Chapter 1

I was known as the mad wife of the city's most ruthless mafia don.

Every time my husband took a new mistress, I would point a gun at them to scare them off.

To punish me for my jealousy, he bought her luxury cars, penthouses, and diamond rings. He even took her virginity right on our marriage bed.

He thought this would force me to sign the divorce papers. But I just blinked back my tears, forced a smile, and pushed the papers back to him once again.

Everyone thought he and I would spend the rest of our lives torturing each other in this toxic cycle.

Until the ninth time I caught them in bed at a luxury hotel.

When Ethan Blackwood saw me walk in, his first instinct was to shield Chloe behind his back.

Furious, I raised my replica gun at his little mistress, Chloe. But before I could even take a step forward, Ethan grabbed the fruit knife from the nightstand.

He slashed his own wrist thirteen times, the deep cuts drawing a terrifying amount of blood, forcing me to take a step back in sheer horror.

"Don't you dare touch her, Elena. I know you're mad. If you want to punish someone, take it out on me."

The fearsome mafia don, currently covered in his own blood, was doing everything he could just to protect his little mistress.

He had never protected me like that. Not even once.

But his next words hit me like a physical blow, leaving me completely paralyzed.

"Do whatever you want to me. Just don't involve the baby. She's pregnant."

My hand instinctively went to my own flat stomach. My voice trembled violently. "What did you just say? She's pregnant?"

"It means that as long as you don't hurt her and the baby, I won't divorce you."

"Don't look at me with that face. This is my final compromise. Push me any further, and I won't show you any mercy."

A compromise? His compromise was to stay married to me just to protect his mistress and her unborn child.

But he had no idea that I was carrying his baby, too.

In that single, quiet moment, I realized I wanted to leave him. Truly leave him.

My hands shook so badly that I couldn't even hold the replica gun. It clattered loudly onto the floor.

Ethan frowned at my reaction. Then, as if realizing something, he calmly pulled a black card from his wallet and slid it toward me.

"Still mad? Take this. Buy whatever makes you happy."

"I know you wanted that new sapphire necklace and the designer bag. If this isn't enough, just ask. But you are never to touch Chloe again."

I looked at the black card, my eyes burning with unshed tears.

He knew damn well that I didn't care about those things. Those were the things Chloe loved, not me.

"Ethan, have you forgotten who Chloe actually is to me?"

Ethan paused, avoiding my gaze.

"That's all in the past, Elena. People need to move on. Stop clinging to the past. Besides, Chloe is innocent in all of this."

Innocent? Chloe was the daughter of my father's mistress.

To take my mother's place, Chloe's mother literally drove my own mother to jump off a twenty-story building.

After her mother moved into our house, I was starved and abused.

On the day I turned eighteen, they drugged me and sold me to a man infected with HIV.

It was Ethan who saved me back then.

For a long time, I saw him as my savior, my only anchor in this dark world.

Back then, he had held me tightly in his arms, swearing through gritted teeth:

"I swear, Elena, I will make everyone who hurt you wish they were dead."

But the man who once swore to protect me for the rest of his life was now shielding my worst enemy.

He was actually calling her innocent and warning me not to hurt her.

As if I were the villain in this story.

It felt like a piece of my heart was being ripped out with a rusty knife.

I took a step back, my voice barely a whisper.

"Ethan, let's get a divorce."

Ethan snapped his head up, staring at me with a look so cold it felt like he was looking at an enemy.

The next second, his large hand gripped my stomach, pressing down hard.

His voice was like ice. "Are you still playing these hard-to-get games with me?"

"I've already made my compromise. What more do you want?"

"If you dare hurt Chloe, I swear to God, I will make you pay a price you can't afford!"

A sharp, dull pain radiated from where he pressed against my belly. The blood in my veins felt frozen.

He seemed to have forgotten how my life went downhill after my father went bankrupt.

While I was being beaten by debt collectors until I lost hearing in one ear, Chloe was enjoying a luxurious cruise in Venice.

While I was digging through trash cans just to find a scrap of food, Chloe was checking into five-star restaurants.

While I had to sell my own blood just to pay off the family debts, Chloe was spending thousands at luxury auctions.

I genuinely believed my life would finally get better after I married Ethan.

But the very next year after Chloe returned to the city, Ethan ended up in her bed.

Honestly, I had brought up divorce several times over the past five years.

But every time I saw his indifferent face when he signed the papers, the years of pain and resentment would make me back out.

I chose to act like a madwoman, tormenting Chloe in hopes of clawing back my place in Ethan's heart.

But over the years, Ethan had completely lost all trust in me.

A decade of history, and we had ended up in a place of absolute distrust.

The pressure on my abdomen grew, and the tiny life inside me seemed to sense the danger, kicking anxiously.

The pain was so intense that I collapsed onto the floor, curling into a ball.

Ethan didn't show a single ounce of worry. His voice was completely flat, as if he were just giving me a routine update.

"Chloe is traumatized. I need to take her to the hospital. Once her checkup is done, I'll come home to accompany you."

He paused, making it sound like he was making a massive sacrifice for me. "I won't see her again until you give birth."

With that, he walked right past me and headed straight into the bedroom.

The door slammed shut with a loud bang, making my ears ring.

Let him go to her. It didn't matter anymore. We didn't have a future anyway.

I let out a bitter laugh. Clutching the wall, I forced myself to stand up and slowly dragged myself out of the hotel.

The moment I stepped out of the lobby, my vision went black, and I completely lost consciousness.