Summary

Don Rafaello Vescari had never begged anyone for anything. As the ruthless head of the Vescari Syndicate, he commanded fear, controlled empires, and ended lives without blinking. Nothing in his world was beyond his reach. Until one stormy night, a broken woman lay dying in his arms. For the first time in his life, the Don was terrified of losing someone. He summoned the best doctors, paid any price, and refused to leave the hospital. Rose had to live, even if it was his own cruelty that had driven her to the edge. When Rose finally opened her eyes, she remembered nothing. Not her name. Not her past. Not even the man who had torn the city apart to save her. And Rafaello was relieved. The woman who once ran from him could no longer remember why. The secrets, the betrayal, and the words that had broken her were buried somewhere in her forgotten past. To Rose, he was a stranger. To Rafaello, this was a second chance. He told her she was his lover. He told her they had been happy. He told her to stay. But a heart does not forget as easily as a mind. Every time he touches her, something inside Rose aches, though she cannot say why. And somewhere beyond the walls of his mansion, the truth is waiting to be found. How long can Rafaello keep his carefully built lies standing? And what will he lose when Rose remembers who she really was?

Genre: Romance

Author: adhynash

Status: 5h ago

Chapters: 1

Rating: n/a

Age Rating: 16+

Prolog

The rain had not stopped for three hours.

Rose gripped the steering wheel with trembling hands, her knuckles white, her vision blurred by tears and the water streaming across the windshield. The wipers moved frantically, and still the road dissolved into smears of red and gold.

The name he had given her was Rose. It was beautiful, and it was a lie. Tonight, she no longer cared which name she would die under.

Her phone lit up on the passenger seat for the fortieth time. Rafaello. She did not need to read it. She could still hear his voice, calm and cold, drifting through a half-open door.

"If she ever carries my child, Enzo, I'll get rid of it myself."

Rose pressed her lips together, but a sob escaped anyway.

"Stop," she whispered. "Please, stop."

One hand left the wheel and settled over her stomach, over the small, secret life she had been too afraid to name out loud. This morning she had stood before the mirror, rehearsing the truth. Who she was. Why she had come. Everything. She had even imagined that he would listen.

How foolish she had been.

"Mama," she choked. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry I couldn't save you. You raised such a useless daughter."

Somewhere in a place she could not reach, her mother was still waiting for her. She knew that. She knew exactly what she was abandoning, and the knowledge only made the tears fall harder.

"And you..." Her voice cracked on the word. "I'm sorry, baby. Mama couldn't protect you. I couldn't even protect my own child."

Lightning split the sky. For a moment the world turned white, and the road curved sharply ahead, slick with rain.

Her foot did not move toward the brake.

If I disappear, he can never find me again. to

The tires screamed. The guardrail rushed toward her. Her phone slid across the seat, still lit with his name.

Rose closed her eyes.

---

Miles away, in a dark office above the city, Rafaello Vescari stood before a wall of silent screens and felt something cold crawl up his spine.

"Sir," Enzo said from the doorway. "The tracker on her car has stopped moving."

"Where?"

"The old highway. Near the cliffs." Enzo hesitated. "Sir, the report says..."

Rafaello was already walking.

He did not take his coat. He did not take his gun. The most feared man in the underworld crossed the room like a man possessed, his voice low and shaking with something he refused to name.

"Get the cars. Now."

"Sir?"

"If she dies, Enzo..."

He stopped at the door. Thunder shook the windows behind him.

"...I will burn this entire world to the ground."