King of Wrath: An Arranged Marriage Romance

“Familial relationships shouldn’t be transactional, but I couldn’t shake the sense I owed my parents a huge debt for everything—the opportunities, the education, the freedom to live and work where I want without worrying about money. They were luxuries most people didn’t have and I didn’t take them for granted.”

Vivian’s observations reveal another aspect of her obedience besides her desire to avoid loneliness. She recognizes all of the ways that she has lived a privileged life, and she wants to pay her parents back, in a sense, for everything they gave her, despite knowing that their relationship should not be transactional.

“Dante had hit me right in the ugliest, most undesirable part of myself. The part I loathed but couldn’t shake.”

When Dante makes a quip about Vivian being a perfectionist who wants to please her parents, he hits one of her most sore spots. The dig hurts her because she hates it, despite wishing she could be different. The moment also foreshadows Vivian’s eventual ability to shake off her parent-pleasing self.

“‘They only go to Michelin-starred places now. If they saw me eating from a food truck, they’d have a coronary’ […] ‘He was furious. Said Russos don’t frequent cheap diners and assigned someone to walk us home straight after school.’”

This is Vivian and Dante’s first moment of connection, providing a basis of common feelings on which they build a relationship. It also reveals their shared lack of pretention when it comes to food, differentiating them from many members of upper-class society.

“[M]aybe it was because this was my first moment of semi-peace since my grandfather died. The past few months had been headache after headache […]. It was nice to sit and breathe for a minute.”

This is an important moment for Dante because of the peace it provides him, albeit momentarily. He tries to dismiss the association of the moment with Vivian, but it is one of the first moments when they connect, and it provides him with a sense of relief from the stress of the past few months. This is a moment of sympathetic characterization which suggests that Dante is vulnerable and capable of romance.

“My voice cracked. One crack. That was all it took. The thread snapped, and I broke down, sobs wracking my body as the emotion and trauma of the day overwhelmed me.”

This moment is important for Vivian’s and Dante’s emotional growth. Although Vivian does not immediately act on it, having her life threatened teaches her that she wants to make sure that her life is one worth living. The phrase “[o]ne crack” also suggests a gunshot, highlighting the fragility of life since one gunshot would have been “all it took” to kill her.

“[Dante] could use a partner. He takes too much care of other people, and he doesn’t take enough care of himself.”

Although Janis Russo is not, as she admits herself, a good mother, she is a good enough mother to understand her son, as these words reveal. She recognizes that Dante is not simply the man who is known for his brutality but also a man who hides behind his strong façade. The moment reveals an important element of Dante’s true character.

“The older I got, the more I realized how much money changed us. Not just materially, but spiritually, for lack of a better word.”

Vivian’s admission to Dante reveals her true feelings about her family’s wealth and status. Even though she is grateful for the privileges her father’s success has brought her, she would give up the wealth if she could have her loving parents and happy home life back. However, she still feels uncertainty at this point in her development, suggested by the fact that she qualifies her word choice of “spiritually.”

“The prospect [of losing Vivian] had unlocked a level of fear I hadn’t experienced since I was five, when I’d watched my parents walk away, thinking I’d never see them again. That they’d vanish into the ether, leaving me with my terrifyingly stern-faced grandfather and a mansion too large to fill. I’d been right.”

Dante’s fear over losing Vivian recalls his parents’ abandonment of him and Luca. It illustrates his deep-set but ignored fear of abandonment and the sense of responsibility he developed to protect the family he has remaining.

“Dating Dante was like rediscovering a part of myself I’d buried when I realized my future was not my own. The part that dreamed of love and roses, that wasn’t afraid to open up to someone in case I fell in love with them and they turned out to be an ‘unsuitable match.’”

This is the moment when Vivian realizes that her relationship with Dante could be more than simply an arranged marriage; this is an archetypal moment in arranged marriage romances. Even though by marrying him she is doing as her parents want, she finds herself falling for him and realizing what it feels like to fall in love without the pressure of disappointing family. She can fall for him without fear of what will happen.

“The fact Dante had gone to the trouble of setting this up and consulting my sister when he could’ve easily taken me to the planetarium instead…it touched a part of me I hadn’t thought anyone could reach.”

Vivian finally realizes in this moment that Dante cares for her, even though neither of them recognizes the true depth of those emotions. Dante illustrates his deep capacity for care and thoughtfulness by putting in such effort to make a meaningful date for Vivian.

“It wasn’t a long reconciliation, but it didn’t need to be. Moving on didn’t always involve big gestures or heavy talks. Sometimes, the most meaningful moments were the small ones—a softening glance here, a simple but sincere apology there.”

This passage is the moment when Vivian realizes that safe, healthy love does not require grand gestures. Simple but meaningful apologies are enough. This primes her to be able to forgive Dante later, when he puts in even more effort than a simple apology.

“If I let her father off the hook, I could maybe salvage what we had. Even if she found he was a piece of shit, she was too loyal to her family to forgive me for destroying them. And if she was, by some miracle, okay with me taking down her father, could our relationship survive the aftermath?”

This is one of the first moments when Dante confronts the choice he must make between love and revenge. His thoughts illustrate the direction he ends up taking, believing that Vivian would never forgive him and choosing to act accordingly to protect himself.

“But as much as I wanted to make them happy, I couldn’t have tied myself to someone I didn’t like for the rest of my life. That’s one thing I’ve realized now that I’m older, Vivi. You can’t live your life trying to please others. You can be courteous and respectful, and you can compromise, but when it comes down to it? It’s your life. Don’t waste it.”

These are Agnes’s words to Vivian when Vivian asks for advice. They’re particularly important because Agnes directly addresses Vivian’s fears around “disobeying” their father. Even though Agnes ended up marrying the man her parents wanted, she admits that she would not have done so if she had not fallen for the man, giving Vivian more courage when it is her turn to make such a decision. She therefore catalyzes Vivian’s character development.

“It’d been such a beautiful day minutes ago, but that was the unpredictability of a New York spring. One second, it was blue skies and sunshine. The next, it was storming like the world was ending.”

The weather in this scene foreshadows Vivian’s life and the coming storm. Vivian is about to learn the truth about her father’s blackmail, so she is about to go from the sunshine of her growing love for Dante to the storm clouds of deception and family upheaval.

“Don’t let your pursuit of wrath ruin the best thing that’s ever happened to you. Yeah, figuring out things with Vivian will be hard, but you’ve always been a fighter. So fucking fight.”

Luca’s words here provide the reminder and push that Dante needs. Having grown during the past eight or so months, Luca is more willing to speak the truth, challenging his brother’s perceptions and pushing him not to let wrath control his life and ruin his happiness. Both Dante and Vivian’s sibling figures to push them towards character development.

“I’d turned the other cheek for too long. Been too willing to go along with whatever my parents told me to do because it was easier than rocking the boat and disappointing them. For all his faults, I loved my father and my family. I didn’t want to hurt them. But I didn’t realize until now that not speaking up when they crossed the line would hurt us more in the long run than anything else.”

This passage is important because this is the moment that Vivian realizes her own role in her family’s altered dynamics. Her father demanded complete obedience, but her willingness to go along with his wishes allowed his actions to go unchecked. She regrets not having tried to stop him from turning into the man he has become, highlighting The Impact of Familial Pressures.

“My father had disowned me, and I hadn’t tried to stop him because the price was too high. Tears crowded my throat, but I forced them back even as a crushing sense of loneliness invaded me. In the space of a week, I’d lost my family and I’d lost Dante. The only thing I had left was myself. And for now, that would have to be enough.”

This is the moment where Vivian finally chooses to step away from her family in the name of morality and self-respect. Her fears of being abandoned are coming true, but she stands firm in her decision not to support her father’s immoral choices.

“The whispers about Lau Jewels’ troubles were still circulating, but they weren’t enough to override the prestige of hosting the Legacy Ball.”

This moment, in the days after the Legacy Ball, is an important moment in Vivian’s journey of self-discovery. Despite her father’s problems and public embarrassment, Vivian has proven her own capabilities; her success’s survival in the face of family shame validates her strengths and sense of self.

“Without pretty words, all I had was the truth.”

This line reveals one of the moments when Dante chooses to lean into vulnerability and admit weakness. After all the deception of the past eight or so months, he chooses honesty and seeks absolution.

“We weren’t big on physical affection in our household. The last time we’d hugged was when I was nine, but this felt like a much-needed embrace for both of us.”

This is an important moment in Vivian and Cecilia’s relationship. After years of distance and tension, they show affection for one another and value their love for one another over status and appearance.

“If we were discussing our issues, I might as well lay it all out there. The blackmail issue was the straw that broke the camel’s back, but trouble in the Lau household had been brewing for years, if not decades.”

This is the moment Vivian gathers her strength to confront issues in her family once and for all. Having confronted the worst of her fears–being disowned and abandoned by her father–she realizes that she must confront her mother about their relationship, as well. She alters her point about “years” to “decades,” which emulates her process of coming to terms with her thoughts.

“‘You didn’t treat me like a daughter,’ I said. ‘You treated me like a pawn. Your willingness to cut me off the minute I refused to do your bidding is proof of that. I’ll always be grateful for the opportunities you provided me growing up, but the past doesn’t excuse the present. And the truth is, present you is not someone I would be proud to call a parent.’”

Although Vivian has already confronted her father once at this point in the novel, this moment provides closure for Vivian and reveals her finally standing up for herself in more ways than simply refusing to do as her father asks. She tells her father outright that she does not approve of his actions and that he is not a man she would be proud of, speaking her truth and not allowing his displeasure to affect her behavior.

“Six months ago, I would’ve burned the fucking room down with Francis in it. But tonight, I wasn’t interested in a showdown or argument. My hatred of him had cost me the person I loved, and I refused to waste a single second more on him. Not when there was someone else I’d much rather spend my time with.”

Dante makes a big step in his personal growth journey in this moment. He is angry with Francis over both the blackmail and how Francis treats Vivian, but Dante chooses love over revenge or even wrath.