Romance

NORA CARUSO.
The engagement dinner was the first circle of hell, I sat at the long table, and Nikolai sat beside me. "Eat," Nikolai murmured, his voice low enough that only I could hear.
I looked at him, startled. His face was impassive, but his hand moved, resting on the back of my chair."I'm not hungry," I whispered.
"You will eat," he countered, reaching for the wine bottle. He poured a glass of wine for me, "We are celebrating, are we not?"
I picked up the fork, my hand trembling. Across the table, Renata sat staring into her wine glass. She had already emptied three and she hadn't looked at me once.
"The floral arrangements for the ceremony will be white lilies," my mother announced, "Nora has always loved lilies. Isn't that right, darling?"
I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat felt dry. "Yes, Mama."
"How lovely," Aunt Sofia murmured from down the table, "White for purity. How.

NORA CARUSO.
I let out a breath the moment Nikolai walked out of my room. My legs gave out, and I sank onto the floor, pulling the robe tighter around me until my knuckles turned white.
My skin still burned at the way he had looked at me. Like he was starving, and I was the only meal in a hundred miles and then he said those words as if I disgust him.
I sat there for twenty minutes, staring at the wall, finally gathering my strength, I went to the closet and grabbed a high-necked cashmere sweater and a pair of thick wool trousers.
Just as I pulled the sweater over my head, a soft knock sounded at the door. I froze. "Who is it?"
"It is Maya, Madam. One of the house staff," a young, hesitant voice replied.
"Come in."
The door opened, and a girl no older than twenty stepped in. "Good evening, Mrs. Volkov. Dinner is served in the main dining room. The Master is waiting."
"I'm not hungry," I 

NORA CARUSO.
“I’m giving the family one week! Just one week to think about this, if not you will not like the way I shall react.” With that Nikolai turned and walked out of the house without sparing anyone a glance.
The moment the front door slammed, it vibrated up my spine, reminding me of the devastation Nikolai was behind.
One week.
One week to accept a life sentence with a man who is pure darkness, all because of a single reckless night. I stood there, rooted to the ground of the suddenly suffocating living room, watching the space where Nikolai Volkov had stood moments before.
Tears finally breached the dam I’d been trying to hold and tracked paths down my cheeks. My lungs felt starved for air, contracting uselessly against the collective gaze of my family.
“Nora, is… is what he said true?” My father’s voice sounded almost unrecognizable. He was looking at me with an expression that wasn't anger yet, but a wounded, horrified disbelief that was far worse.
I couldn’t lie. What would be the point? Nikolai had all the leverage, lying would only prolong the agony. “Yes, Papa,” I choked out, “Yes, I did.”
The sound of his sharp, inhaled breath was like a slap to my face but the true sting came when I turned, my eyes wide and pleading toward Renata.
She hadn't moved, her face was pale, her eyes dull, blurred with a fresh deluge of tears. I saw not just betrayal in them, but the absolute shattering of trust, the profound realization that the one person she leaned on had driven the knife home.
This is all my fault. This is the worst thing I have ever done.
I stumbled forward, crawling the few feet toward her, my hands outstretched in a desperate, pleading gesture. “Renata, please. Please, it’s not what you think. It wasn’t intentional. I was drunk, I… I woke up with him, I would never hurt you like this, I swear.”
She flinched as if I’d tried to strike her, she pushed herself up, away from my touch, away from my pathetic apologies. She didn't say a word, she just turned and walked quickly out of the room.
The silence she left behind was immediately filled by murmuring. My cousins, my aunts, my uncles were all talking, their voices low, but the words were loud in my ears.
“Now it makes sense.”
“She was always trying to turn Renata against him.”
“Trying to destroy the marriage, because she wanted him all along.”
“The lack of shame, honestly.”
“Poor Renata, to trust someone like her as her closest person in the family.”
Every word drained the last strength in me and I couldn't bear the look in my father’s eyes, the cold, distant disapproval in my mother's face, or the malicious, vindicated curiosity of my extended family. They had their narrative, and it was far simpler, far more damning than the truth: Nora Caruso, the jealous cousin, deliberately seduced the groom.
With my head bowed in defeat, I pushed myself off the floor. I didn’t look at anyone, I just walked back into the sanctuary of my room.
**
The next three days were a blur of self-pity, guilt, and raw anguish. My room became my prison and my solitary confinement. I didn’t eat, I only drank water when my throat felt dry. If only I hadn’t gone to the club, if only I hadn’t drunk so much.
I had tried. Oh, how I had tried to reach Renata. I sent texts, desperate pleas for understanding. I left voice notes hiccuping, tearful apologies that sounded pathetic even to my own ears. They were all met with silence. The notification that she had read the messages never came, my shame prevented me from walking the few steps to her room. I couldn’t face her silence, her rejection, or the finality of her closed door.
It was late on the third evening when a knock against the door broke the silence. I hesitated, pulling myself up from where I was curled on the floor, my clothes rumpled, my eyes stinging and swollen. “Who is it?” My voice was weak, barely a croak.
“It’s Mama. Open the door, Nora.”
I unlocked it, and my mother slipped inside. She closed the door firmly behind her, but didn’t move toward me. She stayed by the door, assessing me with a detachment that hurt more than anger.
“Are Papa and the others… are they still very angry?” I asked, wrapping my arms around myself.
My mother sighed, “Yes, Nora. They are furious not just at you, but at the situation. At Volkov.”
“What are they going to do?” I whispered.
Mom finally moved, crossing the room to sit on the edge of my bed. “They’re doing what they have to do. The meeting this afternoon was long and stressful. You have left them with no choice.”
My heart seized up. “No choice? What does that mean?”
“It means,” she stated plainly, looking me directly in the eye, “that you are going to marry Nikolai Volkov.”
The breath rushed out of me as if I’d been punched. “No! Mama, no. I can’t. I don’t want to, I have no intention of marrying him. He is evil! He did this to force me! He will make my life a misery!” My voice rose finally giving way to the storm I’d been bottling up. I burst into fresh tears, throwing myself onto the bed.
My mother didn't move to comfort me. “You should have thought about that before you slept with him.”
I went rigid. I lifted my head, staring at her through my wet lashes. “You think I did this on purpose? Mama, please. I got drunk, I was alone, and Nikolai took advantage! He is doing this to exert control over the family, to humiliate me! Don’t you believe me? Do you truly believe that I, your daughter, purposefully seduced that monster just to hurt my cousin and ruin my own life?”
Silence stretched between us. My mother looked away, fiddling with the lace trim on my pillowcase.
The silence was the answer.
“It doesn’t matter what I believe, Nora,” she finally said, her voice softer, “What matters is what is. And what is important right now is that you get ready to marry him. Your father and your uncles, they are practical men. They know better than to let a man like Nikolai Volkov trample on this family. They won’t go to war over this, they won't risk the future of our name and our businesses on a gamble that they could win against him. Not over a scandal that you yourself caused.”
She leaned closer, “They need to contain the damage, marrying you to him is the containment. You need to stop resisting, for the family, you have to accept this.”
I felt the last fragile piece of my self-worth crumble into dust. If my own mother, the woman who had carried me, nurtured me, and protected me my whole life, would not believe my innocence, who on earth would?
The tears stopped. A terrible clarity settled over me. She was right, whether I was a victim or a villain was irrelevant now. What mattered was the safety of the Caruso family. My father, my uncles, their businesses, their lives were threatened by Nikolai Volkov. He had drawn a line and the only way to protect them from his wrath was my sacrifice.
I wiped the residue of my tears away with the back of my hand, I looked at my mother, not with resentment, but with acceptance. “Tell Papa and the others,” I said surprisingly devoid of emotion, “tell them I will do it. I will marry Nikolai, I will stop resisting.”
My mother let out a long, shaky breath, “Good, Nora. That’s my girl.”
I said nothing, I just had to hope that one day, when the wounds of my betrayal weren't so raw, my family and maybe even Renata might look past the lie and see the truth.
I had to hope they would forgive me for the life I was about to live.

NORA CARUSO.
The engagement dinner was the first circle of hell, I sat at the long table, and Nikolai sat beside me. "Eat," Nikolai murmured, his voice low enough that only I could hear.
I looked at him, startled. His face was impassive, but his hand moved, resting on the back of my chair."I'm not hungry," I whispered.
"You will eat," he countered, reaching for the wine bottle. He poured a glass of wine for me, "We are celebrating, are we not?"
I picked up the fork, my hand trembling. Across the table, Renata sat staring into her wine glass. She had already emptied three and she hadn't looked at me once.
"The floral arrangements for the ceremony will be white lilies," my mother announced, "Nora has always loved lilies. Isn't that right, darling?"
I opened my mouth to speak, but my throat felt dry. "Yes, Mama."
"How lovely," Aunt Sofia murmured from down the table, "White for purity. How... ironic."
My father cleared his throat loudly. "Sofia."
"What?" Sofia shrugged, taking a sip of he

Chapter 7.