Monte Carlo glittered like a sin-stained jewel beneath the full moon.
Ella stepped out of the limo in a black satin gown, her mask veiling half her face—mysterious, dangerous, divine.
Every step she took echoed against the marble of the casino ballroom, where the world's wealthiest, wickedest, and most untouchable gathered under chandeliers soaked in old blood and new secrets.
She wasn't here to play games.
She was here to find him.
Her heartbeat pulsed against her ribs like war drums.
She told herself she came for answers. For closure.
But the truth scratched at the back of her skull—
You came for him. Again. Always.
Even after the lies.The pain.The near-death.The child.
You're still tethered.
To the man who once promised forever,then disappeared in smoke and ash—only to return… as someone else.
Carter Vale.
This wasn't just a party.
It was a masquerade stitched together with diamonds and threats.
A ballroom of wolves dressed in velvet.
And somewhere in that sea of champagne and cold stares,was the only man who ever knew how to set her on fireand still expect her to dance in the ashes.
The host was never seen—
Only whispered.Only feared.Only obeyed.
Until the music stopped.
And the spotlight flared.
A man stepped onto the black marble dais.
Tailored suit.
Face half-covered in an obsidian mask shaped like a serpent swallowing its own tail.
But the jawline—the stance—the way the air seemed to bend around him—
It was Leon.
Or whatever remained of him.
[对话钩子]He scanned the crowd.
Voice low. Smooth. Electric.
"Welcome… to The Awakening. A celebration of endings and rebirth. Of empires buried, and legacies rewritten."
His eyes locked with hers through the crowd.
And he smiled—cold and familiar.
"Tonight," he said, "we welcome back what the world thought was dead."
He raised a glass.
"To vengeance."
Ella's blood turned to ice.
But it was the last line that shattered her completely:
"Ella Shen."
Every masked head turned.
Leon—Carter—extended his hand.
"Come forward, my wife."
Gasps. Whispers.
She was frozen.
Not because of the name.
But because of the ring he wore—
Her wedding ring.
The one he'd buried with his name.
And now, before the entire underworld—
He had just declared her as his.