Ivy Cole

"You cheated, didn't you?"

I stood at the study door, staring hard at the man I once called father.

Mother had been dead for only three months, yet he'd already brought his new wife and her children into our home.

And what was even more absurd—that woman was already six months pregnant.

So it turned out that during Mother's final days, his so-called important business was nothing but a complete betrayal.

—

After Mother died, I lost everything.

My room was taken away, my stepmother and stepsister treated me like a toy they could humiliate at will, and the father who once loved me most gave me the loudest slap of my life with his own hand.

Everyone stood against me.

Except Alden.

The stepbrother everyone loathed, feared, and called a freak.

He was withdrawn, dangerous, and silent.

He always hid in the shadows, watching me with those gray-green eyes.

Until one day, I discovered his secret—

He could do magic.

Flames obeyed his commands.

Serpents answered his calls.

Walls couldn't stop his steps.

And it was from that day I learned that this world was far crazier than I'd imagined.

Because when I furiously cursed the man who betrayed Mother—

My words came true.

A careless curse brought instant retribution upon him.

Alden told me that power was called "prophetic speech."

The words I spoke were no longer just language.

They were commands the world had to execute.

From then on, my life spiraled completely out of control.

Talking serpents.

Inexplicable magic.

Mysteriously vanished inheritance.

The "Twenty-Fifth Hour Bank" that existed on no real-world map.

And that backflipping black cat that kept leading me toward the unknown...

All the mysteries were telling me:

I was not an ordinary person.

And Mother and Grandfather seemed to have hidden many truths from me.

But just as I tried to find answers, an even more terrifying truth was surfacing—

I discovered that Alden's secrets might be far more than just magic.

Why could he command serpents?

Why did everyone in the manor fear him?

And why did he always appear by my side whenever I was in danger?

I thought I'd only lost my mother, lost my home.

Later I learned.

That was merely fate's beginning.

And the real storm was hiding deep in the magical world, waiting for me.

I just didn't know—

When all truths were revealed, would Alden, whom I trusted most, become the person standing by my side...

Or the one who would completely change my destiny.

Leah spent eleven years loving the monster who raised her. Alexei Cardis taught her to fight, to hide, to survive—and never once told her she was the sacrifice meant to save his cursed soul. On the night she discovered the truth, he did the one thing she never expected: he let her escape.
Now, hunted by vampire lords and human zealots alike, Leah must unravel the deadliest mystery of all—why would a prince sacrifice his only cure? Every clue leads back to him: the dagger he forged that chose her as its master, the collection room filled with her childhood memories, the secret bond that lets her feel his Curse's every agonizing pulse.
The Night Watchmen want to weaponize her blood. The vampire Council wants to drain her dry. But Alexei's game runs deeper than either side suspects, and Leah is the only piece on the board who refuses to be played. As she masters the forbidden silver Pyre and reclaims Shadow Thorn, she begins to suspect the most terrifying truth: he didn't raise her to be his salvation—he raised her to be his executioner.
"When the only person who truly knows you is the one who taught you to kill, how do you stop yourself from becoming exactly what he made you?"

"I didn't kill your father."

The man sat behind the desk, the dagger I'd personally driven into his chest still lodged there, blood staining his shirt, yet he didn't even furrow his brow.

"If I were the killer, you'd already be dead."

—

My name is Serena Belmont.

A week ago, I was the family heir. A week later, my father died mysteriously, my stepmother took control of everything, and my fiancé abandoned me without hesitation.

All evidence pointed to Carlo Morandi—the most dangerous man on Valdoro Island, the feared Mafia godfather.

For revenge, I broke into his estate.

But what he gave me was evidence my father had left behind.

Missing eight million euros, a mysterious university professor, secrets my stepmother had hidden for years... As the investigation deepened, I realized I'd never truly understood the truth behind my father's death.

And Carlo always stood behind me, clearing obstacles for me, blocking danger for me, yet never explaining why he did this.

Until later, when I discovered an old photograph taken secretly for six full years.

The person in the photo was me.

In that moment I finally understood—some people approach you to use you, some to destroy you, and some have kept you in their hearts since before you even knew.

But when the truth surfaces, I don't know whether I should fear the conspiracy behind my father's death...

Or the real reason Carlo protects me.