I watched Dimitri carry Kelsey out of the underground hall, and something inside my chest finally broke apart completely.
Seven years ago, today was supposed to be the happiest day of my life.
I still remembered the way Dimitri used to hold me close like I was the most precious thing in his world. He would kiss my forehead gently and whisper against my skin, "Anni... you're finally my wife now. Do you know how long I've waited for this?"
Back then, his eyes were always warm when he looked at me. Now those same eyes only held hatred.
I let out a shaky laugh that sounded more broken than amused. Maybe I should've seen it coming.
Dimitri and I had grown up together since kindergarten. Everyone in the mafia world knew about us. The future heir of the Romanov Empire and the daughter of his father's closest allies.
Childhood sweethearts.
Always together.
Even the Pentagon X Syndicate members used to joke that Dimitri Romanov worshipped the ground I walked on. And maybe he really did back then.
One winter night during college, I casually mentioned wanting mango cake from a bakery on the west side of the city. It was snowing so heavily that flights were canceled and roads were freezing over.
But Dimitri still drove two hours through the storm just to buy it for me.
When I had terrible period cramps, this feared mafia boss stayed awake the entire night rubbing my stomach carefully while whispering, "Does it still hurt? Tell me where it hurts, baby."
The day he proposed to me was even crazier.
The future ruler of the Romanov Empire knelt in front of me in the middle of a ballroom full of powerful mafia families just to put my heels back on after they slipped off my feet.
Then he smiled up at me and said softly, "My princess shouldn't ever have to bend down herself. I'll spoil you for the rest of your life."
At the time, I really believed him.
God... how did we become this?
Everything changed on our wedding day.
That cursed day.
Everything changed on our wedding day.
A snowstorm covered the city that night. My parents were driving across the bridge after a pre-wedding celebration while Dimitri's younger sister, Vivienne Romanov, drove their parents home from the airport.
The bridge had a dangerous uphill curve where neither side could see clearly until reaching the top.
My parents were speeding. Vivienne was too. The moment both cars reached the peak, everything happened too fast. Tires lost control on the ice.Then both vehicles broke through the bridge rails and plunged straight into the freezing river below.
Vivienne survived but Dimitri's parents didn't. By the time rescue teams pulled them from the water, both of them were already dead inside the submerged car.
My parents survived the crash but they were arrested almost immediately for reckless driving and vehicular homicide.
The wedding hall became a funeral overnight.
And the man who once loved me the most became the man who hated me more than anyone else in the world.
Dimitri lost both parents that night. He then personally sent my parents to prison, but prison wasn't enough. Pentagon X controlled too much of the city. Everyone knew what happened to prisoners who offended the Romanov family.
During my final prison visit, I barely recognized my parents.
They were covered in bruises and cuts. So thin I could see their bones through their skin.
My mother couldn't even stand properly anymore.
The guards told me they had attempted suicide together by slitting their wrists.
They survived just long enough to see me one last time.
My father held my hand weakly while crying. "Annika..." he whispered painfully. "Y-your mother and I deserve this. We... We destroyed Dimitri's family. We should apologize to them ourselves in hell."
My mother touched my face gently with trembling fingers. "But you didn't do anything wrong, sweetheart," she sobbed. "You loved him honestly, none of this was your fault."
I broke down crying beside them. "Please don't leave me too..."
My father looked at me with red eyes. "Dimitri hates you because he loved you too deeply before," he said quietly. "Promise us something. Stay alive for seven years no matter what he does to you."
My breathing shook. "What if I can't anymore?" I asked weakly.
My mother started crying harder. "Then after seven years..." her voice cracked completely, "go and leave him."
That was the last time I saw them alive.
After they died, I became the one paying for their sins.
For seven years.
Dimitri tortured me in ways that changed constantly, almost like he enjoyed inventing new punishments.
During winter, he forced me to kneel outside the Romanov mansion while snow buried my knees.
During summer, he locked me inside overheated rooms for hours without water. If he found out I was allergic to something, he'd force me to eat it anyway while coldly watching my body react.
And every wedding anniversary, he locked me inside that transparent freezing room filled with ice water because his family died trapped in freezing water beneath that bridge. He always watched from outside the glass while I suffered.
Like tonight.
Then Kelsey appeared nine months ago.
Dimitri chose her on purpose. He turned my best friend into my replacement. Everything he once gave me belonged to Kelsey now. His affection, his softness, his protection. Meanwhile, all his cruelty stayed with me.
I should've gotten used to it already.
But every time I saw him kiss her... every time I heard him call her "Kelsey" in that soft voice he used to reserve only for me... every time I watched him spoil her the way he once spoiled me...
It still felt like someone was stabbing directly into my heart. I lowered my head slowly and reached inside my locker necklace and opened it.
In the photo, my mother and father smiled brightly beside me like we were still a normal family.
"Mom... Dad..." I whispered softly while shaking from the cold. "Just seven more days, okay? I'll hold on a little longer."
My voice broke.
"Seven more days... and I'll set myself free.”
