EPILOGUE - FIVE YEARS LATER

EPILOGUE — FIVE YEARS LATER

Volkov countryside estate — springtime.

Elena is on the backyard grass, barefoot, sundress brushing her knees.

She’s laughing — really laughing — as a little girl runs toward her holding a tiny plastic crown.

Anastasia Elena Volkov — 4 years old

dark hair like her mother

silver-gray eyes like her father

Anastasia: “Mama! Look! I’m a queen!”

Elena scoops her up.

Elena: “Of course you are, baby.”

Luca appears from the patio doorway.

He watches them — silent awe in every line of his face.

His wife.

Their daughter.

Their peace.

He walks toward them, sleeves rolled up, no armor, no coldness — just home.

Anastasia turns to him.

Anastasia: “Papa, story time!”

Luca sits on the grass with her in his lap and opens her favorite book — a fairy-tale version of their own story that Seraphina wrote.

He reads in a low, soft voice:

Luca: “Once upon a time, there was a king made of stone… and a girl who taught him how to feel.”

Elena’s eyes fill — the good kind of tears.

Anastasia looks up at him.

Anastasia: “Papa, did the king love the girl?” Luca kisses her forehead.

Luca: “He loved her before he knew what love was.”

Anastasia giggles and leans against him.

Elena watches the man who once shattered her — now the man who would ruin the world to protect their peace.

Luca looks at her over their daughter’s head — quiet, raw, whole.

Luca (mouths): Always.

Elena mouths back:

Elena: Chosen.

Not every crown is made of gold.

Some are forged in ruin — and rebuilt by love.

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CROWN OF SIN

Damian Hale was raised in violence and forged into a weapon for the Volkov empire. As Adrian Volkov’s most feared enforcer, he lives by one rule—feel nothing, need nothing, love no one. Then there’s Alina Volkov. Brilliant. Untouchable. The Volkov princess who refuses to be caged. Damian has spent years protecting her from the shadows, keeping his distance from the only light he has ever known. Because men like him are born for sin, not salvation. But Alina has never followed rules—especially his. When a dangerous enemy resurfaces from Damian’s past, targeting Alina to destroy the Volkov family, distance is no longer an option. Forced into close quarters, the tension between them ignites into something far more dangerous than attraction. She sees the nightmares he hides. He sees the fear she refuses to show. And the deeper they fall, the more impossible it becomes to pretend this is only protection. Because Damian isn’t just fighting enemies anymore—he’s fighting the truth. He would burn the world to keep her safe. Even if the only thing that might destroy her… is loving him.

VERSES OF THE VICES

We were told that power is a shield, but I’ve found it’s more of a glass house—transparent, fragile, and freezing at night. We’ve watched the "Kings" move through marble halls, seen the way they wear their sins like custom tailoring, and whispered about the women who finally brought them to their knees. But what happens in the stillness between the pages? Verses of the Vices is a descent. It is a collection of seven autopsies performed on the hearts of men who thought they were untouchable. These poems are for the ones who look at a throne and see a cage. For the ones who know that wrath is just a mask for grief, and that gluttony is just a hunger for a home that doesn't exist. From the suffocating luxury of Smoke in Suit to the raw, quiet surrender of What the Fire Forgot, this collection maps the distance between who these men are and who they become when the lights go out. They say money can’t buy a soul, but it can certainly build a beautiful place to lose one. Welcome to the wreckage. It’s more beautiful than you were led to believe. Even the gods bleed when they love. — A.V.

CROWN OF OBSESSION

Adrian Volkov and Seraphina Vale collide long before they understand each other. One accidental photograph captures classified Volkov intel, turning Seraphina into a supposed threat and Adrian into the enemy she never asked for. A misunderstanding spirals into scandal, and the only way out is a one-year marriage contract neither wants—yet neither can refuse. He expects obedience. She offers defiance. Both ignite. Seraphina’s quiet strength cracks Adrian’s control, revealing the man beneath the armor—loyal, wounded, terrifyingly devoted. And as she learns the shadows he carries, he begins to feel the one thing he swore he wouldn’t: her. But the past she ran from returns, ruthless and unrelenting. To save her, Adrian crosses lines he once treated as untouchable. To protect him, Seraphina steps into a world built on danger and loyalty. Their story stops being a fight against each other and becomes a war they face together. Obsessive. Devastating. Inevitable. Crown of Obsession is a story of two opposites who should have destroyed each other—and instead learned what it means to belong.

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EPILOGUE - FIVE YEARS LATER

Ana Vespera

I’m Ana Vespera. I write novels, poetry, songs, and everything in between—exploring love, emotion, and the moments that linger long after they pass.

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CROWN OF SIN

Ana Vespera

VERSES OF THE VICES

Ana Vespera

CROWN OF OBSESSION

Ana Vespera