To Ruin Him, I Married His Rival

Adelaide POV

The crystal chandelier above the Grand Ballroom of the Hebert Estate glittered like a thousand judging eyes, casting a harsh, artificial light on my humiliation. The air was thick with the scent of expensive perfume, cigar smoke, and the metallic tang of betrayal.

I stood in the shadows of a marble pillar, my fingers clutching the rough fabric of my ill-fitting grey dress. It was a stark contrast to the emerald silk and diamonds adorning the other women—the wives and daughters of the *Cosa Nostra*. I was neither. I was Adelaide Rice, the collateral, the ward, the girl Andrew Hebert had promised to protect.

"Ladies and gentlemen," Andrew’s voice boomed through the microphone, silencing the murmur of the crowd.

My heart hammered against my ribs like a trapped bird. *Don't do it, Andrew. Please.*

He stood on the raised dais, looking every inch the golden heir of the Hebert family. But his eyes, usually warm when he looked at me in private, were now fixed on the woman beside him. Fawn Garrett. She preened under his gaze, her red lips curved in a smirk that I knew was directed solely at me.

Andrew placed his hand possessively on the small of Fawn’s back. "I am proud to announce the union of our two families. A toast to my beautiful fiancée, Fawn Garrett."

The words were a physical blow. A dagger twisted into my chest.

*Fiancée.*

Applause erupted, a thunderous sound that drowned out the shattering of my world. Fawn’s laughter rang out, sharp and triumphant, the same laugh she used when she cornered me in the hallways. Andrew hadn’t just chosen a political alliance; he had chosen my tormentor. He had paraded me here tonight to show the world that I was nothing more than a discarded toy.

I couldn't breathe. The walls were closing in.

I turned and ran. I didn't care who saw. I pushed past the waiters with their trays of champagne, ignoring the whispers, and fled into the dimly lit corridor. I didn't stop until I burst into the library, the heavy oak doors slamming shut behind me, muffling the sounds of the party.

Here, in the silence of dust and old leather, my legs finally gave out. I sank to the floor, gasping for air, tears burning my eyes.

"A waste of tears for a man like him."

The voice was deep, dark, and vibrated through the floorboards.

I froze, looking up.

From the deepest shadows of the bookshelves, a figure emerged. Damien Maddox. The Capo of all Capos. The Dark Don. He was a myth made flesh—tall, broad-shouldered, radiating a lethal power that made the air in the room drop ten degrees. His eyes were voids of darkness, devoid of mercy.

He shouldn't be here. The Maddox family was a predator to the Hebert’s prey.

He extended a hand, holding a pristine white handkerchief embroidered with a black 'M'.

I stared at it, trembling. Before I could reach for it, the muffled