MADDEST OBSESSION - Chapter 4: Chapter 4

The grand dining room was too large, too extravagant, too silent.
Aria sat at the far end of the long marble table, her plate untouched. Crystal chandeliers glittered above, casting soft golden light that felt more like an interrogation spotlight than anything elegant.
Across from her, Dominic sipped his wine slowly, watching her with that same unreadable expression he wore like armor.
Two guards stood at the door, perfectly still.
This wasn’t dinner.
It was a test.
“You should eat,” he said finally, voice smooth but edged with something sharp.
“I’m not hungry.”
“You will be.” He placed his wine glass down. “You’ll need your strength.”
“For what? Surviving you?” Her tone was laced with poison, but her voice remained calm. Controlled.
A small, dangerous smile curved his lips. “For surviving this world. And I’m the only one keeping you alive in it.”
She hated how calm he always was. Like nothing rattled him. Like he controlled every breath in the room. In a way, he did.
He gestured, and one of the guards silently approached, placing a velvet box before her.
She eyed it suspiciously. “What is this?”
“A gift.”
“I don’t want your gifts.”
He didn’t blink. “Open it.”
Aria’s jaw clenched, but she reached out and flipped open the lid. Inside sat an exquisite diamond necklace — delicate, yet dazzling. The Moretti crest gleamed at the clasp, small but unmistakable.
“It’s a collar,” she whispered bitterly.
“It’s a symbol,” he corrected. “Of your place. Of your power.”
“Of my chains.”
His expression didn’t change, but the air between them thickened.
“You can keep fighting me, Aria,” he said quietly. “Or you can learn that power in this world doesn’t belong to those who fight the loudest — it belongs to those who know how to control the game.”
Her heart pounded. “You think I want this game?”
“You were born into it. Same as me.”
For a moment, the room seemed to contract around them, the heavy truth sitting between them like a third presence.
Finally, he stood and circled the table, walking slowly until he stood behind her. She tensed, feeling his warmth at her back.
His hands gently slid over her shoulders, fingertips grazing her skin. “You’re stronger than you pretend to be.”
“Don’t touch me.”
He ignored the command, leaning down until his lips were dangerously close to her ear.
“I touch what’s mine.”
Aria inhaled sharply, her body betraying her composure with the electric jolt that raced through her. She hated him. Hated how her body reacted to him even more.
But Dominic wasn’t done.
“You think you’re caged,” he whispered, voice low and smooth. “But there are worse prisons than this. I can make this a palace… or a battlefield.”
Aria turned her head slightly, her lips almost brushing his. “Then you should pray I don’t choose war.”
The edge of a wicked smile tugged at his mouth. “I don’t pray.”
The moment hung thick with tension before he finally stepped back.
“Tomorrow night, we attend the Russo charity gala,” he said, as if their intimate standoff hadn’t just happened. “You will wear the necklace.”
“I’m not a decoration.”
“No,” he said simply. “You’re my statement.”
And then, with perfect control, he walked out, leaving Aria gripping the edge of the table, breathless, furious, and burning.
Her cage was
n’t made of walls.
It was made of him.
And that terrified her more than anything.