the kitchen, grumbling under his breath because he barely knew how to cook.
"Eat," he'd mutter, shoving a bowl into my hands. "I didn't spend ten damn hours on a plane just to watch you skip meals."
If I was upset, even meetings with men powerful enough to decide people's fates would come to a halt.
"Hold on," he'd tell everyone before pulling out his phone to call me.
"What happened? Who upset you? Tell me who it was."
His voice would grow colder.
"I'll make them regret it."
Once, someone attacked me by throwing acid out of jealousy.
Luca didn't hesitate for even a heartbeat.
He stepped in front of me on instinct.
The acid struck his back instead.
Blood soaked through his clothes.
Even then, his only concern was me.
Holding me tightly, he whispered, "It's okay... don't cry. I've got you. You're safe. I won't let anyone hurt you."
So tell me...
Was every one of those moments nothing but a lie?
Had I really been foolish enough to believe all of it?
I didn't even remember getting into a taxi until the driver spoke.
"Where to, ma'am?"
I paused.
Only for a moment.
Then I gave him the destination.
"Sun Valley."
The place where Luca had supposedly been keeping Celeste all these years.
My fingers curled tightly against my lap.
If Celeste was truly his wife...
Then who... had I been?
