Honestly I am getting bored of this book now 😬 but I will finish it 🥲

You drew stars
Around my scars
And now I'm bleeding
~ Taylor Swift

While the brothers were trying to figure out the crowd went all chaotic.

"The Aerius Castillion? The heir to the French Mafia? I thought he died in that accident along with the whole family!"

one guest whispered.

As the crowd pieced together the revelations, the weight of the truth settled heavily over the room. Whispers rippled through the grand hall like wildfire.

"King's fiance is a castillion? The Castillion bloodline... alive?"

"Didn't they say the entire family was massacred eight years ago?"

"What is Vicious thinking, marrying her? Is this about completing what he couldn't before?"

Vincent chuckled darkly, leaning in close enough for only Aerius to hear. "You shouldn't have acted so recklessly. Now look around—your allies?"

Aerius's smirk faltered as he heard muffled groans. He looked around the room. One by one, his assassins were dropping, their lifeless bodies collapsing to the ground.

Vincent smirked triumphantly. "You think you're the only one who knows how to plan an attack? Amateur."

Guards tightened their grip on Aerius as he struggled against them. Rage clouded his judgment. "You fucker! Don't you dare! I'll burn your whole fucking lineage down!"

Vincent didn't flinch. Instead, he delivered a sharp punch to Aerius's jaw, silencing him. "Delusional as ever."

He crouched down beside Aerius, his smirk fading into something far darker—a predator savoring the hunt. He leaned in close, his voice dropping to a whisper, venom laced into every word.

"You think you're clever, don't you? But here's the thing," Vincent hissed, his lips curling cruelly. "I know what you did to her. Every slap, every bruise, every touch, every fucking tear she shed because of you."

Aerius stiffened, his struggling pausing for just a moment, but Vincent wasn't done.

"You controlled her, you dare touch what solely belongs to me, and you think you'll get away with it?" Vincent's voice was so low it was almost inaudible, his words meant only for Aerius. "You'll pay for every single thing you did to her."

Aerius's face twisted with rage, his jaw tightening as he tried to lunge forward, but the guards' grips held firm. He growled low, like a beast ready to snap. "You don't know anything."

Vincent chuckled, a sound so devoid of humor it sent a chill down Aerius's spine. "Oh, but I do," he whispered, his tone almost mocking. "And you're going to watch as I take every ounce of that pain and double it. But here's the catch—I'll do it in a way you'll never expect. You hurt her in the shadows, didn't you? So I'll make sure she and the whole world also sees the revenge coming, and then? You'll know. Every moment, you'll feel."

Aerius's struggles became frantic, his voice a desperate snarl. "Don't you dare! Don't fucking dare bring her into this!"

Vincent's smirk returned, but this time it was colder. He leaned in so close that Aerius could feel his breath. "This is between you and me. I won't let the world know what you did to her, not because I care about you, but because I won't let her pain be public spectacle. But mark my words, Aerius—she's mine now. I'll make her my wife, I will heal every wound that you have given her, every scar, I will erase it, you will never exist neither in her nightmares nor in her memories, that's how I plan on killing you. I will erase you from her mind completely and I, I'll make her whole again. But you ? You'll be broken into pieces so small even death won't find you."

He straightened, his face smoothing back into his usual collected mask as if nothing had happened. He cast one last glance down at Aerius, whose rage had turned to a dangerous quiet.

Turning back to Haven, Vincent's voice rose just enough for the others to hear as he called for the priest. "Let's not keep our queen waiting, shall we?"

Behind him, Aerius thrashed harder, his voice tearing through the air as the guards struggled to hold him down. "You won't get away with this! She'll never be yours!"

Vincent didn't even bother looking at him. He just smiled, a victorious glint in his eye.

To the crowd, Aerius looked every bit like a desperate man trying to protect his beloved sister from the clutches of a dangerous man. His fury, his struggling, his raw emotions—it all painted a picture of a brother pushed to his limits.

Haven closed her eyes as her tears fell silently, her mind racing with memories of the man she had once believed Vincent to be. The man who had given her hope, only to take it away in the cruelest way possible.

The crowd clapped and cheered, oblivious to the storm raging inside her. To them, this was a beautiful union. To her, it was a life sentence.

HAVEN's POV

The moment Ivan started walking toward me, I felt like I was sinking into quicksand, every step he took pulling me deeper. My heart pounded in my chest, a steady drumbeat of betrayal.

"You knew?" I asked, my voice trembling so much I barely recognized it.

He turned to me, his expression unreadable at first, then shifting into something even worse—detached indifference. "Yes, I knew."

It felt like the air was sucked out of the room. I could barely stand, my knees threatening to give out under me. I had wanted to believe he didn't know, that somehow he wasn't like Aerius. I was still deep down clinging on to the hope that I would be proven wrong. I had wanted to believe he was good, that he had cared for me, loved me even. But those two words shattered everything.

My chest ached, and for a brief, foolish moment, I wanted to scream at him, to demand answers. But what would that change? The weight of his betrayal pressed down on me, crushing what little hope I had left.

Ivan leaned closer to me, and I flinched, but I didn't pull away. His voice was low, just for me, the words slicing through me like a knife. "I also know that your other brother is alive. And that he's being held captive. If you want me to find him and protect him, you'll say yes to this marriage."

His words twisted like a knife in my chest. Aezy? My mind spun, trying to grasp what he was saying, but all I could feel was the overwhelming sense of being trapped.

"And if I don't?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper.

Ivan's eyes darkened, his expression cold and unrelenting. "Then I'll find him... and kill him myself."

Tears blurred my vision, and I could feel my body trembling. I wanted to scream, to cry, to do something, but all I could do was stand there, frozen. For so long, I had survived monsters like Aerius, men who wore their cruelty like a badge of honor. But Ivan? He was worse. He had hidden his claws behind a mask of kindness, pretending to protect me, pretending to love me, only to pull the rug out from under me when it mattered most.

The priest's voice cut through the haze in my mind. "Do you, Vincent Ivan Salvatore, take Haven Angelica Castillion as your wife?"

His voice was steady and confident, as if this were nothing more than a business transaction. "I do."

I wanted to scream, I don't! He's a liar! A monster! But the words wouldn't come. The priest turned to me, and the weight of every eye in the room fell on my shoulders.

"Do you, Haven Angelica Castillion, take Vincent Ivan Salvatore as your husband?"

I froze. My lips wouldn't move. My heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vice. I could feel Ivan's hand slide into mine, his grip firm, possessive, and entirely without warmth.

To the crowd, it must have looked romantic. To me, it was a warning. "Answer him," Ivan whispered, his voice calm, but his grip tightening painfully.

The priest repeated the question, and I knew I had no choice. My voice trembled as the words left my lips, weak and broken. "...I do."

The moment the words left my lips, Ivan didn't hesitate. He pulled me into him, his hands gripping my waist with an intensity that left no room for escape. His lips crashed against mine, hot and demanding, as though he was branding me with his touch, claiming every part of me in front of the crowd.

I froze at first, my body tense, but Vincent's hold didn't waver. One hand slid up to the back of my neck, his fingers threading through my hair with a mix of roughness and control. His kiss wasn't gentle; it was raw, relentless, filled with a dark obsession that made my chest tighten.

The room erupted into cheers and applause, but it felt distant, muffled against the pounding of my heartbeat. His lips moved against mine with purpose, his breath heavy, his grip unyielding. I could feel the possessiveness in the way he held me, the way his fingers pressed into my skin as if daring me to pull away.

When he finally broke the kiss, it wasn't to give me space—it was to whisper against my lips, his voice low and possessive. "You're mine now, Haven. My wife. My queen. My Eva. No one will take you from me."

His words sent a shiver down my spine, but not the kind I used to feel when I thought he loved me. This was different. This was fear.

I closed my eyes, tears slipping silently down my cheeks. The crowd's cheers felt like a distant hum as the world around me collapsed

He didn't pull back far, his forehead resting against mine as if he couldn't bear to let go. I could see it in his eyes when he finally met my gaze—the raw hunger, the dark need to own me completely.

The crowd may have seen a victorious groom kissing his bride, but I felt the chains tightening around me. His kiss wasn't love. It was control. It was Vincent Ivan Salvatore announcing to the world—and to me—that I belonged to him, body and soul.

And as much as I wanted to fight, as much as I wanted to scream, I couldn't. Because deep down, I knew I was a loser, I couldn't take a stand against Aerius and I would never be able to protect myself from him as well.

My life itself was a trap and there was no escape.

I thought you were my salvation, Ivan.

I thought you were different.

But you're worse than Aerius ever was. At least with him, I knew the devil I was dealing with.

Now, I had no idea who Ivan now really was. And that terrified me more than anything. It left me shattered.

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I AM SOOOOOO EXHAUSTED I JUST WANT TO SLEEP 😴