Page 19 of Vow to Corrupt You
“I didn’t! And I told you that already.” I can barely contain my anger.
How could anyone want this life?
All this marriage will bring me is the darkness of the Romano dynasty. Today, I will become the wife of a monster, a prisoner to his power and will. Today. Officially. Irrevocably.
“But we all know how badly you wanted it.” Gianna’s cheeks sink in. I know she tries to keep her tongue on a leash when it comes to her sister, but she can’t any longer. Her lilac dress rustles as she turns to face Valeria. “Is that why you’re dressed like that? It’s a bit too revealing for your sister’s wedding day, don’t you think?”
I eye Valeria’s minty dress, which barely covers her ass and has such a deep cut, her boobs might spill out if she moves too vigorously. It’s in complete contrast to my modest but elegant wedding gown that covers most of my body.
“Why?” A sneer creeps across my sister’s face as her gaze bounces back to me. “Are you scared that Nikos might change his mind and choose me instead? After all, he doesn’t love you. He chose you based on your appearance alone.”
“Enough,” I snap, my fists clenched. It’s not a game or a competition to me. I’d do anything to trade places with Valeria if I could, so we both could have the life we wanted. She could have him, his twisted mind, and all the luxury that comes along with his trappings, and I could have my freedom back.
My father lurks at the door, his face a mask of sorrow. “It’s time,” he speaks with grief as if he were leading me out to the courtroom to plead guilty rather than to the altar to say ‘I do’ to my ‘happily ever after’.
I take a deep breath—as if it were my last. It will be once I step through that door because my life, as I know it, will cease to exist. The room feels colder, the walls closing in, trapping me. I feel like I need to run, but there’s nowhere to go, nowhere to hide. There’s no escape.
“Serena,” Gianna grabs my hands. She tries her best to offer a reassuring smile, though it barely reaches her eyes. “You’ll get through this. You’re stronger than you know.”
I nod, trying to draw strength from her words. But deep down, I know my new life is now shrouded in darkness.
I’m strong. I will endure this. I will endure... everything.
My father walks me down the aisle; with each step, my heart races faster. I force myself to move forward, passing dozens of guests I’ve never seen before. I assume they must be Nikos’s associates, if you can even call them that. There aren’t many guests on my side. The only people I invited are Chiara and her brother Domenico—my cousins from my father’s side, with whom I’m the closest—but I’m so stressed I can’t even spot them. A cold shudder sweeps through my body as my gaze locks with Nikos’s. His eyes bore into mine with such possessiveness that everyone else seems to disappear. It’s as if they’re not here, as if it’s just me and him. My father beside me, Gianna at the altar as my bridesmaid, Dimitris standing by Nikos as his best man, even the priest—all of them vanish.
“Take good care of my daughter, Mr. Romano.” Reaching Nikos’ side, my father offers my hand to him.
A dark smile pulls at Nikos’s lips, his eyes glinting with amusement as if he’s plotting every terrible thing he can think of with me cast as the lead. “I will.”
I stand before him, struggling to steady my breath. His all-black tuxedo mirrors the darkness of his soul. He’s handsome, almost godlike—if only he weren’t known as the rotten God of Corruption.
The priest’s deep voice snaps me back to reality. “Now, Mr. Romano, please repeat after me—”
“First, the bride,” Nikos commands, and the priest coughs but nods.
“Of course,” the priest turns to me. “Please, repeat after me,” he recites the vows I’m to say.
“I, Serena, take you, Nikolaos, as my husband. I promise to be faithful to you, to love and respect you, in sickness and in health, in wealth and in poverty, and to be with you all the days of my life.”
The words taste like signing up for a lifelong partnership with the Grim Reaper. I can’t help but feel like I’ve stumbled into a gothic novel instead of a wedding ceremony. A twisted fairytale where happily ever after means eternal damnation.
“Now, Mr. Romano…” The priest glances at him cautiously.
Nikos looks at me with a wicked gleam that makes my skin crawl.
“I, Nikolaos, claim you, Serena, as mine.” Claim me? What is he saying? Those are not the wedding vows. “I vow,” he smiles viciously, “to corrupt you until you fit my own darkness, to bend you until you’re molded into what I desire, to break you down until you can no longer tell where you end, and I begin.”
A cold shudder races down my spine at his twisted vows of corruption, coercion, chaos that await me.
“I vow to be everything you crave, everything you fear, everything you cannot escape. You will know no life but mine, no touch but mine, no love but mine,” he continues, his tone carrying equal parts darkness and possessiveness. “I pledge to bring ruin to any who dare to covet what is mine. Any man who dares to touch, or even dream of touching what is mine, will face wrath so ruthless that death will seem merciful, and their blood shall stain the ground you walk on.” His smile freezes me like ice spreading through my veins. “I am your damnation and your salvation. Your nightmare and your reality.”
His gaze drops to the wedding band he slides on my finger before it casts upward again. Its dark intensity makes my skin crawl.
I was wrong. He doesn’t have a tainted heart. He has no heart at all.
Though his wicked smirk is still there, his eyes reflect danger. He takes out a pocket knife, and the world seems to stand still. My heart races at the horror that awaits me.
What is he going to do? Is he going to kill me? Was it his twisted plan all along? My life for Salvatore’s?
