The ballroom's golden glow had dimmed into something colder as the night wore on. The champagne was still flowing, the violins still swelling, but beneath the laughter Aria could hear it—voices lowered, words sharpened into secrets. This was no longer just a party. It was a battlefield dressed in silk and crystal.
Her mother's hand had barely left her arm all evening, guiding her through conversations with smiling faces that carried hidden daggers. Aria endured it all with the Bellamy smile she had been trained to wear since childhood. But when her mother turned to whisper something to her aunt, Aria seized the chance to slip away.
Her heels tapped softly against the marble as she crossed the glittering hall, weaving through clusters of guests. The weight of her family's presence loosened with every step. She wasn't entirely sure why she was moving toward the balcony-perhaps she needed the cool night air, or perhaps it was the unshakable awareness that Luca Moretti was somewhere nearby.
The terrace doors were half open, the night air spilling in, carrying the faint perfume of roses from the gardens below. Aria stepped into the shadows of the balcony, breathing deeply, letting her lungs fill with the crisp air. For a brief moment, she allowed herself to forget. To push away the image of piercing dark eyes that refused to leave her mind.
Then she heard it.
"Bellamy business won't last the year."
The words drifted from just inside the terrace doors, where two men lingered in the corner. Their voices were low but sharp enough to cut through the music. Aria froze, instinctively pressing herself against the cool stone wall.
"Luca's already making moves," the other man replied. "If her father doesn't bend, he'll break."
Her heart lurched. Luca. They were talking about Luca. About her family.
She shouldn't listen. She knew better. But her body disobeyed her mind, leaning closer, ears straining to catch every dangerous syllable.
Silence followed, heavy and deliberate. And then came the voice she recognized instantly—smooth, steady, commanding.
"Leave the Bellamys to me."
Aria's breath caught. Her stomach dropped as if the ground beneath her had vanished. It was him. Luca Moretti.
The words were a blade hidden in velvet. A promise. A threat.
She pressed a trembling hand to her chest, trying to still the wild rhythm of her heart. Every instinct screamed at her to run, to return to her family's circle, to never look at him again. But she couldn't move. She couldn't breathe.
Because in that moment, Aria realized something terrifying.
Her forbidden fascination with Luca Moretti wasn't just dangerous-it was fatal. His name was carved into the shadows that had haunted her family for generations. He was the enemy her father had warned her about since she was old enough to understand the word betrayal. And now she had heard with her own ears that he intended to destroy them.
And yet, her heart, foolish, reckless, traitorous, still beat faster at the sound of his voice.
Aria gripped the edge of the stone railing, nails digging into the surface. She hated herself for it, hated that the same man who could ruin her family with a single word was the one her soul seemed drawn to.
Behind her, the violins swelled, the ballroom laughing on as if the world hadn't just shifted. But for Aria, everything had changed.
Because now, she knew two truths she could not escape:
Luca Moretti was her enemy.
And Luca Moretti would be the one to destroy her.