The atmosphere at the gala turned freezing cold.

Dozens of armed men stood frozen in place, watching helplessly as their autocratic ruler was viciously slapped by his civilian wife.

Caspian slowly turned his head to face me, every movement deliberate and terrifying.

He closed in on me with pure, predatory intent.

I flinched, a look of revulsion curling the corner of my mouth.

My reaction made his expression turn ferocious.

"That was your severance pay," I repeated, my voice shaking but loud enough for everyone to hear.

Caspian remained silent.

He reached out a massive hand, his grip clamping down on my forearm like an iron band, carefully avoiding the bleeding bandages.

He yanked me toward him, preparing to drag me out of the estate.

Just then, the man who had saved me marched right up to him and grabbed my other hand.

"Let her go, Caspian. She just demanded you break your oath in front of your entire syndicate."

Caspian stopped.

The lethal aura radiating from him was so thick it was suffocating.

"This is none of your business, Luca." He stared at Luca's hand on my skin, the muscles in his jaw ticking slightly.

Luca held his ground, leveraging his position as a partner.

"While you were busy saving someone else, I just pulled your wife off the bottom of the pool. You owe me."

Caspian's jaw worked.

He looked at Luca with dead, hollow eyes.

"The West Side Port operations are yours. Take it over, and stay out of my sight."

The remaining mobsters murmured in shock.

The Boss had just given up a massive, highly profitable territory just to buy Luca off and keep him away from me.

Caspian didn't wait for a reply.

He dragged me out of the estate, his unrelenting grip bruising my skin.

He shoved me into the backseat of his armored SUV. The ride was bumpy, the city lights blurring through the tinted glass in suffocating silence.

We didn't go to the penthouse.

Instead, he dragged me into a heavily guarded suite in a downtown hotel.

He pulled me straight into the massive marble bathroom.

"Get in," he ordered, pointing at the empty bathtub.

"Screw you!" I snarled.

"No."

He reached over and turned on the warm water.

Before I could escape, he grabbed me by the waist, hoisted me up effortlessly, and forced me into the filling tub, fully clothed.

He stepped in with me, his expensive shoes submerging in the rising water. The warm water soaked my ruined dress and splashed over my arms, sending an immediate, searing sting through the deep cuts on my wrists.

I gasped, the pain almost blinding.

He pressed my back against his chest, his thick arms wrapping tightly around me, locking me firmly in place.

His possessiveness flared like wild fire, heavy and dark, pressing down on me like a boulder.

He buried his face in my soaking wet hair.

"Sienna, thank God you're alive."

His voice was a deep, suppressed whisper in my ear.

Unable to break free from his embrace, I could only stare blankly at the marble wall ahead.

"Drop the act, Caspian."

I knew the truth.

He had saved his precious Mafia Princess first.

I figured this sudden show of intimacy was nothing more than a twisted sense of territoriality, triggered by another man touching his "property."

The warm water soaked through my ruined dress, the wet fabric clinging tightly to my skin.

My resolve to break our marriage vows was as solid as bedrock.

Even though I had lost five years of memory, seeing Caspian recklessly risk himself to save Elena still sent an instinctive pang of pain through my heart.

I supposed it was the twenty-seven-year-old me struggling to extinguish the very last ember of love.

Caspian rested his chin on my shoulder, his intangible affection making me feel sick.

"I misjudged the situation; I didn't know you had fallen in too. Otherwise, I would have saved you first," he confessed, his voice raspy. "I swear on my honor, it will never happen again."

I watched the water level rise just below my knees, feeling nothing.

"It doesn't matter. I want a divorce. Bring the divorce papers tomorrow. From now on, whoever you want to save first, go right ahead."

Caspian's arm around my waist tightened, his fingers digging deeply into my flesh.

"The Don does not grant divorces," he denied flatly. "And I do not consent."

His voice dropped into a lethal whisper that sent chills down my spine.

I squirmed against him, splashing water over the edge of the porcelain tub.

"Why are you chaining me to you?" I demanded, my voice trembling with suppressed rage. "You value her life over mine. This marriage is a joke."

My elbow slammed hard into his ribs with a dull thud. Taking advantage of his muffled grunt, I scrambled over the edge of the tub, warm water cascading from the hem of my dress.

I retreated to the center of the bedroom, keeping the massive king-sized bed between us as a barrier.

Caspian stepped out of the bathroom, a puddle of water gathering at his feet.

His dark obsession eroded his features, twisting his handsome face into something terrifying.

He walked slowly toward me, shucking off his ruined suit jacket and tossing it to the floor.

"Back off!" I warned, grabbing a heavy brass lamp from the nightstand and wielding it like a club.

He ignored the weapon.

He kept advancing, his steps steady and resolute.

I raised my leg and kicked him hard in the thigh.

A flash of primal rage crossed Caspian's eyes, but he swallowed his anger, letting out a sharp hiss.

He lunged forward, snatching the lamp from my hands and throwing it across the room, where it shattered against the wall.

He grabbed my face, trying to force me into submission with a kiss, his lips pressing punishingly against mine.

"I will make it up to you, Sienna," he growled against my mouth. "You are mine."

I planted both hands firmly on his chest, using all my strength to break free from his hold.

Caspian's patience completely fractured, his last thread of restraint snapping.

He shoved me down onto the mattress, covering my body with his massive frame, intent on claiming his wife and re-establishing his dominance.

A sharp, relentless spike of pain erupted from the center of my skull.

My vision flashed blindingly white.

I screamed, my entire body trembling violently beneath him, as if some lingering trauma from my past life had violently collided with the present.

Caspian instantly shifted from predator to protector, the feral glint in his eyes vanishing.

He rolled off me, frantically checking my face, his hands hovering over me as if terrified of causing further harm.

"Sienna? Look at me."

As I clutched my head, his gaze darted down to my hands.

He froze, his throat tight, unable to breathe.

The warm water in the bathtub had dissolved the adhesive on the waterproof bandages. The struggle had dislodged them, and the thick gauze had peeled away from my skin.

They were completely soaked in bright crimson blood, creating a stark, horrifying contrast against the white bedsheets.

Caspian grabbed my forearms and, with trembling fingers, tore the gauze away.

He stared at the deep, jagged cuts across my veins.

His pupils dilated with horror; the reality of what he was seeing finally convinced him.

He realized the clinic's report was wrong.

He realized I had truly intended to end my life, and that I had meant every single cut.

The Don let out a roar of absolute terror and rage that shook the walls of the suite—a sound of utter devastation.

"Who gave you permission to die?!"

I looked up at his horrified face, my own expression cold, devoid of an ounce of pity, feeling only absurdity.

"You were willing to let me drown, so why do you care about my wrists?"

Caspian stared at the blood-soaked bandages on my wrists, horror etched across his face.

The heavy silence in the hotel suite was shattered by a commotion out in the hallway. Hurried footsteps and muffled shouting seeped through the thick wooden door.

"Let me go! I need to see her!" Elena's shrill voice pierced the silence.

Caspian didn't even look toward the sound. He stood up, his jaw clenched, and strode out of the bathroom.

I wrapped a towel around myself and cautiously followed him, stopping at the bedroom doorway.

Caspian yanked the suite door open.

Elena stood in the heavily guarded hallway, struggling against two massive bodyguards, an elderly man with a black medical bag hovering nearby.

She looked past Caspian's broad shoulders, her eyes landing on the blood-stained towel I was clutching tightly.

She gasped, pressing a slender finger against her chest.

"Oh, Sienna, you're bleeding again! I was so worried, I brought the family doctor right away."

Her performance was flawless, yet laced with a sickeningly sweet faux concern.

"Get out, Elena. Go back to your room and rest," Caspian ordered, his massive frame blocking the doorway.

His voice was low and dangerous, rumbling like thunder, leaving no room for argument.

Elena exaggerated a sigh, her shoulders slumping in a show of disappointment.

"I couldn't sleep, Caspian. Sienna slipping by the pool made me feel so guilty I've been awake all night. I just wanted to make sure she was okay."

I looked at the woman who had shoved me into the deep end.

"You don't have to pretend; no one here is applauding your performance."

Elena blinked, feigning innocent surprise, her eyes wide.

"I don't know what you mean. It was a terrible accident."

I crossed my arms, locking eyes with her.

"It's a shame you didn't notice the security cameras installed on the stone pillars by the pool."

Elena froze.

The color instantly drained from her face, leaving her pale and trembling.

I kept my face perfectly blank, giving her nothing.

"They recorded every word you said to me before you pushed me in. Shall we watch the footage together?"

Elena swiftly took a step back, her eyes darting toward the relative safety of the hallway.

"I... I suddenly remembered I have to make a call to my grandfather's associates."

She turned and practically ran down the hall, the doctor awkwardly retreating behind her.

The heavy door clicked shut, plunging us back into silence.

I relished the sudden quiet, refocusing my attention on the man standing in the center of the bathroom.

Caspian hadn't stopped staring at me.

His gaze was heavy, unreadable, locked onto my face as if searching for something I was no longer willing to give.

He grabbed a clean towel from the rack and walked toward me.

He draped the thick fabric over my trembling shoulders, his movements surprisingly gentle.

"Rest for tonight, we'll deal with this tomorrow."

I pulled the towel tighter, building a wall between us.

"Bring the mob lawyers with you, and the annulment papers."

Caspian stopped moving.

He didn't reply, but I heard the faint, abrasive grinding of his teeth—a dry rasp that spoke of a barely contained urge to rip something to shreds.

"If you don't bring them, I'll find my own way to break the oath."

The air in the room grew heavy, as if crushed by his sudden, suffocating rage.

His eyes darkened, flashing with a terrifying possessiveness that made me shiver.

"You are mine, and I will never divorce you." He turned his back and marched stiffly out of the bedroom.

I heard the heavy door click shut, followed by a long, suffocating silence.

I walked over to the nightstand and picked up my phone.

The screen lit up, asking for a passcode.

Without even thinking, I entered Caspian's birthday—the numbers had become muscle memory.

The phone unlocked instantly.

I scoffed at my past self's pathetic devotion.

I went straight into the settings and changed the passcode to my own birthday.

I severed that pathetic little connection I had with him.

A notification popped up at the top of the screen.

It was a short, authoritative text from Caspian.

"Rest well. Wait for me there tomorrow."

I sneered. Why should I listen to him?