Apotheosis – Ascension to Godhood - Chapter 24

CONTENT WARNING:/This novel contains mature themes, explicit sexual content, strong language, and adult situations. Reader discretion is advised./---She ran from the devil who raised her…And married the one who wore a crown.After her parents’ tragic death, Lydia Andreyevna’s life became a nightmare. Stripped of her name, inheritance, and freedom by her uncle—Lord Alexander—she was treated like property and promised to a Count four times her age.Desperate to escape, she fled into the cold night… and straight into blood.A stranger. Wounded. Beautiful. Terrifying.She should’ve left him.But she didn’t.She touched him once—and fate branded her forever.Her uncle caught her the next morning. Her escape failed. But when she begged Queen Olga for protection, the Queen offered her a deadly bargain:Marry the masked Grand Duke of Zolotaria.The king’s hunting dog. The butcher of the East. The devil in a crown.The man feared by kings.The heir to the throne.The same man she once saved.Ivan Romanov.They say he bathes in blood. That he kills without blinking. That he conquered kingdoms with a smile behind a mask. That no one sees his face—and lives.Some call him the devil. Others call him Death’s favorite son.But behind the mask is the same man she found dying in the dark.The same voice that haunted her dreams.The same hands she once held.Now, he’s her husband.Her jailer.Her obsession.She doesn’t know if she’s his prisoner, or his weakness.Cold and untouchable, Ivan doesn’t share his bed. Doesn’t share his secrets. But she sees it—the hunger in his eyes. The pain in his silence. The way he looks at her like she’s the only thing keeping his demons at bay.She should fear him.She should hate him.But the moment she dares to take off his mask… it’s already too late.Because Ivan wants her—her fire, her body, her heart.And in his world, what he wants, he keeps.Even if it means burning down the kingdom.She thought she was running from hell.She ended up in his bed.And the most dangerous thing of all?She doesn’t want to leave.

The Year 1766

Disowned by her own family for their own reasons, she was taken in by a maid at the age of seven to work at the Carmichael's household. The Carmichael's were one of the respectable pureblooded family in Bonelake and like any other household, there were rules. Rules that needed to be followed by the servants and maids.

Like everyone else, she was reminded not to disobey the rules. But before she learns to walk in the shadows like the rest without a whisper, the Duke's young son calls her 'Bambi' and everything breaks loose.

Book cover credit: complxmars

All it takes is one monster for the world to go to ruins.Life as Nadine knows it goes to shit and she has to accustom herself to life underground, that is until an accident forces her out into the real world.Caine has no idea why he saved Nadine.She is everything he hates- rich, spoiled and entitled- and yet, he couldn't just let her die.Living outside is hard enough without having to save someone else and yet, he does it with Nadine.Thrust into a world that she has no idea how to navigate, Nadine is forced to rely on Caine.Her life is literally in his hands.They soon realize that maybe the monsters are the least of their worries.

In an inaccessible village, there were a few houses on the hillside.

People from far away were attracted here and the mountain road was crowded with luxury cars, because, in this town, there was a young man with incredible medical skills who could cure all kinds of illnesses!