Chapter 3 The Woman They Didn't Expect

• The sound of my heels echoed like a defiant drumbeat against the marble floors.
• My legs were no longer the ones that had trembled just weeks ago in the face of betrayal.
• Tonight… they moved with purpose.
• With rhythm.
• A rhythm that belonged to no one but me.
• The dress was red. Intentional. Pure fire. A sharp neckline, bare back, a high slit.
• Not my style. I hadn’t chosen it.
• Dante had it made for the occasion.
• And I wore it like armor.
• “Ready?” he asked from the doorway, not quite looking at me.
• I nodded.
• He wore a dark grey suit, his shirt undone just enough to remind the world that he didn’t care for rules.
• We got into the car like two statues carved from stone. Together. Perfectly silent.
• “What do they expect from me tonight?” I asked once the driver hit the highway.
• “Smiles. Confidence. Elegance. And just one sentence.”
• “What sentence?”
• Dante turned his head. His eyes, pure ice.
• “I’m the woman he chose.”
• I swallowed hard.
• Ethan would be there.
• My ex-husband.
• The man who shattered me—and laughed while doing it.
• And now he’d see me on the arm of his enemy.
• My stomach twisted violently.
• But my face didn’t change.
• I had learned never to bleed in front of vultures.
• The event was held at the Hotel Montbrillant Genève, near Geneva’s main station. Venue: Salon Rousseau. A luxurious hotel with soundproof underground halls—ideal for diplomatic or… less lawful meetings. Crystal walls, golden lights. A corporate gala packed with executives, hired models, ravenous reporters, and bottomless champagne.
• The moment we entered the lobby, the cameras turned toward us like they had smelled blood.
• Dante took my arm. Firmly. Controlled. Emotionless.
• “Ready to be the most watched woman in the room?”
• “I always was,” I said. “But this time… I won’t lower my head.”
• He allowed a half-smile. Almost invisible.
• “Good answer.”
• The questions started before we even reached the bar.
• “Did you marry in secret, Mr. Salvatore?”
• “Has Zoe dropped the Castelli name?”
• “How long have you two really been together?”
• Dante didn’t reply.
• He just looked at me.
• It was my turn to speak.
• “I married the only man I know would never lie to me,” I said, steady as stone.
• “And yes, I’m now Zoe Salvatore. It’s a name that… fits me better.”
• A storm of flashes answered me.
• “Is it true it was for business?” one reporter insisted. “There are rumors that—”
• “The only business here,” I interrupted with a smile, “was someone underestimating the wrong woman.”
• Silence.
• A single, breathless second.
• Then… applause. Laughter. Murmurs.
• Zoe Knight was gone.
• But Zoe Salvatore had just been born in public.
• I saw her after my first glass of champagne.
• Her.
• The mistress. My ex-best friend.
• She wore gold. As if she still believed she could outshine the venom in her smile.
• She looked me up and down—just like she used to in college, thinking she had more beauty, more charm, more everything.
• But this time… she couldn’t hold my gaze.
• “Zoe,” she said with a fake pout. “Didn’t expect to see you looking so… strong. Must be the Salvatore vitamins, huh?”
• I laughed sweetly.
• “And you? Still surviving on someone else’s leftovers? Or did you upgrade from secondhand mistress to something more... permanent?”
• Her cheeks tensed.
• I loved it.
• But before she could answer, he appeared.
• Ethan.
• Still handsome. Still arrogant. Still fuming.
• Wearing his custom-tailored suit, blond hair perfectly slicked back, and those green eyes that once seemed like the most beautiful thing in the world.
• Now… they barely moved me.
• Dante was taller.
• More handsome.
• And infinitely more dangerous.
• “Having fun, Zoe?” Ethan asked.
• “Lots. Especially watching everyone’s long faces.”
• “You know this marriage doesn’t make you powerful.”
• “No,” I said. “But it makes me dangerous.”
• He stepped closer.
• That familiar cologne. That wounded-wolf stare.
• “What if he’s just using you?”
• “Maybe he is. But he does it with more class than you ever did. And he’s twice the man.”
• Dante appeared just then.
• He didn’t say a word.
• He just placed his hand on my waist like he was claiming his territory.
• Ethan stared at him, rage burning beneath the surface.
• “Nice disguise, Salvatore.”
• “It’s not a disguise. It’s an alliance. And you… you no longer have a seat at this table.”
• Dante turned to me.
• And for one second—just one—he pressed his lips to mine.
• It wasn’t a real kiss.
• But in my body… it felt like a victory.
• The cameras went wild.
• We were the couple of the night.
• We returned to the car after midnight.
• The silence returned. Uncomfortable. Inevitable.
• “You were brilliant,” Dante finally said.
• “Did you always have that sharp tongue and just kept it hidden?”
• “I never needed it before. I thought staying quiet kept me safe.”
• “And now?”
• I looked at him. His jaw tight. His hands clasped.
• “Now I know silence can kill, too. And those who don’t speak… are easier to crush.”
• He nodded slowly.
• “Welcome to the real world, Zoe Salvatore.”
• And for the first time, he called me by my new name.
• And it didn’t feel false.
• That night, when we returned to the mansion, I didn’t go straight to my room.
• I stayed in the library.
• Seated on the leather sofa, surrounded by books I hadn’t read, a glass of wine I didn’t finish.
• I looked at my reflection in the window.
• I wasn’t the same woman.
• But I wasn’t sure yet who I was becoming either.
• The contract was signed.
• The photos had been taken.
• The scandal had been born.
• And the enemy—Dante Salvatore—slept just down the hall.
• But the scariest part?
• I was attracted to him.
• That kiss. His soft, commanding lips.
• At twenty-six, I’d never dared to do anything Ethan hadn’t allowed.
• Now, I was back in a life I thought I had escaped—an ornament in a luxury mansion, this time beside a man who promised me security.
• But at what cost?
• And maybe…
• that was the beginning
• of a different kind of fall.