His to Lose

On the night of our engagement, the ward my family sponsored left without a word.

She went alone to the Mexican border, a lawless land crawling with cartels, to become a combat medic.

From then on, Dante and I tortured each other for ten years.

He hated me for trapping him with my birthright as the heir, stealing the spot of the woman he loved.

I hated him for humiliating me while still craving the power and wealth the Moretti family provided.

In countless fights, we spewed the most vicious curses at each other.

Until that raid on the underwater sanctuary. The base was rigged to blow and sinking fast.

Dante didn't hesitate. He strapped the only oxygen mask onto my face and turned to jump into the swarm of sharks.

He slit his own wrist, using his blood to lure the predators away.

Moments before the sea swallowed him, he roared at me:

“I don't owe you anything anymore, Sophia!”

“If there's a next life, please, let me go!”

After I was rescued, the family only recovered his mangled remains.

Clutched in his palm was that charity case's cross necklace.

That was when I learned Elena had died from a stray bullet years ago.

And he, in the end, chose this brutal suicide to join her.

Dante's death shook the entire Underworld. The family Elders took their anger out on me.

I was accused of being a "Black Widow" who sent her husband to his death to save herself. I was beaten to death by a mob of angry thugs on the street.

When I opened my eyes again, I stopped my father.

This time, I’ll let them have their epic love story.

"Sophia! I'm talking to you. Did you hear me?"

I jolted awake, looked up, and found myself sitting in my father's office—Don Moretti's office.

The desk reflected the cold light, showing my twenty-five-year-old face.

I was reborn.

I was back at the turning point of my fate—the day Father finalized my engagement to Dante and prepared to send Elena abroad for her studies.

In my past life, Father sat in this leather chair that symbolized absolute power, deciding my marriage with a tone that brooked no argument.

And Elena, the girl my family had sponsored, looking as fragile as a damsel in distress, stood right here. With tears in her eyes, she said she was willing to go to the border, dedicating her life to the noble cause of medicine, just so she wouldn't ruin Dante's and my "happiness."

Back then, for the sake of family glory and a girl's infatuation, I nodded and accepted this loveless arrangement.

"Dante is the sharpest blade in our family. Only if you marry him can I trust him to work for me."

Father clasped his hands, his eyes sharp.

"As for Elena, I'll send her to Syria or Mexico. The slums there need doctors..."

"Let me go."

I interrupted Father, my tone unusually calm.

Father froze, his hand holding