Amelia stood frozen in the doorway, the cool night air brushing against her skin as she stared down at the envelope in her hand. The man had vanished as quickly as he had appeared, leaving no trace except for the strange tension lingering in the air.
Her fingers trembled slightly as she shut the door and walked back inside. Settling onto the couch, she studied the envelope. It was unmarked, plain, and felt unusually heavy. Despite her unease, curiosity got the better of her.
Sliding her finger under the seal, she unfolded the letter within. Her breath caught as she read the first line:
"Amelia, there's something you don't know about your husband."
The words were sharp and precise, carrying a weight that made her chest tighten. She continued reading, her eyes widening with each line.
*"Dante has enemies, more than he will ever admit. And his dealings with me are far from over. You've been dragged into this game because of his arrogance, his inability to settle old debts.
I wonder… did he tell you about the night he betrayed his closest ally? How he left me to face death while he walked away unscathed?
You deserve to know the truth. Ask him about Victor Castellano. Ask him what really happened five years ago. Then decide if you still feel safe by his side."*
There was no name at the bottom, only an unfamiliar emblem—a snake coiled around a dagger.
Amelia's hands clenched the paper, her mind racing. Victor Castellano. The name echoed in her head, foreign yet oddly significant. A betrayal? Secrets? The implications felt like a knife twisting in her chest.
Before she could make sense of it all, the sound of the front door opening snapped her out of her thoughts.
"Amelia?"
Dante's voice was low, commanding, and unmistakable. She turned to see him standing in the doorway, his sharp suit slightly wrinkled, his expression unreadable.
"You're back," she said, her voice faltering as she tried to mask her inner turmoil.
His gaze drifted to the letter in her hand. In an instant, his demeanor shifted. His jaw tightened, his eyes narrowing as he crossed the room with deliberate strides.
"What is that?" he asked, his tone laced with suspicion.
Amelia hesitated but decided against hiding it. She handed him the letter silently, watching as he unfolded it. His eyes scanned the words, and she didn't miss the way his hand tightened around the paper.
"Where did you get this?" he demanded, his voice sharp and edged with danger.
"A man brought it," she replied, standing her ground despite the growing fear in her chest. "He said it was from you, but clearly, it's not. Who is Victor Castellano, Dante? And what happened five years ago?"
His gaze snapped to hers, cold and unrelenting. For a moment, it seemed like he might lash out, but instead, he turned away, crumpling the letter in his fist.
"This is nothing but lies," he said, his voice dangerously calm. "Someone's trying to drive a wedge between us."
"Is that all it is?" Amelia pressed, her frustration boiling over. "Because it feels like there's more to this than you're telling me."
Dante turned back to her, his expression dark and unreadable. "You don't need to concern yourself with my past, Amelia. What matters is that you stay out of it."
But the doubt had already taken root. As Dante walked away, muttering something about "tightening security," Amelia couldn't shake the feeling that the letter had exposed a crack in the impenetrable facade of Dante Moretti.
And for the first time, she wondered if she'd ever truly know the man she had been forced to marry.