Male Lead

Name: Dante Alessio Moretti (29)

Dante → meaning enduring, firm; a name that commands fear.

Alessio → strong, noble protector (contrasts with his ruthless ways).

Moretti → an old Italian surname, weighty and powerful.

Backstory & Persona:

The Moretti family has ruled Italy’s underworld for generations—wealthy businessmen on the surface, a syndicate empire beneath.

Dante is the eldest son, sharp, merciless, and cold-blooded in business. Known for never letting betrayal slide.

He’s called “Il Sovrano” (The Sovereign) in the underworld, symbolizing his dominance.

The First Bride (Runaway)

Name: Scarlett Monroe Knight (26)

Scarlett → fiery, bold, untamed.

Monroe → Old Hollywood glamour, rebellious feminine energy.

Knight → A proud, established American mafia surname.

Her Role:

Fierce, ambitious, unwilling to be caged by an arranged marriage.

She runs away before the wedding, humiliating the Morettis and igniting war.

The Moretti Family (Male Lead’s Side)

Father: Giancarlo Moretti – Cold, calculating patriarch, who built their empire even higher. Ruthless, believes family honor is above all.

Mother: Isabella Conti Moretti – Elegant, poised, but sharp-tongued. She knows how to manipulate aristocratic society.

Siblings:

Adriano Moretti (27) – Dante’s younger brother, more reckless and violent.

Bianca Moretti (24) – Sophisticated, married to a powerful European aristocrat, often used as a political pawn.

They swear to annihilate the Knight family for disrespect—unless restitution is made.

The Replacement Bride (Our True Heroine)

Name: Evelina Grace Knight (20)

Evelina → soft, delicate, meaning "life" or "light."

Grace → embodies her purity and innocence.

Knight → same surname, but unlike her sister, she never wished to be part of the mafia’s dirty games.

Her Role:

Gentle, dreamy, untouched by the cruel mafia world.

Suddenly thrown into the darkest pact as punishment for her sister’s betrayal.

Becomes Dante’s bride—a lamb delivered to a lion.

Setup of the Story

Scarlett runs away → The Moretti family calls it dishonor.

To save their empire, the Knight family sacrifices Evelina, the youngest, to seal the deal.

Evelina, at 20, is dragged into a marriage with the most feared man in Italy.

Dante initially despises her—she’s the reminder of betrayal. He wants to break her, own her, erase her softness.

But her innocence and quiet resilience begin to unearth something dangerous in him: obsession.

🔥 Trope breakdown:

Replace-bride marriage pact

Age gap (29 × 20)

Italian mafia × American mafia

Dominant × Innocent

Obsessive possession

Ignore-

Well, my boyfriend's in a band

He plays guitar while I sing Lou Reed

I've got feathers in my hair

I get down to Beat poetry

And my jazz collection's rare

I can play most anything

I'm a Brooklyn baby

I'm a Brooklyn baby

I'm talking about my generation

Talking about that newer nation

And if you don't like it, you can beat it

Beat it, baby

You never liked the way I said it

If you don't get it, then forget it

'Cause I don't have to fuckin' explain it

And my boyfriend's in a band

He plays guitar while I sing Lou Reed

I've got feathers in my hair

I get high on hydroponic weed

And my jazz collection's rare

I get down to Beat poetry

I'm a Brooklyn baby

I'm a Brooklyn baby

Pa-da-pa-pa, pa-de-da

Te-de-de, da-da-ah

Ooh-ooh, woah

Yeah, my boyfriend's pretty cool

But he's not as cool as me

'Cause I'm a Brooklyn baby

I'm a Brooklyn baby....

Scarlett Monroe Knight stood before the gilded mirror, veil draped like a noose around her neck. She should have felt like a queen, marrying into Italy’s most powerful dynasty. Instead, she felt like a prisoner being marched to execution.

Her hands trembled as she smoothed the silk gown. The lace was heavy, suffocating. Moretti. The name alone carried centuries of blood and power. Everyone feared them—men who wore Armani suits in daylight and spilled blood in the dark. Her marriage was never about love. It was about an alliance, a pact to keep the American Knights and Italian Morettis tied together in dominance.

But Scarlett had dreams—dreams that couldn’t breathe in a gilded cage. She wasn’t going to bow her head and let Dante Alessio Moretti own her like property. She knew what he was—cruel, relentless, the kind of man who would crush her spirit until she forgot her own name.

Her heart pounded as she slipped out the back, trading diamonds for shadows. Every step away from the cathedral felt like treason. Guilt clawed at her chest—she knew the price her family would pay. But freedom, even if fleeting, was worth more than a lifetime of chains.

By the time the ceremony bells rang, Scarlett was gone.

The Fallout — The Knight Family

When the news reached the Knight mansion in New York, chaos erupted.

Charles Knight — patriarch of the Knight family — slammed his fist against the mahogany desk, veins bulging in his temples. At fifty-eight, he was a towering man, once feared across American territories, but even his might trembled before the Morettis.

His wife, Margaret Monroe Knight, elegant and calculating, was pale with horror. She had raised her daughters to be bold, but never reckless enough to humiliate the Italians.

Scarlett had doomed them.

The Knights were a powerful mafia family in America, old money tied with blood, smuggling empires, and political claws hidden behind polished smiles. But compared to the Morettis? They were children playing with knives while the Italians wielded kingdoms.

And betrayal was the one sin the Morettis never forgave.

The Morettis’ Response

The call from Italy came swiftly. Giancarlo Moretti’s voice was like steel poured over ice.

> “Your daughter has insulted our name. Do you think the world won’t laugh at us? Do you think we will let this humiliation pass?”

War drums echoed in his words. Trade routes would burn, alliances would crumble, blood would run in the streets.

Charles tried to reason, Margaret begged, but Giancarlo’s wrath was unshakable. The Knights knew they were cornered.

The Desperate Bargain

Margaret’s voice broke in the tense silence of the Knight study.

“Scarlett has disgraced us. But… Evelina.”

Charles froze.

Their youngest. Their lamb. The one they’d kept sheltered from the mafia’s filth. Sweet, twenty-year-old Evelina Grace Knight, who still dreamed in poetry and believed kindness was not weakness.

“She can replace Scarlett,” Margaret whispered, though her own heart cracked with the words. “The pact can be fulfilled. The Morettis will still have a bride. And our family… will still stand.”

Charles hesitated, guilt mixing with dread. But he knew the truth—if they didn’t offer Evelina, the Knights would be obliterated.

And so, a new sacrifice was chosen.

The Italians’ Decision

The ballroom of the Manhattan luxury hotel glittered with chandeliers and silk-draped tables, but beneath the glamour, the air reeked of tension. Guests whispered, cameras flashed outside the grand entrance, and the sound of unanswered questions from the media bled in through the gilded doors:

“Where is the bride?”

“Did the Knights betray the Morettis?”

Inside the private chamber, the Moretti family stood like statues.

Giancarlo Moretti’s voice thundered, “Humiliation. In front of the world.” His thick Italian accent carved through the silence. Beside him, Isabella Moretti’s eyes blazed, her pearl necklace rising and falling with each sharp breath. Adriano paced, knuckles cracking, muttering about burning the Knights to ash.

Only Dante Alessio Moretti did not move. He sat in his chair, black suit crisp, jaw set, expression unreadable. His silence was more terrifying than rage.

Finally, Isabella snapped, “Dante, they offer us the younger one. Evelina. Twenty. Untouched.”

Every eye turned to him.

Dante leaned back slowly, dark eyes flicking between his parents. His face was cold marble, lips pressed in a hard line. He knew the stakes. Their empire’s reputation hung in the balance, mocked by the world waiting beyond those doors.

He stood, buttoning his jacket with calculated ease.

“Accept it,” he said flatly, voice smooth but edged with steel.

“They dared to shame us once. The world will not see us weak twice. The ceremony will go on—today. With Evelina.”

The message was sent to the Knights.

Charles Knight’s hands shook as he ended the call. He’d just traded his youngest daughter’s fate. Margaret, pale as ivory, pressed her palm to her lips, trying to hide the tremor of her breath.

“It’s done,” Charles muttered, collapsing into the velvet armchair. “The Italians… accept.”

Margaret’s eyes filled with tears. “Evelina…”

But there was no room for softness. The Morettis had given them no choice.

Upstairs, Evelina Grace Knight twirled nervously in her lilac bridesmaid dress. She was twenty, soft-eyed, the embodiment of innocence that still believed in fragile things like love, freedom, and happy endings.

She had been waiting to see her sister walk down the aisle. Waiting to watch Scarlett’s life change forever.

She never expected the knock at the door.

Her mother entered, face pale, mascara smudged. Behind her, her father’s shoulders were hunched under invisible weight. Evelina’s smile faltered.

“What—what happened?” she whispered. “Where’s Scarlett?”

Margaret’s lips trembled. “Scarlett is gone.”

Evelina’s heart skipped. “Gone? What do you mean gone? She wouldn’t just—”

Charles cut her off, voice like gravel. “She ran away.”

The words hit her like a slap. Evelina shook her head in disbelief, but before she could form words, Margaret’s hands clutched her shoulders tightly.

“There’s no time, Evelina,” her mother said, desperation bleeding through every syllable. “The Italians… they were going to destroy us. But we offered you instead.”

Evelina blinked, her mind blank. “Me?”

Her father’s voice was iron. “You are to marry Dante Moretti. Today. Now.”

The world tilted beneath her. The chandelier above blurred as tears stung her lashes.

“Marry… him? But I don’t— I can’t—”

“You will,” Charles snapped, though his voice cracked. “You have no choice. Our lives depend on it.”

Her mother smoothed her hair, whispering, “You’re saving us, Evelina.” But it didn’t feel like salvation. It felt like betrayal.

Evelina’s chest tightened, her heart breaking in slow, crushing waves. She wasn’t asked. She wasn’t even given a moment to breathe. She was being handed over, like currency.

The bridal attendants—who had been waiting for Scarlett—were ushered in. Evelina stood frozen as the lilac bridesmaid dress was stripped away, her innocence peeled off like layers. In its place, the heavy white gown of a bride swallowed her, the same dress Scarlett was meant to wear.

She stared at herself in the mirror, tears slipping down her cheeks.

Her reflection looked like a stranger—veiled, painted, broken.

A lamb dressed for sacrifice.

Downstairs, the guests waited, unaware. The media clamored at the gates. The Morettis had demanded a bride, and they would have one.

Evelina Grace Knight, soft as glass, was about to walk down the aisle to Dante Alessio Moretti—the man whispered about as Il Sovrano.

A man she had never met.

A man she now belonged to.