Lex pov
The day I've been expecting finally came knocking at my door.
I woke up before my alarm.
That alone told me everything.
My room felt different-too small, too temporary. My suitcase sat half-open by the wall, clothes folded carefully, like I was afraid to disturb the decision I'd already made. The ceiling above me looked unfamiliar, even though I'd slept under it for years.
I was leaving.
Not running. Not escaping.
Relocating.
The word echoed in my head as i sat up slowly, feet touching the cold floor. My chest felt tight, not with fear, but with awareness. Life didn't usually change all at once-yet here i was, about to step into Zamiel's world permanently.
I pressed a hand to my chest and breathed.
I wasn't being forced.
That mattered more than
anything.
As I showered, dressed, packed the last of my things, my mind kept drifting back to the night before-to the moment Zamiel finally stopped pretending.
He hadn't raised his voice.
He hadn't touched me.
He hadn't begged.
He had simply looked at me like he was done denying the obvious.
Be my girlfriend.
Not a question. A declaration.
At the time, I had felt the silence stretch, heavy and sharp. I remembered noticing the smallest things-the tension in his jaw, the way his eyes softened against his will, the fact that he didn't look away.
Zamiel Maranzano didn't ask for things lightly.
And that scared me.
But what scared me the most was how safe i felt standing there with him.
There was no sweetness in his words-but there was effort in his face. He'd tried to look gentle.
Tried to soften something that had never needed softness to survive.
That was what stayed with me.
Not the power.
Not the rumors.
Not the name.
The effort.
When i said yes, it hadn't been impulsive. It had been quiet. Certain.
Because for the first time, someone hadn't tried to claim me-
They'd chosen me.
I zipped my bag and stood still for a moment, heart steady.
I wasn't walking into a cage.
I was walking into a guarded space where someone had decided i was worth protecting-even from himself.
When the car arrived, I didn't hesitate.
And as i stepped outside, locking the door behind me, I realized something important.
I wasn't afraid of loving Zamiel.
I was afraid of how deeply I already did.
And yet-
I stepped forward anyway.
The Maranzano Mansion reveled it self slowly,like it wanted to be understood, not admired.
As the gates opened, I saw more than size- I saw control. The stonework was old but perfectly maintained,dark grey and black layered with sharp modern glasses. Security cameras were built seamlessly into the wall they looked like part of the design. The driveway curved deliberately, lined with towering trees trimmed to perfection, their shadows long and deliberate,
forcing any visitor to slow down, to feel watched long before they reached the entrance. The mansion stood there like it has always. Not flashy. Not loud.
"This place looks breathe taking" I murmured.
To be honest I've never come act a mansion has elegant as this before.
Zamiel glanced at me,"it does."
Inside the mansion was vast but restrained. Marble floor reflecting soft amber lightning. The ceilings were high, the walls decorated with abstract art and framed black and white photographs- men in suits, cities at night, moment frozen in power. No family portrait. No warmth that wasn't earned.
The air smelt faintly of leather and cedar.
And then the room changed.
Men were already present - Zamiel's men, some familiar faces stared surprised at me. Not guards standing stiffly, but figures who belonged to the space. Maids waiting attentively. Conversation died the moment Zamiel stepped forward.
One man whispered to the other slightly.
"That's her," he said under his breath.
Another narrowed his eyes. "Yes she was the one from the basketball court.. weeks ago."
Zamiel stopped walking standing in the center of the mansion.
The room went completely still.
"This is Lex," he said calmly. Then without hesitation, but with finality.
"She's my girlfriend."
The words landed softly hard.
A ripple moved through the men. Surprise wasn't loud- it was controlled. Respect adjusted itself in real time.
"I'm Zarin," a guy came up to me and introduce himself. "Bet you still remember me..I'm his right and man and also his best friend." He said as he extended his hand for me to shake,which I shook.
He was kinda friendly.
I was cut out of my thinking when another person spoke.
"Didn't expect that," he said honestly. "But it explains a few things. "I'm Tharollin," he said turning to face me. "But you can call me Tharo little sis."
"Little sis" I mumbled amused by the sudden name given to me.
"So this is what distraction looks like on you," Another said.
"Elio," Zamiel called shooting him a look.
Elio raised his hand. "Noted."
Some men looked at Lex differently now - not as a visitor, not as a liability - but as someone important enough to shift the room.
I felt Zamiel's hand settled slightly on my hips- subtle, possessive, final.
"She has full access," he continued. "Any clearance I have she has."
That drew real reaction.
"That's significant," Elio said carefully.
"That's intentional," Zamiel replied.
Lex felt the weight of it then - not fear but gravity. This wasn't just a house. It was a system. And Zamiel had just placed her in the center.
I was shown deeper into the mansion - wide hallway softened by dark rugs. Floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking perfect manicured ground and a distant skyline. A long stairway, an elevator. A quiet indoor courtyard where a single tree grew beneath open sky.
I was shown to my room, massive- dark room, soft grey walls, a balcony overlooking the garden. Everything is pristine. Everything waiting.
"This place doesn't feel lived in," I said quietly.
Zamiel looked at me. "It is now."
Downstairs the men were still adjusting.
"She changes thing," Zarin said quietly.
"Yes," Elio replied. But if he chooses her then she's untouched.
Tharollin glanced towards the staircase.
"Anyone who test that will regret it."
The next morning, the school found out.
They always did.
A black car pulled up outside the gates, engine purred low, and every head turned.
Zamiel stepped out first. Then Lex.
Whispered erupted.
He walked her to the entrance, hand resting at her back. Before she could turn away, he stopped her, leaned down and pressed a brief kiss on her forehead.
No hesitation. No performance.
Just possession.
"Be alert, I'll pick you up," he said,as he patted her head.
Lex modded, heart racing.
By the time she turned around and,the school was already on fire.
"That's her."
"No way, how can she find herself a man as handsome has this."
"Are they together?"
"Since when."
By lunch it wasn't a rumor.
It was facts.
Xavier cornered her near the locker.
"So that's it?" he snapped
"You rejected me for him?"
Lex didn't flinch. "I didn't reject you for him. I rejected you cus I wanted interested."
Xavier face tightened,wounded pride barely masked by anger. "You said you weren't interested. You said you didn't want anything."
"I wasn't," lex said evenly. "With you."
"So you lied."
"No," she replied "I chose."
He laughed bitterly. "You chose him because he's powerful. Because he scares people."
My eyes hardened.
"Does that sound like a reason to you," I said. "I chose him because he didn't imagine he owned me."
"You did."
Xavier faltered.
"This isn't a competition," lex continued. "And I don't owe you feelings just because you had them."
Silence stretched.
Xavier stepped back, humiliated, angry, and suddenly very aware of the eyes on him.
"Stay away from me," Lex said. "This ends here."
She walked away without looking back.
Across the city Zamiel heard about the confrontation before the final bell rang.
And when he did..
Xavier learnt that some rumors don't just spread.
They reach the wrong hears.
Zamiel's pov
I heard about Xavier before Lex even made it home.
Zarin spoke calmly, like he always did.
"The boy confronted her at school. Raised his voice. Claim she chose you over him."
I didn't react right away.
I finished signing the documents in front of me, set the pen down neatly, then looked up.
"Did he touch her?"
"No."
"Threaten her?"
"No."
I nodded once."Good."
I stood, straightening my jacket. My expression was neutral —but the air in the room shifted.
"Still he crossed a line."
That afternoon Xavier was called into the school office—pulled out of the class under the excuse of a parent concern.
There was no parent waiting.
Only Tharo in a dark suit, standing calmly near the window.
"Xavier," Tharollin said politely. "You've been asking questions about Lex."
Xavier swallowed. "Who are you."
"A messenger," Tharo replied. "From Mr Maranzano."
Xavier face drained of color.
"You mistook silence for permission," Tharo continued. "And rejection for challenge."
He stepped aside letting the weight of the name settle.
"Lex made her choice," he said. "You will respect it."
"I... I didn't do anything." Xavier stammered.
"And you won't," Tharo added. "From now on."
No threats.
No raised voice.
Just certainty.
By the next day, Xavier avoided Lex completely — eyes down, shoulders tensed, rumors of his confrontation dying as fast as it spread.
Zamiel never mentioned it.
But the nighty Lex returned to the mansion, security at the gate had doubled.