Episode 3 — Mrs. De Luca

The city exploded with gossip the next morning.

Every television screen, social media page, and newspaper carried the same shocking headline:

> “Seraphina Vale Marries Mafia CEO Damian De Luca After Public Wedding Betrayal!”

Photos of Seraphina leaving the courthouse beside Damian spread everywhere online. In every picture, Damian looked calm and untouchable while Seraphina looked cold and unreadable beneath oversized sunglasses.

The entire business world was stunned.

Inside an expensive restaurant downtown, Adrian Cross stared at his phone with fury burning in his eyes.

“She married him?” he snapped.

Vivienne sat across from him nervously, scrolling through the articles again and again.

“Maybe she’s only trying to make us jealous,” Vivienne whispered softly.

Adrian laughed bitterly.

“Jealous?” He tossed the phone onto the table. “That woman just married the most dangerous man in the city.”

Vivienne looked down quietly.

Even she knew the name Damian De Luca carried fear.

Mafia heir.

CEO.

A man powerful enough to destroy people without lifting a finger.

And now Seraphina belonged beside him.

Meanwhile, inside Damian’s penthouse, silence filled the air.

Seraphina stood near the massive glass windows overlooking the city skyline. Her white blouse and black skirt made her look elegant, but exhaustion remained visible in her eyes.

Less than twenty-four hours ago, she had been abandoned at the altar.

Now she was married again.

The thought felt insane.

A maid approached respectfully.

“Mrs. De Luca, breakfast is ready.”

Seraphina froze slightly at the title.

Mrs. De Luca.

It sounded powerful.

But also dangerous.

She walked downstairs slowly and found Damian sitting at the dining table reading documents while drinking coffee. He looked calm, like the chaos surrounding them meant nothing.

Seraphina crossed her arms.

“You really enjoy shocking people, huh?”

Damian didn’t look up immediately.

“The city needed to know you’re under my protection now.”

She frowned.

“I don’t need protection.”

Damian finally raised his eyes toward her.

“Yesterday says otherwise.”

Seraphina hated how he always spoke like he already knew everything.

She sat across from him with an annoyed sigh.

“What happens now?”

Damian placed his coffee cup down carefully.

“Now,” he said calmly, “we make your enemies regret humiliating you.”

Before she could respond, Damian’s phone rang.

The moment he answered, his expression darkened slightly.

“What happened?” he asked coldly.

A pause.

Then he stood up immediately.

“Your father woke up,” he told Seraphina.

Her eyes widened.

Without another word, they left for the hospital.

———

Seraphina rushed into the hospital room the second they arrived.

“Dad!”

Alexander Vale slowly opened his eyes. He looked weak and pale, but alive.

Relief hit her instantly.

Tears almost formed in her eyes as she held his hand gently.

“You scared me.”

Alexander smiled weakly before his eyes shifted toward the doorway.

Toward Damian.

Immediately, fear appeared on his face.

“You…” Alexander whispered.

Seraphina looked confused.

“You know him?”

Damian stepped inside calmly with his hands in his pockets.

“It’s been a long time, Mr. Vale.”

The tension inside the room became heavy.

Seraphina looked between them.

“What’s going on?”

Her father grabbed her hand tightly.

“You married him?” he asked urgently.

She nodded slowly.

Alexander looked devastated instead of angry.

“Seraphina… you don’t understand who this man really is.”

Damian’s expression hardened.

“That’s enough.”

“No,” Alexander snapped weakly. “She deserves the truth.”

Before Seraphina could ask another question—

Hospital alarms suddenly rang loudly.

Everyone froze.

Then came shouting outside.

Footsteps.

Gunshots.

Seraphina’s heart nearly stopped.

“What was that?!”

Damian immediately moved in front of her protectively.

His calm expression disappeared, replaced by something terrifyingly cold.

“They found us.”

The hospital hallway erupted into chaos. Nurses screamed while people ran in panic.

Several armed men appeared outside the room.

Seraphina stepped back in fear.

“Oh my God—”

Damian slowly removed his suit jacket.

Then he reached behind his back and pulled out a gun.

Her eyes widened instantly.

“You carry that around casually?!”

Damian glanced at her briefly.

“In my world, danger doesn’t make appointments.”

Another gunshot echoed outside.

Then Damian looked directly into her eyes.

“Stay behind me.”

For the first time since meeting him, Seraphina truly understood something terrifying.

She hadn’t married a businessman.

She married a king from the underworld.

And somehow…

He was willing to go to war for her.

END OF EPISODE 3

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