Page 66 of Fire and Silk

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And then I see it.

Green.

Not grass—but a stretch of land that hums with something more. Acres that glow under the morning sun. The hedges curve like rivers. The trees are sculpted. The field stretches so wide it vanishes at the far end into mist.

It feels like it shouldn’t exist here. Not inside stone walls. Not beneath this house.

I don’t realize I’ve stopped walking until I feel his eyes on me.

He stands just behind me; hands tucked behind his back.

“This is yours,” he says.

I shake my head.

“This is a dream,” I whisper. “One minute, I am scraping at a bar counter and sleeping under broken ceiling fans. Now you’re telling me I own a kingdom?”

“Not a kingdom,” he says. “An inheritance. And it waits for you.”

I glance at him, but his eyes aren’t on the land.

They’re on me.

The wind stirs across the green as he steps beside me.

“Marry me,” he says.

I don’t flinch.

I turn toward him and answer, “Why would I? I barely know you.”

His face doesn’t move, but something in his expression settles—like he expected that and welcomed it.

“I want you to inherit everything my father built,” he says. “And I want to show you how to rule it.”

I watch him.

There’s no hunger in his voice. No passion. Just clarity, like this is a plan he’s rehearsed again and again, and now it’s time to set it in motion.

“What’s your name?” I ask.

He smiles faintly, like he’s pleased I finally thought to ask.

“Severo,” he says. “Severo Dantès.”

I nod slowly.

My voice comes quiet but steady. “You kidnapped me. You could kill me and have it all. So why bother with all this?”

He smiles again—wider , like I’ve asked the only question worth answering.

“Vengeance means more to me than power,” he says. “I need you for my vengeance.”

“So, you’re using me,” I say.

“Yes, I am. And you can use me all you want to.”

His honesty stings more than a lie ever could.

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