From the moment Y/N saw the flicker of loneliness in Mattheo Riddle's eyes, she was his light and his only anchor against the dark. But as his eighteenth birthday approaches, Mattheo’s inherited destiny as the Dark Lord’s heir becomes absolute. Faced with the ultimatum—take the Dark Mark and serve, or watch Y/N be destroyed—Mattheo chooses to break his own heart. He meticulously fabricates a cruel betrayal to ensure she hates him. Now she’s safe, but he is lost to the darkness.