Page 27 of Cruel Deception
He leans in, lips brushing the shell of my ear—not a lover’s whisper, but a blade.
His voice is low, deliberate, meant only for me.
“I vow to ruin you with every breath you take beside me.
To turn our marriage into your reckoning—slow, deliberate, and unforgettable.
For the mother who shattered me,
I will not forget. I will not forgive.
You will not find comfort in my arms.
You will not find safety in my name.
Only the echo of what I’ve lost,
And the weight of everything you owe.
You’ll be mine, until I’ve taken back everything your bloodline stole.”
His words don’t echo.
They etch.
Into my bones. My skin. My future.
My mind races to understand—to survive it before it’s even begun.
He looks at me like a man who’s caged the person he intends to destroy—piece by piece.
Slowly. Intimately. Beautifully.
He pulls back slowly, his eyes locking with mine—so calm, so sure.
Then, without missing a beat, he turns to the priest and says aloud,
“I do.”
Cold. Final. Like a king sealing a death sentence.
And then, the rings.
Cassian reaches into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulls out a velvet box—not the one I picked, not what was arranged.
He opens it slowly.
Inside is a pair of platinum bands, glinting with something darker than metal.
He takes mine and turns it slightly in the light—and that’s when I see it.
His name.
Cassian.
Tattooed into the ring’s inner curve. Burned in. Not engraved—branded.
And beside it:Mia per sempre.
