PROLOGUE

THE CRIMSON CROWN: 👑

HIDDEN DESTINY.

THE NIGHT THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING🗨️

She died keeping a secret. Her daughter would live to break it..

Isabella Night had stopped checking the time because she was too busy checking the road behind her.

For the past twenty minutes, the same black car had been following her. It had stayed far enough away to look harmless, but every turn she made, it made too. Isabella sat quietly in the back seat, her fingers wrapped around her handbag, trying to ignore the uneasy feeling growing inside her. She didn't know who was following her or what they wanted, but she knew she needed to get home before anything happened.

"Can you take another route?" she finally asked the driver.

The driver looked at her through the mirror. "Is everything okay, Mrs. Night?"

"Just take another road." He nodded and turned at the next street. Isabella looked back.

The black car turned too. Her stomach tightened.

She picked up her phone and saw a message from home.

"Elara is still awake. She's waiting for you."

A soft smile appeared on Isabella's face. Her five-year-old daughter had probably been sitting near the window, waiting for her mother to come home. Isabella had promised Elara that they would have breakfast together the next morning. It was such a small promise, but suddenly it felt like the most important thing in the world.

"Please drive a little faster."

The driver pressed the accelerator. The black car followed. Isabella's smile disappeared.

"Don't stop," she said quietly.

"I won't."

She looked outside again. The rain was getting heavier, and the road ahead was almost empty. Her hand slowly moved toward her handbag. She touched the small crimson pendant hidden inside it, making sure it was still there.

It was.

She pulled her hand away.The car behind them suddenly moved into the other lane. Isabella's eyes widened.

"Wait..."

The headlights came straight toward them

The driver turned the steering wheel, but the wet road was too slippery. The tires lost control, the car spun, and a violent crash broke through the silence of the night.

Glass shattered...

Isabella was thrown against the side of the seat. Her handbag stayed tightly against her chest.

She held onto it with the last bit of strength she had.

Then everything went dark.

THE FLASHBACK🗨️

Before Isabella opened her eyes again, the night took her back to a place she had never wanted to remember.

A small room stood hidden somewhere far away from the city. The windows were covered, the lights were low, and the air smelled of smoke and burning herbs. An old magician sat on the other side of a wooden table while a stranger stood before him, their face hidden beneath the shadows.

"I want power," the stranger said.

The magician didn't react.

"I want the kind of power that can destroy anyone who stands in my way. I want to be able to ruin someone completely if I decide they deserve it."

The magician slowly looked up.

"Power like that always comes with a price."

"I'll pay it."

"You don't even know the price."

"I don't care."

For a moment, the magician studied the stranger before placing a small blade on the table.

"If you truly want it, then sacrifice something of yourself."

The stranger picked up the blade without hesitation and made a cut across their palm. A few drops of blood fell onto the strange symbol carved into the wooden table.

The candle flames suddenly rose.

The magician watched the blood disappear into the symbol.

"The sacrifice is accepted." The stranger looked at him.

"Give me the power." The magician shook his head.

"It will not come directly to you." The stranger's expression hardened.

"Then where will it go?"

"Someone close to you will receive it."A long silence followed.

"And how do I get it back?" The magician leaned forward.

"You find the person who receives it." His voice became quiet.

"And you take the power from them."

The stranger stared at him.

"Who will it be?"

The magician gave a faint smile.

"That is for fate to decide."

The candle went out. The room disappeared into darkness.

THE LAST GIFT🗨️

Isabella opened her eyes to the sound of a heart monitor.For a few seconds, she couldn't remember where she was. Then the pain returned, followed by the memory of the accident. She immediately tried to sit up.

"My daughter." A nurse rushed toward her.

"Please don't move." "My daughter... where is she?"

"She's safe. Your father is bringing her." Isabella closed her eyes in relief.

"Please let me see her." The nurse looked at the doctor before giving a small nod.

A little later, the door opened. Edward Night walked inside with Elara. The moment Elara saw her mother, she ran to the bed.

"Mommy!"

Isabella opened her arms, and Elara carefully climbed beside her.

"You scared me," Elara whispered.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart."

"You promised you'd come home."

"I know."

Isabella tried to smile. Elara looked at the bandages covering her mother.

"Does it hurt?"

"A little."

"Then you have to come home with me." Isabella's eyes filled with tears.

She wanted to say yes. Instead, she reached for her handbag.

Her fingers trembled as she opened it. The crimson pendant was still there.

She took it out and placed it in Elara's tiny hand.

Elara looked at it curiously.

"What's this?"

"Something very important."

"Is it mine?"

"It is now." Isabella closed Elara's fingers around it.

"But you have to promise me something."

"What?"

"Never show this to anyone." Elara frowned.

"Not even Daddy?" Isabella went silent.

Her eyes moved toward Edward. He understood immediately. "Not even him," she whispered.

Elara didn't understand why her mother suddenly looked so scared, but she nodded.

"I promise."

Isabella pulled her daughter closer.

"There are things about this world you don't understand yet." Elara rested her head against her mother's shoulder.

"When you grow up, you will."

Isabella kissed her forehead.

"And when you do, remember one thing. Never use what you have to hurt someone just because they hurt you."

"The great power comes with great responsibility " Elara looked up at her.

"What do I have?" Isabella smiled through her tears.

"One day, you'll know." The heart monitor suddenly changed. Edward stepped closer.

"Isabella..."

Doctors rushed into the room. Elara was pulled away from the bed.

"Mommy!"

Isabella looked at her daughter one last time. Her lips moved silently.

"I love you."

Elara cried as the doctors surrounded the bed. And that was the last time she ever heard her mother's voice.

THE DRAVEN HOUSE🗨️

Almost two in the morning, the front door of the Draven mansion opened.

Amelia Draven was still awake when she heard the sound. She walked into the hallway and froze. Victor stood near the entrance, soaked from the rain.

There were dark bloodstains on his shirt. Amelia's face turned pale.

"Victor..." He looked at her.

"What happened?"

"Nothing." She stepped closer.

"That's blood." Victor looked down at his sleeve. For a moment, he didn't say anything.

"Victor, where were you?" His expression changed.

"I don't want to talk about it." He walked upstairs. Amelia followed him with her eyes.

"Victor!" He stopped but didn't turn around.

"Please."

Still, he said nothing. He continued toward his room and closed the door behind him. Amelia remained standing alone in the hallway.

She had no idea where her husband had been that night. She had no idea whose blood was on his shirt.

And she had no idea that, from that night onward, the Draven and Night families would never look at each other the same way again.

TWENTY YEARS LATER🗨️

Twenty years had passed.

The little girl who had once cried beside her mother's hospital bed was now twenty-five years old.

Elara Night stood at the center of her office at Night Atelier, one of America's leading fashion companies. She had taken over the company at twenty-three and had already built a reputation for being smart, confident, and impossible to intimidate. She could silence an entire boardroom with one look, but the moment she left work, she was just as bubbly, playful, and annoyingly cheerful as ever.

"Your three o'clock meeting is waiting," Mia said, walking into the office with a file in her hand.

Elara didn't look up from her laptop.

"Tell them I'm not here."

Mia stopped.

"You're literally sitting in front of me."

"Then lie better." Mia sighed.

"One day, I'm going to quit."

"You say that every week."

"Because every week you give me a reason." Elara laughed and finally looked up.

"Fine. Send them in." Before Mia could move, Elara's phone buzzed.

She glanced at the screen. Her expression changed.

DRAVEN HOUSE ANNOUNCES ITS NEW COLLECTION..

Mia immediately noticed.

"Oh, no." Elara slowly put her phone down.

"What?"

"Don't tell me you're going to start another war with Roman Draven."A small smile appeared on Elara's lips.

"War?"

She stood and picked up her coat.

"I thought we were just competing." Mia stared at her.

"That's not what you call it after sending him three angry emails last month."

"He deserved all three."

Across the city, Roman Draven was standing inside his office at Draven House, the number-one fashion company in the country.

At thirty-one, Roman was everything Elara hated in a man—cold, arrogant, controlled, and far too confident.

His assistant, Oliver Hayes, walked into the office holding a tablet.

"Roman, Night Atelier has responded to our announcement." Roman looked up.

"What did Elara say?" Oliver smiled.

"Do you want the polite version or the one that will ruin your morning?" Roman leaned back in his chair.

"The real one." Oliver opened the message.

"She thinks Draven House is getting too comfortable at number one."

Roman's eyes narrowed slightly.

"And?"

Oliver looked at him.

"She says she's coming for your position." A slow smile appeared on Roman's face.

"Let her try."

Neither of them knew that this rivalry had started long before they ever met. Neither knew that their families were connected by a secret buried twenty years ago.

And neither knew that the woman Roman was preparing to fight would eventually become the one person capable of breaking through every wall he had built around his heart.

For now, though, Elara Night had only one thing on her mind.

Roman Draven was her enemy.

And she had no intention of letting him win.

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