Chapter 1 The Day Lavender Died

• ELARA
• They say the worst moments don’t come with warning signs.
• They arrive like whispers—soft, gentle, disguised as normal. A familiar hallway. A father’s steady voice. The warm press of a hand between your shoulder blades, guiding you forward like he always has.
• Until you realize you’re not walking toward safety.
• You’re being led off a cliff.
• That morning started like any other. A pale sun filtered in through the windows, casting thin shadows on the floors. The air smelled faintly of lavender, but it was sharp, almost like it was hiding something rotten underneath. I noticed it the moment I stepped into the hallway—something was off.
• Too quiet.
• No humming from the kitchen. No sound of heels clicking from my stepmother’s endless pacing. Just silence, and the ghost of her perfume clinging to the curtains.
• Then I saw my father.
• He stood by the window in the foyer, dressed in a pressed grey suit and shiny leather shoes, looking out like he was watching the end of the world and pretending not to care. The look on his face—tight jaw, hollow eyes—made something twist inside me.
• “Elara,” he said without turning. “Come with me.”
• I hesitated. “Where?”
• His gaze flicked to mine. Calm. Cold. “Just come.”
• I should’ve asked more. Should’ve demanded answers. But obedience had been stitched into me since I was old enough to stand still during my parents' fights. So I nodded, stepped into my flats, and followed him out the door like I always did.
• There was a black car waiting. Sleek. Unfamiliar. The driver didn’t greet us. Just nodded and opened the door. The windows were tinted darker than any car I’d ever been in. It felt like a coffin.
• I climbed in anyway.
• The city passed us by in silence. My father didn’t speak, didn’t glance at me. He just sat there with his hands folded tightly on his lap like he was praying to a god I didn’t believe in anymore.
• We turned into parts of the city I didn’t recognize—alleys too narrow, buildings too old, streets too clean. I looked at him again, heart picking up speed.
• “Where are we going?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
• No answer.
• The car finally stopped in front of a narrow boutique. The sign above it was written in elegant cursive I didn’t recognize. A woman in black stood by the door, her face still, her posture perfect, like she’d been carved from ice.
• “In here,” my father said.
• I blinked. “What is this?”
• His voice hardened. “Do as you're told.”
• I opened my mouth to protest, but the look in his eyes silenced me. It wasn’t anger.
• It was shame.
• I stepped out of the car.
• Inside, the boutique smelled like fresh roses and something else—something expensive and sharp, like money that came with strings. The lights were soft, warm, glowing over mannequins dressed in silk and lace.
• Three women emerged from the shadows like they’d been waiting. No names. No introductions. Just calm, practiced hands pulling a dress off the rack before I could even speak.
• It was white.
• Long sleeves. Low back. Embroidered flowers trailing like vines over the fabric.
• It was a wedding dress.
• My heart stopped. “I—I don’t understand.”
• One of the women smiled politely. “Hold still, Miss Moretti.”
• They undressed me without waiting. My hands trembled as they slid the gown over my head and fastened the buttons. The fabric clung to me like frost. My skin prickled. My reflection in the mirror looked like a stranger. Pale. Wide-eyed. Fragile.
• “Why are you doing this?” I whispered, but no one answered.
• Then the door creaked open.
• My father stepped in.
• His eyes scanned me from head to toe, unreadable. “You look beautiful.”
• I stared at him like he’d lost his mind. “What is happening?”
• “You’ll understand soon.”
• He held out his arm.
• I didn’t move.
• “Elara,” he said again, quietly this time. Almost gently.
• My fingers brushed his sleeve, and I took it.
• Back outside, the car was still waiting.
• When I climbed in this time, I felt it in my bones—something irreversible had started.
• My heart thudded in my chest as I looked at him again. “Please. Just tell me.”
• He exhaled through his nose. “We’re almost there.”
• Almost where?
• When we pulled up to the courthouse, my stomach turned. My whole body went still.
• “No,” I said, frozen. “Dad, no. You’re not—you’re not doing this.”
• But he already had one foot out of the car. He turned and opened my door like he was walking me down an aisle lined with corpses.
• I saw him then.
• Mateo Navarro.
• Tall. Impossibly broad. His black suit molded to him like it was afraid to wrinkle. His dark hair was slicked back, jaw sharp enough to cut glass. He stood outside the courthouse like he owned the building. Maybe he did.
• I didn’t move.
• My knees locked. My throat closed.
• “I can’t,” I said. “I don’t know him. I don’t even—”
• My father’s fingers gripped my wrist. Tight. “Don’t embarrass us.”
• Us?
• I looked at him in disbelief. “You said you’d never make me—”
• “This isn’t about you,” he snapped, his voice breaking for the first time. “This is about survival.”
• Inside, everything moved too fast.
• A man in a suit read the vows like they were legal documents. No music. No flowers. No warmth.
• Mateo didn’t look at me once.
• He signed the papers like it was a contract. Like I was a purchase.
• When the officiant turned to me, my hand trembled. “I—I can’t.”
• Mateo looked at me finally, his voice a warning.
• “You don’t need to understand. You just need to obey.”
• I swallowed back the scream rising in my throat. The pen in my hand felt heavier than a gun. My signature dragged across the page like a death sentence.
• They slipped a ring onto my finger. Cold. Sharp. Final.
• “You may kiss the bride.”
• Mateo didn’t.
• He turned and walked out of the room like I was already forgotten.
• I stood there in silence, in silk, in shock.
• It wasn’t until we were back in the car that my father finally spoke.
• “I owed him,” he said, looking straight ahead. “More than I could ever repay. Money. Protection. Power. I didn’t have a choice.”
• I stared at him. “You sold me.”
• He turned, eyes bloodshot. “I saved us.”
• “Saved us?” I laughed, hollow and bitter. “From what? From being broke? From being nobodies?”
• “You think you know what he’s capable of?” His voice rose. “He would’ve ruined us. Buried us.”
• “He already buried me.”
• He looked away.
• I didn’t speak again.
• When we reached the estate—Mateo’s estate—my fingers were numb. The gates opened like jaws. The house was made of stone and silence. Every step felt like I was sinking deeper into something I wouldn’t survive.
• “Welcome home, Mrs. Navarro,” one of the staff said.
• I didn’t correct her.
• That night, I sat alone in the master suite. Everything smelled like leather and power. The bed was too big. The mirrors too honest.
• I stared at myself in the glass.
• The wedding dress hung neatly in the corner, as if mocking me.
• I touched the ring on my finger. It was too tight.
• My throat closed again, and for the first time all day, I let the tears fall.
• I cried for the girl I used to be.
• For the father who betrayed me.
• For the future that vanished without warning.
• And I cried softly—like a secret.
• Because even in my own room, I didn’t feel safe enough to make a sound.