Viella’s POV

"The body is still missing... it’s been three weeks now." The news anchor’s voice was serious.

I snorted and tossed popcorn in my mouth.

"Pfft, how can you find the body when the body itself is watching the news?" I chuckled, hugging my blanket tighter.

Lily gave me a look but then started laughing too.

"Lady, it’s past bedtime. Shouldn’t you sleep?"

"Hmm... yeah, I should." I turned to her with a smile, the soft glow of the TV reflecting in her eyes. "Finally, it’s peaceful. Just me, this cozy little house by the beach, and unlimited foo-"

"We’re about to run out of food."

"Wait... what?" I sat up straight.

"We had plenty, but now..." She glanced at my stomach.

I gasped. "You traitor! It’s not my fault, okay? Back in the mansion, my mother never let me eat properly. I’m making up for years of starvation!"

Lily rolled her eyes.

"Still, if you want to keep ’hiding peacefully,’ you’ll need to go buy more."

I groaned and fell back on the couch. "Fine, fine. I’ll go into town tomorrow."

---

Meanwhile...

"It’s been two weeks since Viella died... so why isn’t Dante looking at me anymore?" Alina’s voice cracked with frustration. She paced in her room, tugging at her dress. "He used to be obsessed with me. He never let me out of his sight."

The man seated across from her didn’t answer immediately. He swirled the wine in his glass, eyes half-lidded as though he were bored. But his words were quiet

"Obsession doesn’t vanish without cause. Are you sure there’s nothing you overlooked... between Dante and Viella?"

Alina stiffened, her hands clenching. "...Nothing. He hated her. Everyone knows that. She humiliated me countless times and he-" Her words faltered. "But that night..."

His gaze sharpened. "The party night?"

She swallowed hard. "He carried her upstairs. The next morning... she was wearing his shirt."

The man finally leaned forward, setting his glass down. A faint smile touched his lips, but his eyes were unreadable.

"Curious. Very curious."

Alina’s breath quickened. "You don’t think-"

"I don’t need to think." His tone was silky, laced with something almost mocking. "Perception is stronger than truth. Even a whisper that they were together is enough to rewrite everything."

Her face went pale. "So... that’s why he won’t look at me anymore?"

"Perhaps." He tilted his head, watching her squirm. "Or perhaps Dante saw something in her that he never saw in you. That possibility alone... should frighten you."

Her lips trembled, then pressed tight. "No. No, that’s impossible. If I just... if I can remind him-if I can make him want me again-then-"

The man’s low chuckle cut her off. He rose from his seat, stepping closer until his shadow loomed over her.

"You sound desperate, Alina. And desperation..." His eyes glinted in the candlelight. "...is the surest way to lose everything."

Her breath hitched. For the first time, she realized-he wasn’t really advising her. He was enjoying this.

---

Dante’s mansion was quiet-too quiet.

The massive wall in his private study was no longer lined with maps or plans, but with her.

Viella.

Every angle of her new life-her strolling through a park, standing on her balcony, sipping coffee by the window. Each photograph captured her freedom. Each one made his smirk sharpen.

"It seems like you’re enjoying your freedom far too much, my dear fiancée."

His voice was soft, almost affectionate, but the glint in his eyes was anything but gentle. He reached forward, brushing his fingers over the edge of a photo where she was smiling.

Flashback

At the airport.

She thought she had slipped through his fingers.

She thought he hadn’t recognized her.

But Dante remembered it vividly-her trembling shoulders, the way her eyes flickered with panic when she bent down to pick up the ticket that had fallen at his feet. He had looked straight at her. Straight into those familiar eyes.

And then... walked past.

On purpose.

"Run, Mi amore. Let’s see how far you’ll go."

"It’s fun to chase you and let you think you won the game"

His lips curved as the memory replayed.

---

The day when he last visited her

"Boss," his right-hand man reported, handing him a file.

"The villa photo you asked about-it’s already booked. Registered under the name... Vivien."

Dante’s smirk had been immediate, dark and entertained. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

"Vivien, huh? Cute alias, tesoro. But you should know better than to play hide-and-seek with me."

---

Present

Now, standing in front of the wall of her photographs, he let the weight of silence linger.

"Oh, Viella... from chasing me to running from me. Was it fun? Did you laugh thinking you’d slipped away? Tsk."

His hand dragged slowly down the glossy surface of her picture, lingering on the curve of her smile.

"But you should know... now that you’ve caught my attention, you don’t get to run free anymore. I hope you enjoyed your two-week freedom, because it’s over."

A knock interrupted the room.

"Boss, we’re ready to take off."

Dante dismissed the man with a flick of his hand, his eyes never leaving her photo.

He leaned in, voice a low murmur as though she could hear him

"Hope you won’t be too surprised, mi amor. Surprises are sweeter when you least expect them."

And with that, he turned, leaving the room lit

---

Viella’s POV

"Lady, should I go with you?" Lily asked, fiddling with her apron

"Nah, Lily, I can do it by myself. I wanna go shopping alone."

With a dramatic wave of my hand, I stormed off to the car.

Sliding into the driver’s seat, I fixed my disguise in the mirror. No one would recognize me even if they wanted to. I smirked.

"It’s like I’m the old Vivien again," I whispered to myself, my lips tugging into a bittersweet smile.

Shaking my head to clear the nostalgia, I started driving.

---

20 minutes later

The road was empty, sunlight bright on the windshield, and my playlist blasting. With full energy, I began singing along, like a dramatic idiot

"I’m boarding up my windows,

Locking up my heart,

It’s like everytime the wind blows,

It’s tearing us apart..."

And then-

BHOOM!

"AHH!" I slammed the brakes. My car jerked forward.

When I stepped out, my jaw dropped. My poor bumper... and in front of me? A shiny luxury car with a dent. And from it stepped a Gucci-wrapped brat with slicked-back hair

Perfect. Just my luck.

"You btch*! Do you have eyes?! Do you know how much this car costs?!" he screamed.

Excuse me? Did he just-

I slowly pulled my sunglasses down, giving him a cold glare "First of all, don’t call me b*tch. Second, your car looks like trash anyway, so technically, I did it a favor."

His jaw clenched. "TRASH?! This is limited edition, you low-class-"

"Low-class? Honey, even my nail polish costs more than your entire outfit," I shot back, flipping my hair.

His face turned red. "Do you even know who my father is?!"

I smirked. "Why? Did your mother never tell you?"

"You-!" He raised his hand like he was about to slap me.

Oh no, wrong move, brat.

Before he could even blink, my fist connected with his jaw. SMACK! He stumbled back, holding his face

"You psycho woman!" he shouted.

"Better psycho than pathetic," I snapped. "You’re the one who cut the lane and crashed into me! And now you’re crying like a baby?"

"I-I’ll call the police! You’ll regret this!" he stuttered, pulling out his phone.

I smirked, leaning closer. "Call them. I’ll wait."

And then I casually reached into my car and pulled out my trusty baseball bat.

CRASH!

One window down. Glass rained everywhere.

People gathered around us and I swear I saw someone was already live-streaming.

I rested the bat on my shoulder, glaring at the brat shaking with anger

"Now go ahead. Call them. But remember to also tell them how you tried to slap a woman in public."

---

Police station

"Why am I even here!" the dude shouted, pressing a bloody tissue to his nose. His voice was so loud the entire police station probably knew about his broken nose.

"Mr. Rowan, please stay seated and cooperate," one of the officers groaned, already looking fed up.

Meanwhile, me? I was just... humming. Tsk. "Stupid Viella... why did you even go this far?" I muttered under my breath, shaking my leg nervously.

The officer turned to me. "Okay, so, Miss...?"

"Vivien," I answered, flashing him my best innocent smile.

"Yes, Miss Vivien. Would you like to explain-"

"What’s there to explain?!" Rowan cut him off, pointing at me like a crazy man. "This mad woman crashed my car first, then when I tried to talk to her, she broke my window! And-AND she hit me! Look at my face!"

I shot up from my chair. "Oh really? You wanna play victim now?!"

"You did this to me!" he screeched, waving his bloody tissue

"Correction-" I jabbed my finger in the air. "-I saved myself! Because let me remind you, officer, he was about to HIT me first. So yes, it was called self-defense!"

The officer sighed like he wanted to quit his job on the spot. "Please, calm down, both of you-"

"Calm down?!" Rowan’s voice cracked in rage. "Can’t you see she’s threatening me even here?! You know what? I’ll have my father FIRE you all for this incompetence-"

Oh. My. God. Not the classic Do you know who my father is speech again.

I rolled my eyes so hard. "Ugh, officer, he’s still crying over his broken nose, and now he’s pulling the daddy card? What’s next? He’ll call his mommy too?"

"You-!" Rowan’s face turned tomato-red, and if he could lunge at me again, he would’ve.

Before the chaos could get worse, another officer rushed in, whispering urgently to the sergeant.

"Sir, we have... an urgent visit. From someone special."

The sergeant stiffened. "...Who?"

They whispered, but whatever name it was had the sergeant suddenly sweating. He straightened up. Then, just like that, he turned back to us.

"You both are free to go. Immediately. Consider yourselves lucky. But I better not see either of you here again!"

Rowan’s jaw dropped. "What? You’re letting her go? Look at my nose! Look at my CAR! She’s insane-"

But I didn’t wait to hear the rest of his whining. I slung my bag over my shoulder, smirked, and said sweetly, "Thank you, officer. Such a pleasure being here."

I strutted out of the station, head high, like I hadn’t just smashed a rich brat’s car window with a bat.

"That was such a good shot though. Should I start playing baseball? But instead of ball I wanna swing it at people-"

But then-bam.

My shoulder brushed against someone tall at the entrance.

"I Apologize," I murmured automatically-until the voice registered.

"It’s okay"

My heart stopped. My head snapped around.

And there he was.

Dante.

Walking right past me, eyes sharp, heading into the police station.

I froze. My stomach flipped.

What the actual hell...?

What was he doing here? Did he... did he know? Did he find out I was alive? Did he know I was here, hiding in plain sight, pretending to be someone else?

I panicked. My legs moved on their own, rushing me back to my car. Hands shaking, I started the engine and sped off.

"No, no, no, no..." I whispered. "I need to tell Lily. NOW."

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TO BE CONTINUED