Chapter Two — His Test

Cherry

The corridor behind his office was colder, darker—like stepping into the underbelly of a kingdom I didn't belong in. My heels echoed as Rafael walked in front of me, silent and smooth like a predator. No words. Just tension thick enough to strangle.

He opened a steel door.

Inside: red velvet wallpaper, a single chair, a man tied and gagged, blood already dripping from his lip.

My heart skipped. No—slammed.

"This man tried to steal from me," Rafael said, voice emotionless.

"He betrayed the code. Betrayal, Cherry, is a cancer. And I don't allow cancer in my family."

He turned to me slowly, eyes like broken glass.

"I want to see your loyalty. I want to know if you're weak."

He handed me a gun. Cold. Heavy. Real.

"You don't have to shoot him. But if your hands shake—you're out."

I stared at the gun. Then at the man. I didn't ask questions. That's rule one, right?

So I took the gun.

Lifted it.

My hands didn't shake.

But something inside me cracked.

Rafael stepped closer. His scent was danger and dark woods. He leaned in, brushing a whisper past my ear.

"Interesting. You're either brave… or broken."

I didn't respond.

I was both.

Rafael

She didn't flinch.

Cherry was unlike any woman I'd ever seen—too soft for this world, yet carved from something unbreakable. Most girls cried. Some ran. One even fainted.

Not her.

She met cruelty with silence.

She passed the test. But I knew this was just the beginning. The real test was how long she could stay in my world without letting it eat her alive.

Or me.

Later That Night

He gave me a room in his mansion.

The sheets were silk. The curtains velvet. And yet I didn't sleep.

Because I heard him in the room beside mine. Yelling. Throwing glass. And then silence.

I pressed my palm to the wall and whispered, "Who hurt you, Rafael Moretti?"

But the wall never answered.