The Light He Betrayed

For our third anniversary, my boyfriend claimed he wanted to 'broaden my horizons'.

However, he was just waiting for me to step into the restroom from the moment we arrived. He immediately shredded my passport and every piece of identification I owned.

Before I could even comprehend what he had done, he dragged me into an underground casino.

He strutted in like he belonged there, greeting everyone along the way.

"This one's premium, fresh from studying abroad!"

I blinked at the massive men closing in on me.

The black rose tattoos on their arms…

They looked like the insignias of the Lyon family, the mafia syndicate led by my ex-fiancé, who was also their newly crowned Godfather.

He once loved me obsessively, pursued me for eight years, and nearly forced me into marriage under the weight of his family's power.

It took everything I had to escape that life back then.

What just happened?

One vacation, and I somehow landed right back into their hands?

A scary man with a mean expression grabbed my chin and looked me over.

I tried to push his hand away, but he smacked me back.

Axel James stepped in front of me, his eyebrows pulled together in a frown.

"Tony, what are you doing? She's worth $750 hundred!"

I felt a rush of emotion. I thought my boyfriend cared about me getting hurt, but he was really just worried about his money!

We had been together for three years. For our anniversary, he said he wanted to show me the world, but he actually planned to sell me all along.

"I only started dating you because you studied abroad, which means you're worth more money.

"How else could a broke nerd like you get with someone like me? All you can afford are cheap burgers!"

I watched Axel take the money and walk away without looking back. My heart felt like it had turned to ice.

The Capo, Tony, pressed a gun to my head and warned me in a low voice.

"Stay quiet! Once you're in the underground casino, you can forget about leaving!"

I begged them, "Please let me go! My family will pay you $1.5 million to release me—no, $7.5 million!"

The man laughed as if it were the funniest thing he had ever heard.

"$7.5 million? If you could really afford that, why would that guy sell someone so valuable?"

He showed me his arm and threw a tiny piece of cloth at me, making his point without saying a word.

I was shaking. I tried to explain, but then I saw a black rose tattoo on his arm.

It was the mark of the Lyon family. It was the same mark that my ex, who was now the head of the mafia, bore on his arm too!

He used to be crazy about me. He chased me for eight whole years, and even had his family pressure me to be with him. I managed to escape our wedding, but