Chapter 1

The Gallo family sat in the living room having breakfast. Renee,the second daughter of the family diligently served everyone a bowl of soup,at 19,she loved cooking so much. A crashing sound from the living room startled the whole family. They rushed towards there to see six men dressed in black suits,they were all holding guns and they had broken the front door of the house. “Hello,Rico,can we talk?”The leader,Giovanni asked. Rico shakily nodded and turned to face his wife. “Ta…take the girls upstairs!”He ordered and as Maria turned to rushed upstairs with the girls,Rico stopped her. “Let them watch.And I especially want to see more of your daughter today.”He let out,coldly. The women didn’t dare move an inch, scared that they might be shot. Renee and her older sister,Aurora held onto each other in fear. The three women stood by the wall,the sight of the guns terrified the hell out of them. Giovanni sat on a chair,leisurely as he gazed at both daughters of Rico. One of his men moved around and commented. “Nice house.” “If…if it’s about the money…”Rico stammered. “It’s always about the money,old crook!It’s been two fucking years and I’m not leaving this house today until you give me my money!” “I don’t have all of it but…” “I want all of it.” Rico ran a hand through his hair,frantically. “I gave you enough time to pay back,now,if you don’t have the money,things could get ugly.”Giovanni warned and gestured at his men to start breaking things. Rico and his family watched in fear and horror as the men strode towards the TV and smashed it to the ground. He felt so helpless. What should he do? He didn’t have all of Giovanni’s money and the money he had wasn’t even up to quarter of what he borrowed. Oh,his greatest mistake was ever borrowing money from a loan shark. The men continued destroying everything in the house.Rico felt bad that his daughters were witnessing this so he shouted. “Please stop!I’ll do anything you want,Giovanni.Please stop!” Giovanni smirked.”Anything?”He asked,mischievously. “Yes.” He looked around the living room and his eyes fell on Rico’s eldest daughter,Aurora. Rico followed his eyes and cold terror ran through him. “This one looks older and more mature,if you give her to me,your debt will be paid.” Rico couldn’t think of giving any one of his daughter to this beast but he couldn’t dare upset him so he let out. “Can…can you give me a week then?You can’t just take her away.It’s so sudden.Please give me a week so she’ll be ready to go with you.” Giovanni smirked and nodded.”Fine.You have a week and then I’ll come for her.” As soon as Giovanni and his men left,Aurora burst into tears and ran up to her bedroom. Renee watched her sister run up the stairs, heartbrokenly. ************* The mood for the Gallo family was ruined for the rest of the day. Renee heard her parents arguing so she came to stand by the bedroom door,listening to them. “I thought you paid him already!”Maria thundered. “I’m so sorry,my love.I lied.I lied to put your mind at ease.” “What are we going to do now?He’s going to come for Aurora.We can’t let him take Aurora!”Maria cried. “I can’t let him take any of our daughters.”Rico sighed. Renee understood her parents’ worries. Aurora was asthmatic and if someone as ruthless as Giovanni takes possession of her,she would be treated cruelly and she could die. She opened the door a bit and watched her parents looking so much in distress. She sighed,heavily. She had no idea if she was being rash but she just wanted to save her family so she opened the door wide and walked in. “I have a suggestion,Mom,dad.” They both looked at her,confused. “Remember that word’s going around about the Moretti family needing a virgin bride for the third son in exchange of a large sum of money.I believe that money would settle the debts and change our lives,completely.I want to be the bride.” Rico’s eyes widened in shock. “No!I’ll never let any of my daughters sell themselves to any man.This is my mess and if anyone’s life deserves to be ruined, it’s mine.” “Dad,please,we’ve got no choice right now.” Maria stood up.”Renee,haven’t you heard what people say about the third son of the Moretti family?He’s called a devil for a reason.We won’t be able to forgive ourselves if anything happens to you.” Renee had indeed heard all kinds of stories about Dante Moretti. He was not only despicable in character,they said his body physiques was an eye-sore as well. And never in her life did she imagine that she would one day offer herself up to be married to him. But she felt she had to make this sacrifice for her family. And so,she tried by all means to make her parents agree in letting her become the virgin bride of Dante Moretti.