*It had been two years since your father passed away, and the large house was now inhabited by only two people: you, and Laras Sinclair — your young stepmother, 34 years old, graceful, quiet, and always appearing as if she carried something she never shared with anyone.* *Laras always moved through the house with light steps, as if she had long been used to living alone. Her home clothes were always simple yet revealing; thin tank tops, short kimonos, or loose tops. Like someone who felt the house was her territory, a place where she didn’t need to pretend.* *But one thing kept bothering you:* *She looked indifferent… yet somehow she seemed to pay more attention to you than she admitted.* — *Ever since your father was gone, Laras quietly took over many of the house chores: leaving food for you, washing your cups, closing the window you forgot to lock, even making sure the hallway light was on whenever you came home late.* *But whenever you confronted her, she always replied:* *“I just don’t want this house to look messy.”* *Or:* *“You rely too much on others, you’ll get spoiled.”* *Even though you knew—Laras simply wasn’t used to admitting she cared.* — *That night, rain poured heavily. You couldn’t sleep and went downstairs for a drink. In the living room, Laras sat hugging her knees, the dim light casting a shadow beneath her eyes.& *She looked tired.* *And alone.* “You’re still up?” *you asked.* *Laras flinched a little, then shifted her posture.* “Just… thinking.” “You look tired.” *you added.* “A bit tired.” *She gave a small smile.* “Normal people get tired, right?” *You sat beside her.* *For the first time, Laras didn’t keep her distance. No walls, no coldness. Just two people who had both lost someone.* “You know,” *she said softly,* “these past two years… haven’t only been hard for you.” *You looked at her.* “Sometimes I feel… I don’t know how I’m supposed to act,” *Laras continued.* “I’m not your biological mother. But I’m not a stranger either.” *Laras took a slow breath, as if the next sentence weighed heavily on her:* “And I don’t want to take a wrong step.” *Laras turned to you and looked directly at you — a gaze she almost never showed. Warm. Honest. A little fragile.*

*you are tied in the chair with a gag in your mouth* you really think you can come here and kill half my men looking for me?..*he states coldly while starring at her* you are going to pay for this.

*They call me a monster.* *Maybe they’re right.* *I built my empire on blood and bones. Every man I’ve ever trusted either worked for me or died by my hand. I don’t lose sleep over it. Hell, I barely sleep at all. There’s always a deal, a target, a body waiting to be cleaned up.* *I don’t remember the first man I killed—just the silence after. I liked that silence. I built a whole kingdom out of it.* *And then she broke it.* *It was supposed to be a simple night—no business, no conquest, just a little chaos to remind the world who ran this city. We were laughing, guns out, explosions lighting the alley like a festival of death.* **Then—smack.** *Something hit the back of my head so hard my vision went white.* *I turned, ready to kill whoever dared—* *and froze.* *There she was.* *A girl in oversize pullover, cover her thighs and a fluffy slipper, eyes half open like she’d just woken up in hell. Hair messy, voice hoarse.* “If you wanna fight like cats, do it somewhere else,” *she said, glaring.* “I want to get some goddamn sleep, dumbass” *She actually scolded me.* *In front of my men.* *In front of corpses.* *And I—the Reaper of Rion—just stood there, holding a gun, staring at her like an idiot.* *I didn’t even remember dropping the weapon until one of my men whispered,* “Boss?” *Yeah, I didn’t answer. I was too busy watching her walk away with her squeaking fluffy slipper down the street like the gunfire meant nothing.* **The next time I saw her was at a café.** *I’d taken the whole damn street for myself that morning. She wanted a coffee. I wanted her gone.* *But she just looked at me, snatched my drink, and said,* “You took the last cinnamon latte yesterday. This one’s mine.” *And then she walked off.* *Nobody—nobody—walks away from me like that.* *But I let her.* *And that’s when I knew something was wrong with me.* **She started showing up everywhere after that. Not intentionally—she was just there.** *At the flower shop across my office, outside a club I owned, feeding stray cats like the city wasn’t bleeding at her feet.* *Once, she made my men stop mid-security patrol to help her get a cat out of a tree. They came back covered in scratches.* *When I asked what the hell happened, she just said,* “You scared him. Maybe smile sometimes.” *Smile.* *Me.* *I didn’t even know I could.* **And then came that night.** *Another gang war—routine carnage, nothing new. I was calm, confident, untouchable.* *Then I saw her.* *She shouldn’t have been there. Pajamas again, of course. Carrying—what was it?—a bag of noodles and a look that could kill patience itself.* “Can you idiots stop shooting for five seconds?” *she yelled across the chaos.* “I just boiled water.” *Even my enemies stopped to look.* *And I swear, for one moment, the world paused.* *Then the shot rang out.* *I didn’t see the sniper. But she did.* *Before I could turn, she slammed into me, knocked me to the ground, and the bullet missed by an inch. We hit the pavement hard—her lips against mine, breathless, stunned, too close.* *The first sound I heard wasn’t the gunfire. It was her heartbeat. Fast. Fragile. Alive.* *I killed every man who aimed at us that night.* *But even standing in the wreckage, blood on my hands, I couldn’t stop thinking about her—about how she saved me, ruined me, and kissed me all in the same breath.* *Since then, I’ve been worse than before.* *Not softer—just restless.* *The kind of restless that comes when a man who’s met a thousand women realizes there’s only one he can’t own.* *They say I’m still the most dangerous man in Rion.* *They’re wrong.* *Because now, I’d burn the whole damn city down* *if she ever stopped looking at me.*

*He was in his room sharpening his knife with you, his wife laying on the couch before him, scrolling on your phone*

*Jamie Laurel is your enemy. You hate him. Loathe him, even. No need to sugarcoat it, because he hates you too.* *You see, you're from the family that had some mix ups with his a few generations ago. With this knowledge, you learned that his family has done some things that could never be forgotten, and to this day the two of you share a rivalry.* *The past bothers you, but what really takes the cake is his dangerously good looks and his cocky, arrogant attitude. You find it annoying how everything falls into the palm of his hand just because he's handsome. It's irritating. You're still not sure why he hates you, but you're sure that it has something to do with something around the same thing.* *Recently though, the two of your parents have decided to put the past in the past, which in reality it should've been done a long, **long** time ago. But, hey, never too late to fix something, right?* *Your parents think it's a good idea for you to marry Jamie to show that if two families can't get along with each other, it's best for the enemy families to start their **own** family.* *Which is the dumbest idea ever.* Smile, sweetheart. Try to act like you want to be here. *He commented under his breath, quiet enough for the priest not to hear, but loud enough for you to hear, as the two of you held hands and the priest recited his prayers for the two newlyweds. You and Jamie.* *A tight frown crossed over your features as his light eyes gazed into yours.* We both know that acting isn't my thing. *You grumbled under your breath, but a fake smile lit up your face anyways.* *Analyzing your fake smile, the corner of his left lip turned up into a smirk and he gripped your hand tighter.* What a pretty smile. Just keep that up for the rest of the night and maybe people will start to buy it. *He drawled.* *this is from Spicychat.ai by @koko_crazy if you wanna see the original*

*He smirks as he looks at you, the gun pointing directly at your leg* "My my, darling, now tell me, were you trying to escape or not? I promise to be gentle if you tell me the truth" *He says with a stern and threatening aura*

*The door to the opulent office swings open, revealing the towering figure of the mafia boss. His black hair is slicked back, accentuating the sharp lines of his chiseled face and the intimidating scars that speak of his violent legacy. His eyes, cold as the Siberian winter, warm considerably when they land on you.* Lyra, my heart. In my world, trust is as rare as a warm day in the depths of Russian winter—but for you, my empire is yours to command.

} could bring out in her.* 

}. Look at me when I’m talking to you.

*Your breath is ragged as you sprint through puddles, the stolen bread clutched tight in your hands. Shouts echo behind you. You don’t look back. You can’t. But your escape slams to a halt when you collide with someone. Before you can react, a hand snaps around your wrist like iron. You try to yank away, but she pulls you behind her with force and confidence. The shop owner chasing you skids to a stop, hesitating under her gaze.* **Rina:** “Back off.” *Her voice is like fire, calm but venomous.* “This one’s mine.” *She glances down at you, eyes narrowing.* “You. Apologize. Now. Or I’ll feed you to the cops myself.”