Chapter 1 - Elisse
“Can anyone please remind me again why exactly I agreed to this?”
Zhenya’s laugh echoed inside the car, bright and reckless. “Because you said, and I quote, ‘If I have to attend one more boring charity gala where men in grey suits pretend to understand art, I’ll stage my own disappearance and never show face in society again.’”
Mila, my best friend from college, leaned across me from the other side, adjusting the strap of my gold gown with precise fingers. “And because this isn’t a boring charity gala but a masquerade. Which means no one knows who you are.”
“That,” Zhenya added, wiggling her brows, “means you can flirt recklessly and irresponsibly and get out of there unscathed. No one will know who you are, and you will not be scanning the crowd for potential enemies. Everyone will be new and exciting and potentially interesting.”
I rolled my eyes, but my mouth curved despite myself. “I highly doubt that. Besides, I don’t flirt recklessly. I never have and I never will.”
“You absolutely can and you absolutely will,” Mila and Zhenya said in unison, clearly teaming up against me on this one. I still don’t understand why I ever did the idiotic thing of introducing the two of them, knowing fully well that this trio would certainly never end up in my favor. The two of them were very much alike, full of life and wit, while I was different.
Or as they liked to call it, the boring one.
The car slowed as it approached the private estate, headlights sweeping across tall wrought-iron gates that hadbeen transformed for the night. Black silk banners cascaded down the stone pillars. Gold lanterns flickered between climbing ivy. Even from inside the car, I could hear the distant swell of violins layered over a modern bassline, classical strings corrupted by something darker. It was not a charity gala, but this masquerade was still surrounded by men bathing in mafia power and mafia connections. Anyone here could be anyone, which only meant all of us would need to stay alert. Being a Chernykh had never been easy, with or without the mask.
I exhaled slowly.
Normally, events like this felt like obligations stitched into my skin. Being a Chernykh meant being seen. Watched. Assessed. It meant every glance carried calculation and every smile came with the weight of a promise. Men didn’t see me as just Elisse or just any other girl. They saw me as a potential ally or leverage in a deal that might have gone wrong. I was nothing but a marriage contract dressed up as romance for them.
But I hoped that tonight, no one would know. No last name. No expectations. Just silk and shadows.
The large iron gates opened, and the two burlesque guards stationed outside tapped on our windows. I rolled down my window, took off my mask, and one look was enough for the man to know exactly who I was. My light blonde hair and blue eyes made me look quite similar to my older brother, Iosif, the trademark Chernykh identity. Everyone knew us.
The guard nodded, and I rolled my window back up, driving up ahead. No one at home knew we had come to a party without our usual protection and the army of guards that followed us everywhere. But both Zehnya and I were tired of that. I just wanted to be a mysterious girl tonight without theattachment of my surname, and having five guards tailing me would not help achieve that purpose.
“Stop overthinking,” Zhenya said softly, nudging my knee from the back seat. “It’s just a party.”
Nothing in our world was ever just a party, no matter how much we both might want to believe that.
Still, as the car curved up the long driveway, I felt something inside me loosen.
The mansion looked less like a house and more like a fever dream carved in marble. Chandeliers glowed through towering windows. Music spilled into the night air. Masks glimmered beneath the lights as guests drifted across the entrance like living brushstrokes. I still did not know whose house we were stepping into, but Zhenya had apparently done her research and even informed Iosif about our whereabouts. Knowing Zhenya, all of it could be a lie, but I was trying not to care.
As I stopped the car in front of the gates, a footman quickly opened my door, cool night air kissing my skin at once.
I stepped out slowly, my gown catching the light from the hundreds of candles that were displayed effortlessly on the candelabras, even in the gardens. It looked ethereal. I handed him the keys to my car and moved away, fully transitioning into my persona for tonight. I was no longer Elisse.
As I walked further, I noticed eyes drawn towards my gown. It was structured gold silk, cut with architectural precision. The bodice sculpted sharp lines along my waist before softening into layered panels that shifted like liquid fire when I moved. One shoulder remained bare, the other framed by an asymmetrical sleeve of sheer fabric embroidered with faint silverthread that only revealed itself when light struck it at the right angle.
All of it was intentional and controlled. One of the few pieces I had designed myself.
Mila stepped out behind me in deep emerald velvet, her mask delicate and lace-like. Zhenya, dramatic as always, wore crimson satin and a scarlet feathered mask that made her look like a rebellious duchess escaping her own scandal.
“You look obscene,” Mila murmured approvingly.
“In a good way?” I asked.
“In a way that will cause problems.”
“What is that even supposed to mean?” I chuckled, unease growing in my heart. I was used to always getting attention, but it was based on my name, not on who I was. Tonight, without the attachment of the name, I was hoping to shed the limelight and simply be.
“You look like you should be noticed and talked to. Men will come flocking towards you tonight. I bet,” Mila clarified, and I rolled my eyes from behind my gold mask, which clung to my face, covering nothing but the sides of my eyes and nose. My lips were painted a deep red, standing out boldly.
Zhenya looped her left arm through mine and right through Mila’s. “Perfect. Now that we are here, the party can actually get started.”
We climbed the marble steps together, heels clicking in quiet harmony. At the entrance, attendants in tailored black suits handed us glasses of champagne. I downed my glass in one go, hoping for some liquid courage to course through my veins. I still did not understand why my heartbeat was accelerating. Something about tonight just felt… different. It wasn’t as if Ihad never attended a masquerade before. Of course I had. But something about this particular party did not sit right in my chest.
