Mafia princess staring back at her was now a woman on the verge of rebellion. Her breath came in shallow waves as she tightened the straps on the small

of the prison she was about to escape. She glanced at the clock on her vanity-it was nearly midnight. The engagement par

was no turning back. Tonight wa

her to leap into the unknown. Her hands trembled, but she steadied herself. She was no ordinary woman bound by family expectations-she

with him, a way to accept her fate. But the more she observed him, the more she realized that Marco wasn't someone who

't be a pawn

manage. Elena let her fingers trace the necklace at her throat-an heirloom passed down from her mother, containing a small silver pendant shaped

her thought,

She could hear the distant hum of cars passing beyond the estate walls and the muffled sounds of her family celebrating inside. She had always known she wa

le

g toward her from the shadows of the hedge. Her best friend's face was etch

voice was barely above a whisper, as if spe

d back, her breath catching in her thro

Isabella started, b

marriage, Isabella. It's about who I am. There's more to th

lena would disappear into the woods and the mornings when she'd return, her clothes torn and her skin covered in the

ing over her shoulder as if she expected someone to catch them at a

grip on her bag. "That's why I have to

hing from her coat pocket and handed

and-drawn sketch of the countryside beyond the Russo estate, marking a trail t

rgent. "It's a safe route, but you have to be careful. There's no telli

stuffing the m

Isabella. For

unshed tears, but she nodded. "

friend into a quick embrace. "I'll

ad memorized the layout of the estate since childhood, knowing every secret path and hidden corner. The wall surrounding the propert

the first time, she was free-free from the constraints of her family, free from the obli

om came a

at the Russo mansion, its lights twinkling in the distance. She had grown up in that house, surr

eerie shadows on the ground. She could feel the change coming, the pull of the moon growing stronger with e

t change yet. N

e was the rustle of leaves and the occasional hoot of an owl. Her instincts were on high alert, her senses s

branch snapp

r eyes scanning the darkness. There was nothing-just the thick shad

was foll

ed, and without a second thought, she broke into a run. The forest blurred around her as she

hey wouldn't catc

hs coming in ragged gasps. The world around her faded into the background, and

her life-she was running toward a futur