Episode 1

Southern Sweden (18 years ago)

"You know exactly why I am here, don't you? You shouldn't have betrayed me. You were one of my best men, I trusted you, and it was all for greed," he argued while pointing a gun at the man in front of him.

"I know I don't have the right to argue, and I can't even defend myself. I accept my punishment, and I know it is death. I only beg for mercy for my family. They knew nothing, I am the only one to blame," the man's sobbing intensified after those words.

"If you truly care about your family, you should have thought about them first," he turned to the woman. "On second thought, death wouldn't be punishment for you, but I think I can make you pay in another way," he touched the face of the child in the mother's arms.

"No, not my daughter," the woman pleaded, crying.

"When your daughter turns eighteen, she will marry my son. Keep the girl pure, or she will also pay. And as for your son, he will serve the organization faithfully. He will only marry if I allow it or if my son, as the future leader, decides so. Try to do a better job with them than you did with me. Keep them in line, or you will witness the consequences and your punishment will be watching everything, powerless. I will prepare the marriage contract and come back here for it to be signed. And don't forget, the destiny of your children was determined by you."

After saying those words, he turned around and headed towards the door, pausing to give an order to one of his soldiers.

"Watch them. If they try to escape, let me know."

He left the house, leaving a kneeling father, a desperate mother, and a frightened boy behind.

Present day...

The sound of heavy breathing filled the dark room. It was another nightmare, or rather, an old memory that kept repeating in the past few weeks. The bedside lamp was turned on, but even with that light, his heart remained in darkness.

Augusto got up and went to the bathroom sink, splashing his face with water and staring at himself in the mirror, thinking about how he would free his sister from that situation. He was already thirty years old, and since that experience he had at thirteen, he never forgot the eyes and the look of the mafia Don's son in his direction, the same organization his father had been a subordinate of when he made that mistake.

Augusto's gaze, which was the same age as his back then and had left him so frightened, was now even colder and more intimidating. He had gone from being known as the boss's son to being recognized as the current leader of the mafia. He had taken over at the young age of twenty-two when his father fell ill. He had a reputation for being cruel and ruthless, sparing only innocent women and children. Many of his enemies, and even some allies, referred to him as a monster.

The reason for his nightmares was that his sister Alice would turn eighteen in a week. He was anguished, wondering if he would be able to save his sister from the punishment of marrying the monster.

During those years, their father had allowed Alice some freedom, knowing that she would be deprived of much after marrying the mafia leader. He had let her go out and have fun, but always pleaded with her for one thing: to remain pure.

After getting up, Augusto set off early for his morning run, as was his usual routine. He needed to think and come up with some ideas on how to help his sister. He decided to call his friend Mark, thinking that maybe the two of them could find a solution to this problem together.

Mark was his best friend, and he considered him a brother. Like Augusto, Mark was also involved in the underworld of the mafia. They had known each other since elementary school, trained together in the ranks, and even lost their virginity on the same day through a scheme that Mark had arranged.

"Hello, I need to meet with you to talk about that matter again," Augusto told his friend, knowing that Mark was already aware of his concern.

"Of course, I'm at home. You can come over, I'll be waiting for you," Mark replied.

They ended the call, and Mark's expression changed after hearing that his friend would be discussing his sister's situation once again. He took a deep breath and had a drink, needing to gather the courage for what he had to do.

They agreed to meet at Mark's apartment, but first, Augusto went back to his house to take a shower. He was sweaty from his run and, upon arriving home, found a certain commotion.

When he walked in, he found Alice crying, and his father and mother were trying to console her.

Alice

"What's going on here?" she called everyone's attention.

Her sister looked at him, still crying, and ran towards him, embracing him.

"Augusto, they want me to marry that monster Pietro," she held him tightly, beside herself.

He looked at their parents, questioning them, but they just shrugged.

"Calm down, let's sit and talk, you need to calm down," he kissed her on the head.

His heart ached seeing his sister in that state and led her back to the sofa. That's when he noticed a large box on an armchair, containing a wedding dress inside. He sat her down and picked up the paper on top of it, reading it.

"I hope you like the dress I chose for my future wife. I can't wait to see you walking down the aisle, wearing this dress. P.S. There's a suit for your brother too, I believe it will look great on him. The bride's brother also needs to look impeccable."

He noticed that under the larger box, there was a smaller one, and he imagined it was the suit the note referred to.

"Arrogant bastard," he whispered so that no one would hear.

"I don't want to marry him, I'd rather die than be married to that man."

He heard his sister's complaint and snapped out of his thoughts. He put the paper back on top of the box and went over to her, holding her face, which was covered in tears.

"Our father had no choice, but I'll do everything I can to get you out of this, even if it means giving my life in exchange for your freedom."

After hearing those words, she stopped crying for a moment, her eyebrows furrowed, looking incredulous at him.

"Wait, you knew too? You knew about this whole setup and didn't tell me?"

He could see the anger in Alice's eyes as she pushed him away and ran up the stairs to her room. This situation was not easy for anyone in the family, but he knew it was even harder for her. Having to marry someone she didn't love and was terrified of must be truly desperate.

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