The scent of Casablanca lilies was everywhere. It was a thick, cloying perfume that clung to the back of Vespera’s throat, making it hard to swallow. For most of the guests gathered in the grand ballroom of the Moretti estate, the fragrance was the smell of old money and undisputed power. For Vespera, as she stood in the dim shadows of the velvet curtains, it felt like the smell of a funeral. She just didn't know yet that the body being buried was her own.

She smoothed the front of her navy silk gown. The fabric was cold against her skin, a stark contrast to the humid evening air of the garden just beyond the French doors. She reached up to touch the heavy emerald pendant resting in the hollow of her throat. It was a Moretti heirloom, a piece of history that she had worn to every major function for the last five years. It felt heavy tonight. It felt like a collar.

"Vespera, stop fidgeting. You look like a nervous commoner."

The voice was low and sharp, like a blade dragged across stone. Vespera didn't need to turn to see Silas Moretti. She could smell the expensive scotch on his breath from three feet away. She adjusted her posture, pulling her shoulders back until her spine was a rigid, uncomfortable line.

"I’m not nervous, Father," she said. Her voice was a practiced melody, calm and perfectly modulated. "I’m merely ensuring that everything is in its proper place. The press is already in position. The board members are seated. The stage is set for the announcement."

Silas stepped beside her. He was a man of sixty who looked like he had been carved out of oak. His eyes, usually as hard as the marbles in the foyer, were unreadable tonight. He adjusted his cufflinks, the gold glinting in the dim light.

"The announcement," he repeated. There was a strange edge to his tone, a hollowness that Vespera had never heard before. "Yes. Tonight is about legacy, Vespera. It’s about the truth of the Moretti bloodline."

Vespera felt a flicker of warmth in her chest. For years, she had been the shadow behind the throne. she had been the one to fix his mistakes, to manage the logistics of their shipping empire, and to present the perfect face to a world that watched for any sign of weakness. Tonight, at the Centenary Gala, she expected him to finally name her his successor. She expected him to tell the world that the adopted daughter was, in fact, the only true heir he needed.

The orchestral swell signaled the start of the ceremony. The heavy velvet curtains swept back, revealing a sea of black ties and shimmering diamonds. The lights were blinding, a white heat that made Vespera’s eyes water for a split second before she adjusted. She stepped out onto the stage, her heels clicking a rhythmic, confident beat against the polished wood.

She scanned the front row. Vultures. All of them. They were waiting for a slip-up, a crack in the Moretti facade. She wouldn't give it to them.

Silas took the podium, his presence commanding the room into a silence so absolute you could hear the hum of the air conditioning. Vespera stood a few paces behind him, her hands folded over her waist, the picture of filial grace.

"Friends, partners, and competitors," Silas began, his voice booming without the need for a microphone. "A hundred years ago, my grandfather built this company on a promise. That blood is the only currency that matters in this world. For twenty years, we have lived with a void in our family. A void that Vespera, here, has worked tirelessly to fill."

Vespera tilted her head slightly, a modest smile playing on her lips. She felt the eyes of the city on her. This was the moment.

"But a placeholder is just that," Silas said. The warmth in his voice vanished, replaced by a cold, clinical tone that made the hair on Vespera’s neck stand up. "A temporary fix. A mask for a wound that refused to heal. Tonight, the mask comes off."

Vespera’s smile didn't falter, but her heart missed a beat. Placeholder? The word felt like a physical blow to her stomach. She looked at the back of Silas’s head, her mind racing. This wasn't the speech they had practiced. This wasn't the script she had edited for him.

"Twenty-four years ago, my biological daughter was taken from her cradle," Silas continued, his voice rising in a dramatic crescendo. "And for twenty-four years, I have searched. I have prayed. And tonight, my prayers have been answered. Please, welcome the true daughter of Moretti. Welcome home, Celeste."

The doors at the back of the hall burst open. A woman walked down the center aisle, her blonde hair catching the light like spun gold. She was dressed in white lace, looking every bit the virginal, returned saint. She had Silas’s nose and his arrogant tilt of the chin.

The room erupted. The sound of three hundred people gasping and whispering was like a wave of static. Vespera stood frozen. The spotlight was still on her, but she felt as if she were disappearing. She looked at Silas, her amber eyes wide and searching.

"Father?" she whispered.

Silas didn't turn around. Celeste reached the stage, and he opened his arms to her, pulling her into a fierce, emotional embrace. It was a display of affection he had never once shown Vespera.

"You’re home," Silas murmured into the girl’s hair. Then, he stepped back and looked at Vespera. His eyes were devoid of any recognition. There was no love there, only the cold calculation of a man who was finished with a tool that no longer served a purpose.

Celeste stepped forward, her blue eyes sharp and mocking as they raked over Vespera’s navy gown. "The ring, Vespera."

Vespera’s hand went to her right ring finger. The Moretti signet. It was a heavy gold band she had been given on her eighteenth birthday. "What?"

"The ring," Celeste repeated, her voice thin and high. "And the pendant. They belong to the family. They belong to me."

"Vespera, give them to her," Silas commanded.

The silence in the room was deafening now. Every camera in the building was trained on Vespera’s face. She could feel the heat of the humiliation, a burning red that started at her chest and crept up her throat. Her fingers were shaking as she reached for the clasp of the emerald pendant. The metal felt like ice. Her nails caught on the silk of her dress, a small, frantic snagging sound that felt like a scream in the quiet room.

She unclasped the necklace. The weight left her neck, leaving her feeling exposed, almost naked. She handed it to Celeste, who took it with a smirk. Then, Vespera pulled the ring from her finger. Her skin felt raw as the gold slid off.

"You are no longer a Moretti," Silas said, his voice carrying to every corner of the room. "Your service is noted, and your accounts have been settled for the time you provided. But you are a stranger to this house. Security will escort you to the gates."

"Father, please," Vespera whispered, her dignity fracturing. "I’ve worked for five years. I’ve saved the shipping contracts. I—"

"You did what you were told," Silas snapped. "And now you will do as you are told again. Leave."

The walk down the stage was the longest journey of her life. She didn't look at the guests. She didn't look at the board members who had toasted her just an hour ago. She kept her eyes fixed on the exit, her heels striking the floor with a hollow, lonely sound. Every flash of a camera was a needle in her skin. She could hear the whispers starting now, a low hiss of gossip that would be all over the news by morning. The fake daughter. The substitute. The trash.

She reached the cloakroom, her breath coming in shallow, jagged hitches. The attendant, a man who had known her for a decade, wouldn't meet her eyes.

"My coat," she said, her voice cracking.

"Mr. Moretti’s orders, Miss," the man said, looking at the wall behind her. "Nothing leaves the house that was purchased with Moretti funds. Including the clothes on your back. But since it’s raining, he has graciously allowed you to keep the dress. For the sake of public decency."

Vespera didn't wait for another word. she turned and ran.

She burst through the front doors of the estate and into the black, suffocating mouth of a thunderstorm. The rain hit her like a physical weight, cold and relentless. In seconds, her silk dress was soaked, the navy fabric clinging to her legs and dragging her down. The smell of wet asphalt and bruised jasmine filled her senses, a sharp, bitter tang that made her eyes sting.

She walked down the long, winding drive, her feet slipping on the wet gravel. She had no shoes—she had lost one on the steps and kicked the other off in a fit of silent rage. The stones bit into her soles, but she barely felt the pain. The only thing she felt was the cold, hollow vacuum in her chest where her life used to be.

She reached the main road, the gates of the estate swinging shut behind her with a heavy, final metallic clang. She was twenty-four years old. She had no money, no name, and no future.

And then, she saw the lights.

A charcoal-grey Maybach was pulled over on the soft shoulder of the road, its hazard lights blinking a steady, amber warning. A man in a tailored suit was standing by the rear door, his hands pressed against the glass, his face pale with panic.

"Sir! Mr. Valeska, please! You have to breathe!"

Vespera slowed her pace. She knew that name. Everyone knew it. Cassian Valeska, the media mogul who lived in a glass fortress and never let a living soul within six feet of him. The man who was rumored to be more machine than human.

She moved toward the car, driven by a sudden, inexplicable impulse. The rain lashed against her face, blurring her vision, but she saw the door fly open.

A sound came from inside the vehicle. It wasn't a human sound. It was a low, guttural rattle, the sound of a man being strangled by his own lungs.

Vespera pushed past the security guard, who was too busy hyperventilating to stop her. She leaned into the car. The interior smelled of expensive leather, sterile air, and the sharp, metallic tang of a panic attack.

Cassian Valeska was slumped against the leather seat. He was beautiful in a way that felt dangerous, sharp cheekbones, a jawline like a blade, and hair as dark as the storm outside. But his eyes were blown wide, the silver irises vibrating with a terrifying rhythm. His hands, encased in black silk gloves, were clawing at his own throat, his chest heaving in shallow, useless jerks.

"Stay back!" the guard yelled, finally regaining his senses. "He doesn't like to be—"

Vespera didn't listen. She saw the way his fingers were turning blue. She saw the sheer, unadulterated terror in his gaze. She reached out, her bare, rain-chilled hand diving through the dry heat of the car’s cabin.

She didn't hesitate. She grabbed his wrist, her fingers locking over the silk of his glove.

The shift was violent.

Cassian’s body bucked once, his spine arching off the seat. Then, as if a switch had been flipped, the convulsions stopped. The ragged, choking sound in his throat died away. His head snapped toward her, his silver eyes focusing on her face with a predatory, shocking intensity.

Vespera felt a jolt of electricity travel up her arm, a heat so sudden and fierce that it made her gasp. His skin was burning beneath the silk. She could feel his pulse it was a frantic, wild thing, but as she held on, it began to slow.

One beat. Two. Three.

Cassian stared at her. He didn't pull away. He didn't strike her. He looked at her wet, tangled hair, her ruined dress, and the fierce, burning intelligence in her amber eyes. He looked like a man who had been drowning and had suddenly found a piece of driftwood in the middle of a dark sea.

"Who..." he rasped, his voice a broken, dusty thing. "Who are you?"

Vespera looked back at the lights of the Moretti estate, glowing like a dying star in the distance. She looked back at the man whose life was literally in her hand.

"I am the woman who is going to help you breathe," Vespera said, her voice turning to ice. "And in exchange, you are going to help me burn the world down."

Cassian’s grip tightened on her wrist, his fingers bruising her skin. For the first time in fifteen years, he didn't feel the world closing in. He felt her.

"Done," he whispered.

Author’s Note

Welcome to the very first chapter of The Skin of My Enemy! I am so excited to bring you this journey of revenge, power, and a love that defies the very laws of touch. Vespera has lost everything, but in the middle of that storm, she found the only man who could help her take it all back.

Cassian Valeska is a mystery to the world, but Vespera just found the key to his fortress. What do you think of Silas Moretti? Is he the ultimate villain, or is Celeste the one we should really be watching?

I want to hear all your theories! If you were Vespera, would you have grabbed his hand, or would you have kept walking? Tell me in the comments below! I read every single one and I cannot wait to see what you think of this duo.