No One’s POV

The lights suddenly cut off, and a loud gunshot echoed through the hall. Panic broke out instantly as people started screaming and running in the dark.

Viella stood still and closed her eyes. She was sure the bullet would hit her any second, but she felt no pain for a long time.

When the lights finally flickered back on, everyone screamed at the sight of blood on the floor spread everywhere. Dante was standing right in front of Viella. His tall frame hugging her small body, covering her totally. Shielding her with his body.

But the blood wasn’t his.

Lucian was standing Infront of her too, but he wasn’t hit either.

In fact, it was Lily. She had jumped in the way to save Viella. She collapsed into Lucian’s arms, blood pouring out heavily from a wound in her chest.

Viella’s eyes widened in horror. She knew that as a main character, the plot would protect her, but Lily was just a side character. In this world, side characters could actually die.

Viella wanted to rush over and hug her, but she felt Elias’s cold eyes watching her every move. She had to stay in character.

Her legs felt like jelly as she watched Lucian hurriedly carry a bleeding Lily out of the hall.

Guests were trampling over each other to escape, and the floor was covered in red.

Viella had seen a lot of blood today yet they didn’t have any effect on her, but seeing Lily like this was different. The original Viella wouldn’t care, but she was terrified Lily wouldn’t make it.

Dante’s face was twisted with rage. He turned to his guards and roared at the top of his lungs.

"FIND HIM! DON’T LET ANYONE LEAVE THIS BUILDING ALIVE!"

Dante noticed Viella’s stiff, frozen body. He pulled her into a tight brief hug, his grip almost crushing before he let her go. Without a word, he turned away.

He rushed to Alina’s side, quickly taking off his suit coat and wrapping it around her. Alina’s leg was bleeding heavily, it seemed a stray bullet had grazed her during the chaos.

Because of the sharp pain and the blinding lights, she hadn’t noticed the intimate moment between Dante and Viella. In her mind, Dante had rushed straight to her to be her savior.

As Dante lifted her into his arms, he caught his head guard’s eye and gave a sharp, silent signal.

The men nodded, their faces darkening as they moved.

Alina clutched his suit and hugged him tightly, burying her face in his chest. As she breathed in, she noticed a faint, sweet fragrance clinging to him. A woman’s perfume that definitely didn’t belong to her. She paused for a second, but quickly brushed it off with a tired smile. To her, the pain in her leg was worth it if it meant being held like this.

Dante carried her toward the exit, his face a mask of cold stone, never once looking back at the woman he had just let go.

Elias watched the entire scene unfold with a dark smirk, taking a calm sip of his wine. He hadn’t been able to crack Viella’s cold exterior or prove her villainess act was a lie, but he had definitely broken Dante’s mask. In the end, a man in love can never truly stand by and watch his woman get hurt, even if he pretends not to care.

One of his men leaned in and whispered, "Boss, we found the dagger in Lucian’s mansion."

Elias nodded, his eyes glinting. He set his wine glass down on a nearby table and pulled a single card from his pocket, a Reverse card. He placed it face up on the table, right where he knew Viella would see it before she left.

It was a sign that the game was just beginning and that more was about to come. He would make sure she regretted the day she ever thought she could reject him. With a final look at the blood stained ballroom, Elias turned and walked out into the night.

Dante’s men rushed to Viella’s side, their faces grim as they tried to escort her out of the chaotic hall. But Viella didn’t move. Her eyes, which now looked cold and bloodthirsty, scanned the room for the one person responsible for this mess. She looked toward the spot where Elias had been standing just moments ago...

He had already left.

Then, her eyes fell on the table. A single Reverse card sat there, mocking her. She walked up to it with slow steps and picked it up. Her knuckles turned white as she crumbled the card in her hand, crushing it into a distorted piece of paper.

"You will have to pay back every drop of this blood... Mr. Elias Noir," she whispered.

She turned and walked out of the hall. She didn’t look back at the scene. Behind her, the blood was still fresh on the floor. A dark reminder that the game had finally turned deadly.

________________

Inside the car, the atmosphere was suffocating.

Alina sat with her eyes closed, still clinging to Dante’s arm until she eventually fell into a deep exhausted sleep. The moment her breathing leveled out, Dante coldly pushed her aside.

He leaned back and closed his eyes, the words Viella had spoken at the party echoing in his mind like a taunt.

She wanted to be free. She wanted to break the engagement. She wanted to hand him over to Alina like he was some discarded toy.

A bitter dark smile tugged at his lips. Too bad for her.

Viella was the reason he was no longer a mindless puppet. She was the reason he wasn’t being controlled by a pen or some invisible script anymore. She had made him feel like a human with real emotions. Not just a character in someone’s story. And now she thought she could just walk away? 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

No.

He opened his eyes, and the moonlight reflecting off the window revealed a terrifying, dark obsession in his gaze.

He had been playing along this entire time for a reason. He already knew the dagger was no longer in his possession, and he knew that one wrong move would have given Elias the excuse to strike. Alina was nothing more than a puppet he kept around for his own amusement. Just a distraction for the world to watch.

His main target had always been Viella. Only Viella.

Dante felt his anger rising. A heat that burning through his veins.

He looked at his watch.

It was past midnight. Technically, Viella had won the challenge. She had survived the night and declared her independence.

But she didn’t know the most important part. Dante had already discovered her true identity. Challenge or no challenge, he was never going to let her go. Whether she was the Villainess or someone else entirely, she belonged to him.

The moment the car reached the estate, Dante wanted nothing more than to head straight for the shower.

He felt the need to wash off the lingering, filthy scent of Alina that clung to his skin. But just as he moved to get out, Alina woke up with a soft groan of pain, her small hand clutching tightly at his shirt.

He let out a long controlled breath, his expression softening into a mask of false concern. He reached down and lifted her into a princess carry, showering her with the kind of affection the world expected to see.

"Get the personal doctor here. Immediately!" he roared at his men, his voice filled with a fake urgency.

He carried her up the grand staircase and into his own room, laying her down gently on the silk sheets. He leaned over, his eyes narrowed as he observed the bullet wound in her leg.

"Lord Dante... it hurts," she said softly, her eyes welling with tears as she looked up at him, seeking comfort.

"Hum," he hummed under his breath, a non committal sound that she mistook for a soothing response.

The bedroom doors swung open as the doctor hurried in, his face pale with stress. Without wasting a second, the doctor knelt by the bed and began the delicate process of treating the wound.

Dante stood back, crossing his arms. He watched the blood on the sheets, but his mind was already miles away, wondering where Viella was and exactly how much she was suffering at the thought of Lily. He didn’t care about the girl on the bed, he was only waiting for the moment he could finally be alone to plan his next move.

Once the bandage was secured, the doctor gave a sedative injection to Alina, causing her to drift into a deep sleep. The room finally fell into a tense silence.

"My Lord," the doctor whispered, bowing his head respectfully. "It seems the bullet hit her right in the joint. She will need absolute rest for the next few days and cannot put any pressure on that leg if she wants to walk properly again."

Dante simply nodded, his face unreadable in the dim light. He didn’t ask about her pain or her recovery time.

The doctor quickly finished writing a few prescriptions, left them on the nightstand, and hurried out of the room.

Dante stood alone in the silence, staring at Alina’s sleeping form. To anyone else, he looked like a worried lover, but inside, he felt nothing but a cold, burning impatience.

He walked toward the window, looking out at the glowing city.

"Rest well, Alina," he murmured. "Because this might be the last peaceful sleep you ever gonna have or should I say last ever sleep."

He turned and headed for the bathroom.

______________

After washing off every trace of Alina’s scent, Dante stepped out of the shower, his dark hair dripping onto his shoulders. He didn’t even reach for a towel. Instead, his eyes immediately fell on his gun. The one he carried at all times.

He picked it up, checking the magazine. It was missing exactly one bullet.

Only a true mastermind would know where that specific bullet had been used tonight.

Dante smirked, the expression dangerous in the dim light of the bedroom.

He knew Elias had likely discovered the truth by now, but he remained perfectly calm. Why? Because his first target had always been Alina, and he had spent months making sure she believed in him blindly. She was too easy to fool.

He reached for a spare round, his fingers steady as he clicked the bullet into place, filling the gun once more.

With a predatory stride, he walked toward the bed where Alina lay in a deep sleep.

He stood over her, his shadow looming against the silk headboard. Then, with a steady hand, he raised the weapon and pointed the barrel

directly at her forehead.

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TO BE CONTINUED