V I

g, bouncing off and marble walls and rattling my skull. I am the only one frozen as the crowd surges around me, som

suffocating me, making my head spin, maki

tor. My younger

tore, till my knuckles bled, till my hands became calloused. I've killed at my father's command. Moulded myself into the perfect

fists clench at my sides, digging i

d cold as ice. The applause slowly falters until th

vels his gaze toward me, and for a second, h

l I can summon into my words. "I am your firstborn. I am your heir. You trained me for this. Everyone here knows it sh

r, not being able to help the frown that

ned anything. He hides behind your name, while I have fough

e spectacle. While his mother, Lucia, tilts her he

does not smile. In fa

. The crowd parts like water, afraid to be too close to his f

carrying across the room. "You embarrass me. Tonight w

s, but I press on, desperation clawing out of me.

reverberates through the silent hall. My cheek stings, hot, my e

Nothing but a liability. Did you truly believe I would

and the weight of his disgust destroy

him, and the sound makes me

. "Victor was always destined for this. He carries the Costanzo blood with pride. He is strong. He is a man.

hrough the room. My stomach drops a

aying?" My voice is bar

words d

u are stripped of the Costanzo name, the wealth, the ti

floor vanish

blood. My identity. Go

weight of being Costanzo, even when they treated me like an outcast; I bore it like armour. And now... strippe

me. Worse, they

blink them away. I won't

says, his voice thick with contempt. "I hav

s, every ear listening and waiting for the bomb m

married off."

body loc

as been a stain on this family long enough. But your name still has value, even stri

s until I feel the sting

rry, and you will go quietly, o

ld. Shipped away like property. I thought losing the tit

n can't get any worse, the doubl

is deafening. All heads swivel toward the entrance...

ma

tch black, the cut sharp, the fabric clinging to a body built like steel. Behind him, an e

ballroom with quiet menace. His eyes... dark, unblinking... sweep across the crowd before settling on me.

es for the fir

ping with satisfaction. "Allow me

his presence consuming

ante A

hes into me l

d back alleys alike, feared for their ruthlessness. A name

their heir

am to be c

able. His gaze does not shift, his expression carved from stone. Around him, h

move. Ca

isowned, and now... so

r's satisfaction, Victor's grin, Lucia's excitement, the crowd's

. The man I am su