Just 12 hours ago , she was a single mother barely scraping by, squeezing her daughter into the service elevator of a downtown skyscraper because the police had fired her at the last minute. Now she was surrounded by armed men in tailored suits , positioned right behind the most ruthless leader of the East Coast criminal syndicate. And yet, the most terrifying thing wasn’t the approaching mortal danger.
It was the enormous engagement ring with a diamond that weighed him down in his left hand.
The radiator in Sereña Jenkins ‘s tiny apartment let out a mournful hiss… and shut off completely. It was barely 6:00 in the morning , and the December chill was already seeping in through the poorly sealed windows. Sereña was standing in the kitchenette, staring blankly at the staring screen of her cell phone.
“I’m so sorry, Serena,” Mrs. Gable’s voice, her older neighbor and housewife, crackled through the cheap loudspeaker. “My sciatica is horribly bad. I can barely stand… much less chase after sweet Lily today.”
“Don’t worry, Mrs. Gable. Rest, please. I’ll see what I can do,” Serena said, forcing a warmth she felt.
He hung up and covered his face with his hands. The cold, sharp air scratched his throat.
Serepa worked as a chambermaid at the Grande , a very high and ultra-exclusive hotel and private residence in the very heart of the financial district. It paid better than any cleaning job she’d ever had, but the management was famously ruthless. One mistake, one fault, no medical justification, and by noon you’d been replaced. Serepa couldn’t afford to lose that job.
Her ex-husband, Derek , had disappeared two years ago, leaving behind a mountain of debts, bets, and broken promises. Serena was completely alone, living day to day, fighting tooth and nail to keep a roof over her daughter’s head.
—Mommy, why is it so cold?
Serepa turned and saw Lily in the doorway, rubbing her little blue eyes, still sleepy. She was wearing her favorite oversized fleece pajamas and cuddling a battered stuffed rabbit named Barpaby . Serepa’s heart melted, as always. She crossed the room and picked up the five-year-old girl, kissing the top of her messy blond hair.
—The heater took a little nap, Bichito. But you know what? Today you’re coming with me on a secret mission.
Lily’s eyes widened in shock.
—A mission?
—Yes, but it’s super secret. You have to be as quiet as a church mouse. Can you?
Lily nodded solemnly, “closed” her lips and pretended to hold an imaginary key.
The journey was a blurry map of crammed subway cars and freezing wind. Serena carried Lily most of the way; her shoulders ached from the weight of the pineapple and a heavy backpack full of coloring books, an iPad with exactly 50% battery , boots, and a toy. When they finally reached the Grande’s enormous glass facade, Serena avoided the main revolving doors and went down the alley to the service entrance.
His hands trembled as he swiped his card. The light turned green.
Step 1: Completed.
The “belly” of the luxury hotel was a labyrinth of concrete corridors, fluorescent lights, and staff running this way and that. Serena almost ran to the laundry room on the fourth floor: a large closet with windows, filled with towering shelves of fine sheets, industrial detergents, and extra uniforms. Hardly anyone went in there in the morning.
Serepa built a sort of makeshift fort with three fluffy quilts and a pile of pillows in the darkest corner, behind the shelves. She put Lily inside, gave her the iPad and the game.
“Okay, my little mouse,” Serepa whispered, brushing a curl away from his forehead. “You stay here. You watch your cartoons. You don’t go out for anything, no matter what. I’ll come see you during my breaks, okay?”
—I’ll be good, Mommy—Lily promised, already mesmerized by the screen.
Serena closed the door to the room from the outside and prayed to every saint and every god she knew that her daughter would stay hidden. She checked the entrance exactly a minute before her tour began.
SÅ sÅpervisora, Åпa mujer severa llamada Breпda , coп Åпa mirada qÅe podía despiпtar paredes, caпaba de Åп lado a otro freпnte al e e Åipo de limpieza.
“Attention!” barked Breda, clutching the clipboard to his chest. “The petty house owner is returning today from a business trip to Italy. The entire upstairs apartment must be spotless. Not a speck of dust, not a mark on the glass.”
—¡Yuck!
Serepa dio υп briпco.
—Yes, ma’am.
—You’re in the pethouse: the boss’s private office and lounge. Move it.
Serepa swallowed. The pethouse was famous for its timidity. The owner, a man spoken of only in fearful whispers like Mr. Roma , was almost never seen during the day. He was a ghost, a shadow that owned half the city’s real estate market and, according to dressing room rumors, a large part of the criminal underworld.
Serena grabbed her specialized cart and went to the private service elevator. Her mind was torn: on one hand, the brutal job; on the other, her little daughter hidden four floors below. She had to work quickly, be invisible, and return with Lily. She had no idea that her carefully constructed plan was about to shatter into a million irreversible pieces.
Three hours later, the pettouse gleamed. Serena had polished the Italian marble until it looked like a mirror, dusted the gigantic mahogany bookcases in the private office, and fluffed the imported silk cushions in the lounge. The opulence was suffocating. Each piece of furniture cost more than she would earn in her entire life.
But downstairs, on the fourth floor, things weren’t going as planned.
Lily had finished her juice, colored three rather abstract drawings of a “dog”… and then came the final tragedy for any five-year-old: the iPad ran out of battery. The screen went black, and the duvet cover remained silent and bored.
Lily waited what felt like ten whole years. She peeked her head out from behind the sheets. The room was quiet and a little gloomy. She felt like going to the bathroom, and she wanted to show her mom the drawing she had made of Barnaby.
Remembering her promise to be silent, Lily left the fort. She stretched, grabbed the cold knob, and turned it.
Click.
The door opened.
Serepa, in her haste, had locked it from the outside, but that did not prevent it from opening from the inside.
Lily stepped out into the bustling service corridor. Huge laundry carts whizzed past her, pushed by people who were moving too fast to hit a short pineapple clutching a sheet of paper. Lily walked toward the shiny silver doors at the end of the corridor: the elevators.
She had seen her mom press the button with the arrow pointing up, so Lily pressed it too. When the doors opened, she went inside.
The buttons on the paper were very high, but there was one special one, at the top of them all, that shone with a golden light: PH . She could barely reach it if she jumped. Lily jumped and stuck her little head against the button.
The elevator went up smoothly, silently.
Upstairs, on the pethouse, Gabrielle Roma entered through the private entrance to the helipad. He was a man carved from cold stone: tall, impeccably dressed in a tailored charcoal gray suit, with dark eyes and calculators that had seen more violence than most people see in their nightmares. The day had been a disaster. He had spent 48 hours resolving a betrayal within his own ranks, something that ended with bloodshed on the port’s docks. He was exhausted, if he had patience, and the only thing he wanted was whiskey and silence.
At his side was his executioner, a huge man named Leo , whose mere presence used to empty rooms.
—Check the perimeter and then wait for me downstairs—Gabrielle ordered, her deep, raspy voice echoing off the marble.
—Yes, boss—Leo agreed, disappearing towards the east wing.
Gabrielle loosened her silk tie and walked to the private lounge, straight to the bar and the crystal decanter. As she poured the amber liquid, a strange sound caught her attention. It wasn’t the sound of a murderer. It wasn’t the sound of a clerk.
It was a soft, rhythmic sound… of crumpling paper.
He turned slowly, his hand going by instinct towards the weapon hidden under the sack.
Seated in the middle of her immaculate white leather sofa—a sofa that cost ten thousand dollars—was a disheveled blonde pineapple, wearing a slightly faded pink sweater. She was happily opening the complimentary artisanal chocolates from a glass bowl on the table.
Gabrielle froze.
For a man who participated in every threat, a five-year-old pineapple in his private sanctuary was an anomaly that turned off his brain for a second.
Lily looked up, chocolate smeared on her cheek. She didn’t scream. She wasn’t scared. She just watched him with curiosity, with those enormous blue eyes.
—Are you the king of this castle? —asked Lily, with a small voice like a little bell in the vastness of the room.
Gabrielle lowered her hand from the weapon. He looked at her, bewildered.
—Who are you?
“I’m Lily,” she said, as if it were obvious, showing a half-eaten chocolate bar. “They’re really good. Better than the dollar store ones. But don’t eat too many because they’ll hurt your little butt.”
Gabrielle took a slow step towards her.
—How did you get up here, Lily?
“It’s the magic box,” he pointed down the hall. “I’m looking for my mommy. She cleans things. Do you need me to clean your castle? It’s very shiny.”
Before Gabrielle could process that the daughter of a chambermaid had violated her multimillion-dollar security, the oak doors of the lounge suddenly opened.
Serepa ran, breathless, pale as paper. She had gone downstairs to check the room, found it empty, and almost fainted from terror. She looked for the cameras, realized the private elevator was upstairs… and raced up the stairs.
Se freпó eп seco, el corazóп caéпdole al estómago.
There was his daughter, sitting on the forbidden sofa, smiling at a man Serepa recognized immediately from the terrified whispers of the staff: Gabrielle Roma. The boss. The ghost.
—Lily! —gasped Serepa, running and lifting the pineapple off the sofa, squeezing it so hard that Lily let out a little squeal.
Serepa immediately stepped back, placing herself between Gabrielle and her daughter. She did not lift her gaze from the ground; her body trembled.
—Mr. Roma, I… I’m so sorry. I really am. The pineapple was jailed and I could lose my job, so I hid her, but she got out. Please, please don’t fire me. I’ll clean the whole hotel for free. I…
—Silence— said Gabrielle, softly.
Serepa closed her mouth, her blood freezing. She braced herself for screams, for her to call security, for her to be thrown out into the freezing cold. But Gabrielle walked slowly toward them. She was enormous, emanating a dark energy that made it hard to breathe.
He looked at the terrified mother, the worn-out biform hanging from her overly thin body… and then at the pineapple, which peeked bravely out from behind Serepa’s legs.
Gabrielle put her hand in her pocket. Serepa flinched, expecting a radio. But she pulled out a pristine white handkerchief. She knelt down to be at Lily’s height. With unexpected gentleness, she wiped the chocolate stain from her cheek. Then she stood up, and her dark eyes finally locked onto Serepa’s wet, terrified gaze.
For a long moment, the silence was deafening.
He saw the deep dark circles under her eyes, the raw panic of a mother pushed to the limit of survival. Something completely strange moved in her chest.
—What’s your name? —asked Gabrielle, with her usual deadly edge.
—Serena —she managed to say.
—Serepa Jeпkiпs —he stammered, awaiting the final blow.
Gabrielle didn’t call security. She didn’t fire her. Instead, she looked at her with an unreadable expression and said words that would change everyone’s lives:
—You’re not fired, Serena Jekis. But you’re going to sit down. Both of you. You look like you’re about to faint in my lounge.
Serena’s legs buckled and she fell into a velvet chair, pulling Lily onto her lap. She felt she was dreaming. Gabrielle Roma, the man said to be able to destroy a rival syndicate with a single order, was asking his terrifying enforcer to bring milk and cookies.
Leo, the enormous bodyguard who was returning from checking the perimeter, blinked twice, completely confused.
“Boss… do you want me to go to the kitchen?” he grumbled cautiously.
—Yes, Leo. Milk and cookies. Okay —Gabrielle ordered, leaving no room for discussion.
When Leo left in a hurry, Gabrielle sat on the sofa facing Serepa and interlaced her fingers, sizing her up. Serepa felt exposed under that gaze. She was aware of the frayed hem of her dress, her worn shoes, the wear and tear on her hands.
—Now—said Gabrielle, with a low, firm voice that dominated the room—. Tell me why a mother has to secretly put her daughter in a restricted area of a luxury hotel just to avoid losing her job.
Serepa swallowed, her throat dry.
—I… I had no choice, Mr. Roma. The landlady, Mrs. Gable, got sick. I have no family here. I have no one. If I’m absent, Breda will fire me. If she fires me, we lose the apartment. We lose everything.
—And the father? —asked Gabrielle, and the temperature of the place seemed to drop.
Serepa looked away. Shame and anger rose in her chest.
—Derek. He left two years ago. He had a terrible gambling addiction. He blew our savings, opened credit cards in my name, and disappeared at night to escape the debt collectors. Since then, I’ve been crawling out of the grave he left us in.
Gabrielle processed everything in silence. In her world, debts were paid with blood. Loyalty was everything. To sacrifice one’s own blood was a sin that turned her stomach.
He looked at Lily, who was tracing the floral drawing on a silk cushion, oblivious to the conversation.
At that moment, Gabrielle’s “burner” cell phone vibrated. She looked at the encrypted message. Her jaw tightened. It was from her uncle: Doп Viппzo Romaпo .
Vicezo was the aging patriarch and controlled the only thing Gabrielle needed: the “legal” pavian empire. For five years, Gabrielle had tried to lift the Roma family out of the sacrilegious underworld and into legitimate, untouchable wealth. But Vicezo was old school. He wasn’t going to sign multi-million dollar contracts for a “rootless” bachelor. He demanded stability. He demanded a family man.
Gabrielle had exactly 48 hours left before the family summit. If she arrived alone, Vincezzo would hand the empire over to Silas, Gabrielle’s brutal cousin, a butcher who would return the city to chaos.
Gabrielle looked at Serepa again. She saw the ferocity with which she protected her daughter. She saw a woman cornered, desperate, if she connected with some kind of mafia world. A blank sheet.
—Serepa— said Gabrielle, leaning forward. —How much do you owe in total? To clear your ex’s debts and secure a safe place to live.
Serena blinked.
—No… I don’t know exactly. Maybe over $40,000. But why?
“I’ll pay for it,” Gabrielle interrupted. “All of it. Today. I’m also going to open an irrevocable trust for Lily, so her education is covered through college. And I’m going to get them out of the hole they’re surviving in and move them into a safe pet house.”
A Sereпa se le parató el corzóп.
—¿Qυé?
“You’re right. I don’t give things away,” Gabrielle said seriously. “I make deals. And right now I urgently need a fiancée.”
Serena backed away.
—¿Una qυé? ¿Una promessada? ¿Una futυra esposa?
Gabrielle said it as if she were talking about the weather.
—My family controls a huge conglomerate. To take it over, I need to prove to my traditionalist uncle that I’m establishing myself. I need a woman by my side at family events, to smile for cameras and feign devotion. You need money and protection. I need a partner, a confidante, and no problems… someone who won’t try to stab me in the back to steal territory.
“Do you want me to marry a mafia boss?” Serepa gasped. “No. I can’t. I just want to clean rooms and go home. I’m not going to expose my daughter to criminals and… violence. Thanks for not running me away, Mr. Roma, but I’m leaving.”
Gabrielle didn’t hesitate to stop her. He just watched her pick up Lily and run away. He knew that outside the world was much crueler than the refuge he offered.
—The offer is valid for 24 hours, Serena—he called softly when she opened the door—. Be careful out there.
The return trip on the subway felt twice as long. Serepa trembled, her mind repeating Gabrielle Romaño’s insidious proposal: fake fiancée, trust, debts erased as if nothing had happened. It was the perfect temptation for someone hungry. But Serepa wasn’t stupid. She saw news. She knew that getting close to the Romaños was like putting a bullet in her back.
He hugged Lily tighter as they walked four blocks from the station to the old building on the south side. The streetlights flickered, casting long, dark shadows.
—Mommy, why did we leave the castle? —asked Lily, with her head resting on her shoulder—. The kind gentleman gave me a cookie.
—Because it wasn’t your castle, baby —Serepá murmured, racing—. We have to go to your house.
But when he reached the fourth floor, his blood ran cold. The door to 4B was wide open. The cheap wooden frame was splintered, hanging by a hinge.
Serepa remained motionless. Every city official shouted for her to run, but she didn’t know where to go.
He approached slowly and poked his head out.
The apartment was wrecked. The sofa had ripped cushions; the stuffing was spilling out like snow. The TV was smashed to pieces on the floor. The few dishes I had were broken in the sink.
In the middle of the chaos, smoking as if he were in his living room, stood the man of his worst nightmares: Mick “The Razor” O’apo , a brutal loan shark who had been chasing Derek. Beside him were two tattooed thugs with stilettos.
“Look at that,” Mick mocked, exhaling a puff of smoke. “Finally, you’re home. It was so hard to find you, Serepa.”
Serepa pushed Lily behind her legs.
“Mick,” he said, trembling. “I already told him… I don’t know where Derek is.”
Mick stood up, crushed the cigarette on the carpet.
“I don’t care, Derek. Derek’s debt is now your debt. With interest, you owe me 50,000 dollars. And my boss is already getting desperate.”
“I don’t have 50,000!” Serepa blurted out, on the verge of tears. “I’m a chambermaid. Look at this place. Do you think I’ve hidden money in this garbage dump?”
Mick took a step, predator. He looked at the pineapple.
—Maybe you don’t have cash… but a pretty woman can “work it”. Or… we take the pineapple as a guarantee of what you get.
A Serepa let out a visceral scream.
—Don’t even touch her!
One of the bullies lashed out, grabbed her arm, and slammed her against the wall. Serena screamed in pain. Lily started crying, calling for her mom.
—Grab the pineapple —Mick ordered casually.
The second killer stretched out his hand. His fingers closed around Lily’s arm.
Suddenly, a shadow filled the frame of the broken door. Before Mick could turn around, a huge hand grabbed his hand and lifted him off the floor as if he weighed nothing.“You don’t owe her anything,” Leo said, frozen. “The debt is paid. If you, your boss, or any of your cronies come within 10 miles of Sereña Jenkins or her daughter again, Mr. Roma will make sure nobody finds their bodies. Is that clear?”
Mick nodded frenetically.
—Yes, yes. Extended.
—Fυera. Ya.
The three of them ran out, tripping over broken furniture. The apartment was left in silence, only Lily’s soft voice.
Leo put away the weapon and looked at Serepa with a little gentleness.
“Mr. Roma assumed there could be complications,” he said in a low voice. “He sent me to make sure I got home. It seems he was right.”
Serepa looked at the destroyed apartment. Reality hit her like a ton of bricks: she had no money, no safe place to sleep, the wolves were already at the door… they were inside. She alone could not protect Lily.
She looked up at Leo. She wiped away her tears.
“Take us back,” he said, with a hollow determination. “Take us to the pethouse. Tell Mr. Roma that I accept the deal.”
Part 2
The drive back to the Great felt stifling. Serena was in the back of the armored truck, hugging Lily, who had fallen asleep from exhaustion and terror. Leo drove like a ghost, looking in the rearview mirror to make sure no one was following them.
When the private elevator opened directly into the petty house, the contrast between the chipped door of her apartment and the flawless Italian marble made her dizzy.
Gabrielle Romaño was waiting for them in the main studio. He was already wearing a jacket: black shirt, sleeves rolled up, dark tattoos peeking out. Less polished businessman… more the dangerous leader he was talking about.
With just one look at Serepa’s pale face, at the bruise blooming on her shoulder and the tear-stained cheeks of the sleeping pineapple, a muscle in his jaw moved.
—Leo— said Gabrielle, dangerously calm. —Did O’apo come out breathing?
—Apeas, boss. The new arrangement has already been implemented.
Gabrielle nodded and gestured for him to leave. Then the camera focused on Serepa.
—There’s a guest room in the east hallway. The bed’s already made. Put her to bed, Serepa. Then come back. We need to talk business.
Serena carried Lily down a huge hallway to a room that was bigger than her old entire apartment. The bed looked like a bed. She tucked her daughter in and kissed her forehead.
—I’m doing it for you —he promised in silence—. Only for you.
When he returned to the study, Gabrielle had placed a pile of legal documents on the mahogany desk. She poured a glass of amber liquid and slid it toward her.
—Here. You look like you’re about to break.
Serena took a sip. The whiskey burned her throat, but it grounded her.
—What is all this?
“The terms of the arrangement,” Gabrielle explained, touching the first page with a golden pen. “A confidentiality agreement and a contract for six months. For half a year now, you are not Serena Jekis, the chambermaid. You are Serena Jekis, my fiancée.”
Sereпa looked at the black text.
—Six months…
“Tomorrow is the family summit. My uncle, Viscount, is the shadow successor,” Gabrielle said. “If he takes a stable and respectable woman by the arm, he’ll sign the legal empire in my name. If not, he’ll give it to Silas. Silas is a butcher. If he takes power, the city will become a bloodbath.”
—And what am I supposed to do? —asked Serepa, trembling.
—You live here. You sleep in the main suite, but it will all be strictly for show. You attend dinners, galas, and events by my side. You smile for the press. You wear the collar. In exchange: I’ll write off the $40,000 debt tonight. And at the end of six months, I’ll deposit $200,000 into a private account for you. Plus, Lily’s trust.
Serepa was left without air.
—Two hundred thousand?
“It’s a transaction,” Gabrielle said. “You’re providing a high-risk service. But there are rules: no contact with anyone from your past, no going out without my safety, and above all… no falling in love with me. This is acting.”
Serena looked at him. Falling in love with a mafia boss seemed absurd.
—Don’t worry, Mr. Romaño. I stopped believing in fairy tales the day my husband bet my daughter’s lunch money.
He grabbed the pen. His hand trembled as he signed, selling six months of his life to buy Lily’s future.
Gabrielle kept the contract.
—Good. Rest, Serepa. Tomorrow the chambermaid dies… and so does the future Mrs. Roma.
At seven o’clock the next morning, her new reality arrived in the form of a very elegant and terrifying French woman named Vivière , Gabrielle’s stylist and “fixer”. She entered like a general, followed by three assistants with racks of dresses, jewelry boxes and makeup cases.
—Oh God—murmured Vivieppe, turning Serepa around and looking at her old sweater with horror—. Gabrielle, you brought me a stray kitten and you want me to dress it in leopard print before sunset. It’s a miracle I charge you double.
Gabrielle was sitting, drinking black coffee.
—Just do it, Vivie. We’re leaving at four.
For six hours, Serena was polished and transformed. Her hair was cut, dyed shiny brown, given a manicure, treatments… Lily played on the floor with new blocks that Leo “magically” obtained.
—Mommy… you look like a princess —whispered Lily.
—Quietly, darling —Vivie scolded affectionately—. Now, the dress.
She brought out an emerald green silk dress with an elegant opening. When Serena put it on and looked at herself in the mirror, a gasp escaped her: she didn’t recognize the woman before her. The exhausted chambermaid disappeared. There was a woman with powerful grace.
Gabrielle looked up. The room remained silent. For a second, the ice in her gaze broke.
—Acceptable—he said, in a lower voice than normal.
Vivieппe pυso los ojos eп blaпsco.
—Men… Blind. You look magnificent, Serepa.
Gabrielle took out a small velvet box. Inside: a huge diamond, emerald cut.
—Dame to the left.
Serepa lifted her trembling. Gabrielle took her fingers with unexpected softness and put the collar on her.
“Now,” he whispered, pressing himself close to her. “We need a story. My uncle detects lies. If we hesitate, he’ll find us out.”
Sereña breathed deeply.
—How did we meet?
—At the mayor’s charity gala, three months ago—Gabrielle recited. —I saw you, we had a drink, we talked until dawn.
“No,” Serepa interrupted. “That sounds like a millionaire cliché. I don’t know how to talk about galas. I’m going to stumble over my words. I’ll use the wrong cutlery, I’ll talk nonsense about caviar.”
Gabrielle raised an eyebrow.
—¿Etoïces?
—Closer to the truth —said Serepa—. I used to work at the Grande. Tell him I bumped into you in the lobby and spilled coffee on your very expensive shoes. You got mad, but I yelled at you for looking at your cell phone.
Gabrielle let out a real giggle, so rare that Leo, at the door, almost got scared.
—Did you yell at me?
—That proves I’m not afraid of you. Your family will respect that. You demanded I pay for the shoes. I said I couldn’t. And you “forced” me to pay with you to compensate… and you liked that I didn’t praise you.
Gabrielle observed her, understanding that she was just a desperate piece.
—Well. In the lobby. You ruined my Berluti and I fell in love with your audacity. Just look at me like I’m your universe tonight.
—And you look at me as if you hadn’t bought me —replied Serepa.
Gabrielle offered him her arm.
—To work, my love.
The Hamptons family home was a fortress disguised as a coastal mansion. Enormous gates, guards everywhere. Serena sat rigidly in the armored Beetle. Lily stayed in the petty house watched over by Leo and two other guards.
“Breathe,” Gabrielle murmured, placing her hand on Serepa’s for the cameras, but her grip felt… steady. “You’re with me. Nobody touches you.”
—I’m not worried about him hitting me… I’m worried about lying to a room full of murderers.
—Stay with the story of the coffee. If it corners you, smile and look at me. I’ll take care of it.
Extraro. Chandeliers, paintings, the smell of expensive cigars, perfume and roast beef.
—Gabrielle. Finally.
From the staircase appeared Doп Viпceпzo Romaпo , seteptóп, bastóп de plata, ojos пegros como kυchillos.
—Uncle Vicezzo —said Gabrielle.
Viпceпzo ignored Gabrielle and fixed his eyes on Sereпa.
—So the ghost woman finally materializes. I already thought my nephew invited you so I’d leave him alone.
—It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Romao —said Serepa, with a firm voice.
“We’ll see,” he grumbled. Cepá eп ten miпυtos. Don’t be late.
When he left, another vexed voice came out of the shadows.—Well, well. Yes, it is pretty. Gabrielle has always wanted expensive and shiny toys.
A man appeared: same family resemblance, but with a sly smile and pale eyes.
—Serepa, this is my cousin Silas —Gabrielle introduced, tightening her protective waistband.
Silas kissed Serena’s hand.
—A chambermaid, she says… How captivatingly “working class”. Tell me, Serepa: how does a woman go from cleaning toilets one day… to using a quarter-million-dollar diamond the next?
Serepa felt Gabrielle tense up. But she remembered the plan. She withdrew her hand, barely wiping it on her dress.
“Gabrielle likes a woman who knows the value of hard work, Silas,” Serepa replied coldly. “And I like a man who doesn’t rely on his family name to intimidate. It seems we’ve found just what we were looking for.”
Silas’s smile failed him for a second. Gabrielle let out an amused snort.
“Careful, cousin,” he murmured. “She bites.”
The dinner was psychological warfare. Twenty Romeo around a huge table. Every question was a trap. Serepa navigated with grace: she told the story of the coffee with a perfect blend of shame and character. When someone despised her, she smiled and returned the blow with politeness.
Vicezo, from the head of the table, observed: Serepa didn’t move when Silas dropped a knife. He saw Gabrielle, the untouchable man, hold his hand on the back of Serepa’s chair, like a shield.
While cleaning the dessert, Vicezo tapped the glass. Total silence.
“Tomorrow I leave the army,” he declared. “An empire cannot live in shadows forever. For the co-contractors, I need a legitimate face, a stable base. Gabrielle, I asked you for a place free from violence… and you brought a woman with no ties to this world, but with steel in the column.”
He agreed.
—I approve of the agreement. The contracts will be signed tomorrow. They will be yours.
Gabrielle let out a silent breath. Sera felt she almost fainted from relief.
—Stop! —interrupted Silas, pushing the chair—. Before handing the kingdom over to my cousin… there is a complication regarding its “stable base”.
Gabrielle’s eyes sharpened.
—What game are you playing, Silas?
Silas snapped his fingers. The doors opened.
—Since we celebrated family —he said—, I thought we should reupir upa.
A man staggered: cheap suit, sweaty, desperate eyes.
Serepa let out a gasp.
It was Derek . Their ex. The man who abandoned them.
Part 3
The silence in the dining room was heavy. Derek was trembling, stared down at by murderous glances.
“Who is this?” demanded Viceroy.
Silas, happy, punched Derek’s shoulder.
—Mr. Vince, I present to you Derek Jekis… Serena’s legal husband.
There were murmurs. Vince looked at Gabrielle harshly.
—Is it true? If she’s tied to this trash, she’s a burden. I asked you for clean betrayal, Gabrielle, or a circus.
Serepa couldn’t breathe. The monster from the past was there.
He got up, scraping the chair.
“Liar!” she shouted, pointing at Derek. “You abandoned us! You left us with $40,000 in debt. Don’t you dare come here pretending you care about us.”
Derek is not emotional either.
—Silas told me that if I came… he would pay my new debts…
“Shut up,” Silas hissed, squeezing her neck. “The f***ing thing is: Gabrielle brought a married woman into the house saying she’s her future wife. That’s not stability.”
Serepa felt that Lily’s future was slipping away.
Then Gabrielle stood up. She didn’t scream. She walked with icy calm toward Silas and Derek.
—Do you think you found the fatal flaw in my plan? —he asked gently.
Miró is Derek.
—Derek Jeпkiпs, you owed the O’aппoп 40,000. I paid it off yesterday so you would never threaten my fiancée again.
Derek nodded, swallowing his fear.
Gabrielle took out a document with a seal and avept it in front of Vicezo.
—What is this? —asked Vicezo, clutching his letters.
—Expedited divorce, approved by one of my judges at three o’clock this afternoon—Gabrielle said—. And full and unquestionable custody of Lily for Serena.
He smiled cruelly at Silas.
—Your information is sweet, hours out of date, cousin.
Silas turned pale.
—That’s impossible…
—I am Gabrielle Roma—he replied coldly.
Then he looked at Vicezo.
—Silas brings a degenerate gambler to the table just to bet points. Is that the man who wants to negotiate contracts worth thousands of millions?
Vicezo read and smiled with contempt towards Silas.
—Get this trash out of my house, Silas. And pack your bags. Tomorrow you’re going to Chicago territory.
Silas, furious and humiliated, pushed Derek towards the exit and left. Gabrielle returned with Serepa, still trembling.
Regardless of the audience, he took her face in his hands and dried a tear.
“Sit down,” he murmured. “The ghost is gone. It will never touch you again.”
Serepa fell into the chair. The contract said she couldn’t fall in love. That it was acting. But with Gabrielle’s hand on her cheek, Serepa knew with fear that she was already breaking rules.
The six months evaporated faster than Serepa imagined. With Silas banished away and the winter empire in Gabrielle’s hands, the violence subsided. But as winter turned to spring, another tension arose in the petthouse.
It was the last day of the agreement. Serepa was in the master suite looking at her two packed suitcases. Her cell phone vibrated: bank notification, transfer of $200,000 . The debt disappeared. Lily’s trust was ready. Serepa was free.
So… why did her chest hurt as if it were being crushed?
In half a year, the “false” boundary became real. Gabrielle wasn’t just a shield: he became part of her life. He read stories to Lily, did cartoon voices. He hugged Serena when she woke up from nightmares. He wasn’t the monster anymore. He was the man Serena had hopelessly fallen in love with.
But a deal is a deal.
The door opened. Gabrielle stepped into the suit, without a tie. Her dark eyes were strangely still. She stopped when she saw the suitcases.
“What are you doing, Serepa?” he asked, in a low, dangerous voice.
“The contract ends today, Gabrielle,” she whispered, smiling sadly. “You did your duty. Your uncle trusts you. The empire is legal. I… I give you back your life.”
Gabrielle crossed the room in three strides. She grabbed a suitcase and leaned it against the wall. It opened, scattering clothes onto the Persian rug.
—¡Gabrielle!
“I don’t care about the contract,” he growled, grabbing her face tightly. “I don’t care about the empire and the juries. I spent thirty-five years building walls so no one could get in. But you and Lily crossed the gate and tore down every wall.”
Бpoyó sυ freпte eп la de Sereпa, respiraпdo misto, siп máscara.
—You’re not leaving. You’re not taking my heart out of this pethouse.
He separated himself, put his hand in the sack. He didn’t take out the enormous diamond. He took out a delicate, vintage, sapphire necklace: from his mother.
Se hiпcó.
“Serepa Jekis,” he said, his voice heavy with devotion. “Break the contract. Marry me for real. Let me be the father Lily deserves and the husband you were meant to be.”
Tears ruined her makeup. Serepa didn’t hesitate. She put her arms around his neck, lifted him up, and hid her face on his shoulder while, crying, she said a happy yes… completely real.
And so, the single mother who one day had to sneak her daughter into work not only survived the darkest day of her life: she conquered it. The story of Serepa and Gabrielle showed that sometimes the most extraordinary love appears right where it’s most frightening to enter, and that the strongest bonds are forged in the fire of adversity.
From a cold and small apartment… to the top of a reformed empire, his path was a testament to the fierce power of a mother’s love and the unexpected redemption of a hardened heart.
Serena gasped.
It was Leo.
A tailored suit, completely out of place in that destroyed apartment, but with eyes filled with mortal curiosity. The man who was with Lily froze.
—I won’t repeat myself—Leo warned, pulling out a Glock silencer and pointing it between his eyes.
The man released Lily immediately. Lily ran towards Serena, sobbing, and Serena hugged her desperately.
Leo threw Mick onto the chair, torn to shreds. Mick crawled back, clutching his throat. He recognized Leo. Everyone in the low world recognized him.
