Chapter 76
Victoria’s POV
The door slammed hard enough to rattle the chandelier.
I barely had time to look up before Mikael was in the room, rage seeping from every inch of him like smoke before fire.
I sneered. This man. Coming to ruin my mood now.
“What the hell were you thinking?” he snapped.
I blinked, poised as always, draped across the velvet chaise with a glass of red in my hand. “You’re going to need to be more specific.”
He didn’t take the bait.
He stormed toward me, ripped the glass from my fingers, and threw it against the wall. The shatter echoed.
“You sent men to the ball.”
I didn’t flinch. “I sent a message. Wanted it to be more subtle but my men can be a bit crazy in the head. So apologies.”
“No,” he snarled, looming over me. “You made a mess that your fucking apology cannot fix you bitch! My ball. My event. Do you realize the chaos you caused?”
I scorened looking at him through my lashes. “You said push him, so I pushed. It was my call and I did as you asked.”
He growled, reaching his hands out he did what I did not expect.
He slapped me.
The force of it turned my face, the sting blooming across my cheek.
My heart pounded, but I kept my chin high.
“You fool,” he hissed. “I had plans. Calculated. Precise. You ruined them the moment you went rogue.”
I straightened, jaw tight, eyes burning. “You wanted him off balance.”
“Off balance, not armed and furious! I wanted to control the game not send him into a frenzy.”
I stood, breathing hard. “So what if I did? You’re upset because of her.”
He went still.
I saw it. The way his shoulders tightened. The way his jaw ticked.
“You think I don’t see it?” I whispered. “You think I don’t know you’re jealous? That your ego can’t handle the fact that he’s touching someone else? That she has what you never could keep?”
“Don’t you
dare-”
“She was supposed to be a pawn,” I cut in. “But you’re obsessed. Obsessed with her. Because she’s soft. And scared. And you want to break her so you can feel powerful again.”
Mikael stepped forward, voice low. “Don’t project your insecurities onto me.”
I laughed bitterly. “Right. Because I’m the insecure one. Not the man slapping his partner over a mistake he helped create.”
He narrowed his eyes. “You overstepped.”
“And you’re losing control.”
There was silence. Only the hum of the lights above us.
Then-
He turned away, raking a hand through his hair.
“I had him right where I wanted him,” he muttered. “Watching her. Thinking she was safe. I wanted to put him on edge, not send him into a fucking warpath.”
“And now?” I asked.
He looked over his shoulder. “Now… we pivot. But next time, Victoria-”
He walked back to me, grabbing my chin.
“-if you act without me again, it won’t be a slap. It’ll be silence. Permanently. Your tongue out of your fucking mouth.”
I pulled my face from his grip.
Then I smiled. Cold. Sharp. “Understood.”
He turned to leave.
1/3
Chapter 76
But paused at the door.
“And if Dominic finds out it was you?”
I arched a brow. “He would never know. I am more subtle than you.”
Mikael’s hand hovered near the doorknob, jaw ticking as he glanced over his shoulder. His silence was louder than any threat.
I tilted my head. “But that’s not what you’re really worried about, is it?”
He said nothing.
So I stepped forward, slowly, my heels quiet against the marble. “Tell me something, Mikael,” I said, folding my arms. “Why are you all so obsessed with her?”
His shoulders tensed, barely, but I saw it.
“She’s just a girl. Fragile. Unremarkable. Certainly not the type that should have two of the most powerful men in the city acting like damn fools.”
He didn’t respond.
I smiled tightly, a flicker of bitterness rising in my throat. “You can’t even deny it.”
Mikael turned, his gaze sharp., “She’s leverage.”
“Bullshit,” I said, stepping closer. “If it was just about leverage, you would’ve used her and tossed her aside. But here you are–angry, frantic, barking orders and threatening me because she might’ve gotten hurt too soon.”
His nostrils flared.
My smile widened.
“Oh, Mikael. You don’t want to destroy her. You want to win her.”
He stalked back across the room, stopping just inches from me. “You think I care about that girl?”
“I think you care that Dominic does.” I shrugged. “And that’s enough.”
He stared at me for a long, hard moment.
Then turned again, reaching for the door.
“She’s nothing,” he muttered.
I let out a soft laugh. “Keep telling yourself that. We both know you are lying.”
And this time-
He walked out without another word.
But I knew.
I knew it wasn’t over.
And I wasn’t done either.
Aria Montel would break–whether by my hand or his.
I don’t care what Mikae had to lose.
One way or another, this little fairytale?
It was going to end in ashes.
I leaned back in the leather chair, legs crossed, a crystal glass of wine in one hand, and the laptop screen casting a glow against my face. My inbox had just pinged with a new message.
Anonymous: Confidential Subject: Aria Montel.
I clicked, brows lifting.
And then I saw it.
A scanned photograph–slightly faded with time. A little girl with wide amber eyes, tucked between a man and woman. The woman had Aria’s jaw. The man had her smile.
But these weren’t Montels.
They were… the Fletchers.
Attached to the photo was a full background report. Real names. Bloodlines. The truth.
My lips curled.
“So she’s not just some poor dancer Dominic took pity on.” I muttered. “She’s-” I scoffed. “Oh, Dominic. You absolute, lovesick idiot.”
2/3
Chapter 76
Scrolling further, I found the real kicker. From The Montels.
Not only had he known who she was…
He’d bought them a house.
A house. In the quiet outskirts of Florence. Cozy. Guarded. Discreet.
He gave them everything.
A life.
Security.
He took the people who treated their daughter like a commodity and gave them comfort.
I closed the laptop, the click of the lid echoing through the room.
He was in love with her.
Deeply.
Stupidly.
That he couldn’t see it in himself to hurt them.
I stood, the silk of my robe brushing against my thighs as I walked to the window. Below, the city lights shimmered like stars fallen to earth.
He used to look at me like that once.
Like I was fire and danger and everything he couldn’t have.
And now?
Now he handed all of that over to some broken little girl with a sob story and defiance in her eyes.
Disgusting.
I picked up my phone and dialed.
A voice answered on the second ring. “Yes?”
“I need you to do something for me,” I said coldly.
I turned away from the window, my fingers tightening around the glass.
“I want the Aria’s protecting. The ones Dominic’s protecting? I want them found. And then–I want them brought to me.”
You wanted a fairytale, Aria?
Let’s see how you handle this.
3/3
