The Donna Rose Buried in the Snow Chapter 01

The Donna Rose Buried in the Snow Chapter 01

Everyone envied me.

I married a man who loved me like his life depended on it—Damien Caruso, the most powerful mafia boss in New York.

For my fairytale wedding, he bought out every rose in the country.

That day, it rained roses from the sky.

Because I was afraid of childbirth, he got a vasectomy without hesitation.

He said being with me was more than enough.

So even though I knew he didn’t love me that much, I still chose to stay.

I stayed willingly.

Until that winter.

I was having a snowball fight with my sister when she slipped and broke her arm.

Out of nowhere, Damien slapped me across the face.

His eyes were red as he glared at me.

“Natalia has already given you enough. She even gave me up to you. What more do you want? Why can’t you just be satisfied? Why do you have to hurt her too?!”

He carefully lifted her into his arms and rushed toward the car.

His voice turned ice-cold.

“Since you love snowball fights so much, then stay out there and enjoy it.”

His bodyguards tied me up in the rose garden he built for me.

Snow fell endlessly, covering me inch by inch.

I curled into myself, trembling, my consciousness fading.

And strangely, I felt relieved.

I didn’t want a man who had been “given” to me anymore.

Three days later, he had lost his mind.

…

Snow kept falling.

Soon, it buried my entire body.

I struggled to break free, twisting against the ropes.

My wrists tore open, flesh scraped raw, but the ropes didn’t budge.

Rose thorns pierced deep into my skin.

This entire garden—roses blooming even in the dead of winter—was something Damien had spent a fortune on.

All because I once said I wanted to see snow weighing down roses.

I slowly lifted my head.

Today was supposed to be the heaviest snowfall of the season.

Ever since winter began, I had been waiting every day to watch it with him.

I never imagined I’d die inside the “surprise” he prepared for me.

And the love I thought I had?

The care I believed in?

All fake.

I let out a weak laugh.

At myself.

At him.

The snow swallowed me whole.

I shivered uncontrollably, my fingers numb beyond feeling.

A figure suddenly passed in front of me.

My eyes lit up.

I tried to call for help, but my tongue was frozen stiff.

No words came out.

Only a faint, broken rasp.

He didn’t even glance my way.

He walked straight past the garden, speaking gently on the phone.

“My bad. I forgot your jacket. It’s no trouble to go get it for you.”

“How could I forget your favorite blueberry cake? I already had the chef bake it. I’ll bring it over.”

My throat tightened.

In front of me, Damien had always been distant with Natalia Hayes, my younger sister.

At most, they exchanged a few polite words at family gatherings.

When Natalia was a child, she’d been poisoned by one of our parents’ business rivals.

Since then, her food preferences became a closely guarded secret.

Only people she trusted would know.

And her favorite?

Blueberry cake.

Lights flicked on inside the villa.

Voices drifted faintly through the storm.

I heard Damien.

“Did Donna go to bed?”

Dinner sat untouched on the table, long gone cold.

Every dish had been ordered just for me, based on my tastes.

Normally, I would’ve eaten happily.

But tonight, nothing had been touched.

My fading mind snapped back for a moment.

I started struggling again, desperately.

Trying to grab onto the last chance to be saved.

But I couldn’t feel my limbs anymore.

I could only curl there, frozen stiff, my eyes barely moving.

The snow fell harder.

Damien frowned and turned toward the stairs.

Then Mrs. Andersen, a servant, suddenly spoke up.

“Wasn’t she with you and Miss Hayes?”

He paused. A flicker of impatience crossed his face.

“She didn’t come back?”

Then, like he remembered something, he waved it off.

“Forget it. She always storms off when she’s mad. Getting more dramatic every time. It’s freezing out—doesn’t she worry about herself at all?”

We’d been married for three years.

The whole world believed Damien loved me.

Except me.

I doubted it again and again.

Tested him, over and over.

Every time I got upset, I ran away from home.

And every time, he dropped everything to find me.

To bring me back.

I once asked him if he ever got tired of it.

If he ever hated me for it.

He kissed my forehead, smiling softly.

“Honey, I love that you trust I’ll always come get you.”

“Even if you run away a thousand times, I’ll find you every time.”

But this time, he just frowned.

Asked the maid to wrap the blueberry cake tighter.

And rushed out the door without hesitation.

As he stepped outside, he added casually, “Make some soup. When Alison comes back, call a doctor to check on her.”

“She’s delicate. She always takes longer to recover than others.”

“Alison likes roses. So I planted the whole yard with them.”

“She’s afraid of the dark. There’s not a single unlit corner in this house.”

“Everything about Alison—I know it all. You don’t need to test me.”

For a moment, warmth seemed to return to my frozen body.

I remembered him holding my hand, smiling at our friends.

Their teasing laughter.

My quiet giggle behind my hand.

And the constant tug-of-war inside me—between trust and doubt.

“Not enough,” I had whispered. “I want to hear more.”

His expression changed.

Something twisted in his eyes.

“What else do you want to hear?”

“That Natalia sacrificed everything for you?”

“That you’re nothing but a selfish sister?”

His face warped with anger.

He grabbed my shoulders, shaking me violently.

“Alison Hayes!”

“You disgust me!”

I jolted awake.

But my body—it was gone.

I floated in midair, weightless.

Below me, in the center of the garden, lay a twisted, human-shaped ice sculpture.

Me.

I drifted closer and looked down.

Huh.

I died ugly.

They’d probably be shocked when they saw this.

I reached out, trying to touch myself.

But my vision blurred.

And suddenly, I saw Natalia slap Damien across the face.