Chapter 4 The breaking point

The cold marriage dragged on.

Katherine had played her role: the perfect wife, the silent partner. She smiled for the cameras, dressed for every event, attended every gala. She whispered sweet nothings when Alessio's grandfather was around.

But inside their penthouse walls, she was invisible.

The man she married never allowed her close.

Alessio Romano was a master of distance. A man who kissed her forehead like she was a contract he had successfully negotiated - nothing more.

But tonight, something was different.

They stood together at another gala. Another endless night of power plays disguised as charity.

Katherine stood by his side as photographers snapped away, pretending the hollow marriage still held life.

"Smile," Alessio muttered through clenched teeth, his hand resting stiffly on her waist.

"I always do," she answered sweetly.

Her words were laced with venom, but he didn't flinch. He never flinched.

As they made their rounds through the ballroom, Bianca's presence was impossible to ignore. She circled like a shark, lurking close enough for the tension to suffocate Katherine.

Bianca's eyes glittered with cruel amusement every time their gazes met.

She wore victory like perfume - as if she already owned what Katherine was still fighting to keep.

"She's persistent," Katherine finally whispered when they were alone for a brief moment near the balcony.

Alessio barely glanced at her.

"Don't start."

"I'm not starting anything," Katherine replied softly. "I'm simply acknowledging what everyone else can see."

He took a sip of his scotch, jaw tightening.

"She's irrelevant."

"Is she?"

His eyes narrowed.

"You're my wife. That should be enough."

"Then maybe you should start acting like it," Katherine snapped, her voice breaking with bitterness.

For a moment, his cold mask cracked - barely - before hardening again.

"I never promised you love, Katherine. You knew what this was."

The words cut deeper than any slap.

"I was foolish enough to hope," she whispered.

He didn't respond.

Later That Night - The Penthouse

Katherine returned home before Alessio.

The silence inside the penthouse wrapped around her like suffocating velvet. The space was beautiful - cold marble, towering glass, and priceless art.

A mansion designed for appearances. A prison for the woman trapped inside.

She poured herself a glass of wine and waited.

Minutes bled into hours.

As the silence finally broke

The faint moans behind the cracked door grew louder as Katherine inched forward, her breath caught in her throat. Her chest was heaving, trembling, but her feet wouldn't move.

She had to see.

Even though she already knew.

Alessio's study was dimly lit, bathed in a golden glow from the desk lamp, shadows dancing on the high glass walls.

And in the center of it - him.

Alessio sat back in his oversized leather chair, shirt half-unbuttoned, dark slacks barely shoved down to his thighs. His powerful thighs flexed beneath Bianca as she straddled him, completely naked, riding him with frantic rhythm.

Her long black hair clung to her sweat-drenched back, her head thrown back in ecstasy as she bounced on his cock with desperate hunger.

Their bodies collided in sharp, wet slaps. The desk creaked beneath the force of Alessio's thrusts driving up into her.

"Alessio," Bianca gasped breathlessly, her voice broken by moans. "Harder... I want to feel you bruise me."

He grabbed her hips tighter, fingers digging into her skin like he wanted to leave his mark.

"You always fucking take me like a perfect little whore," he growled through gritted teeth, snapping his hips sharply upward.

Bianca giggled, grinding her hips as she rocked on him, her breasts bouncing wildly with every impact.

"I know you missed me," she whispered, breathless, licking the sweat from his neck.

"You belong to me... you always have."

"Don't stop," Alessio grunted, his voice rough, raw, nothing like the cold man Katherine knew.

"You're not like her."

Bianca's lips twisted into a cruel smile.

"She'll never fuck you like I do."

His head fell back for a brief second, eyes fluttering shut as his release built.

"She's nothing."

"You're the only one who knows how to take me."

Katherine's vision blurred behind the tears she refused to let fall.

The man who never once touched her like this.

The man who barely kissed her.

The man who treated her like a porcelain doll in public.

Here he was - fucking Bianca like a man possessed.

Bianca suddenly threw her head forward, pressing her lips to his ear.

"Come inside me, Alessio... fill me."

With a final thrust, Alessio let out a low, guttural growl, his body shuddering as he emptied himself into her.

His hands gripped her waist so tightly Katherine could see Bianca's skin turning red beneath his fingers.

The pleasure on his face...

The desperation in his breath...

The passion in his voice...

None of it was ever hers.

Katherine's knees nearly buckled.

Her stomach twisted, her mouth dry. Her heart pounded so hard she could hear it in her ears.

But she didn't cry.

Not yet.

She stepped away from the door - silent, deadly - before either of them even realized she had been standing there.