Luca Romano
They said Luca Romano never raised his voice.
He didn't need to.
Silence followed him the way shadows follow light — constant and obedient. Men twice his age stood straighter when he entered a room. Rivals chose their words carefully. Enemies disappeared quietly.
He had rebuilt his family empire from ashes.
Years ago, the Romano name had been dragged through scandal and betrayal. Contracts vanished. Investors withdrew. Allies turned their backs.
One family had benefited from that downfall.
The Morettis.
Luca never forgot that.
He learned instead.
At twenty-eight, he controlled half the city's most powerful industries. Real estate. Shipping. Security. Influence.
He didn't drink much.
Didn't trust easily.
Didn't forgive at all.
And love?
Love was a weakness his father had died with.
The only thing Luca believed in was leverage.
And the Moretti daughter was the perfect one.
But what he hadn't planned for…
Was the way she looked at him.
Not afraid.
Not impressed.
Just furious.
It unsettled him more than he would ever admit.
Elara Moretti
Elara Moretti had grown up in gold cages.
Luxury cars. Private schools. Endless expectations.
Her father called it protection.
She called it control.
She knew how to smile when photographers were watching.
She knew how to stand straight at charity galas.
She knew how to be the perfect daughter.
But she also knew how to listen.
And she had heard the whispers.
Business deals that ruined competitors.
Contracts signed in secret.
Families pushed into bankruptcy.
Her father called it strategy.
She called it ruthless.
So when he announced her engagement to Luca Romano — the very man whose family he once crushed — she didn't feel shocked.
She felt traded.
Elara wasn't naive.
She knew this marriage wasn't romantic.
It was political.
A shield.
Or a weapon.
And she refused to be either.
She had a sharp tongue and a sharper mind.
She didn't scare easily.
And she would never kneel quietly — not even to Luca Romano.
Especially not to him.
The Collision
On paper, they were perfect.
Two powerful families.
Two strong heirs.
One strategic alliance.
But beneath the headlines and champagne glasses was something far more dangerous.
History.
Resentment.
Unfinished revenge.
Luca saw her as a move in a long game.
Elara saw him as the living proof of her father's sins.
Neither of them believed in love.
Neither of them trusted easily.
And both of them were too proud to bend.
Which meant their marriage wouldn't be peaceful.
It would be a battlefield.
And neither of them planned to lose.