Chapter 1

When I was six months pregnant, I was ambushed on the anniversary of our daughter’s death. Bullets ripped through the armored SUV before it hit a concrete barrier. By the time my bodyguards pulled me from the wreckage, blood had already stained my dress.

"We have no time to be lost," said the doctor.

"We need your husband's consent, Don Alessandro De Luca."

And I called him.

Once.

Twice.

Ten times.

He never answered.

Ten minutes later, I lost our unborn child.

When I finally woke up after surgery, the first thing I reached for was my phone. I checked it right away, and there were no missed calls. No messages. Instead, I saw a post from my mother-in-law.

A picture of a happy family. Four smiling faces beneath the fireworks of a private amusement park reserved for the De Luca Syndicate.

Alessandro.

His first love.

Her son.

And the little life growing inside her.

The caption made my stomach twist.

"Another heir to the De Luca family. I only wish that shameless woman would finally disappear from my son's life."

I laughed. Not because it was funny, but because if I didn't laugh, I would shatter.

While I was bleeding on an operating table... The man who swore to protect me had spent the day celebrating with another woman. The little boy in the photo looked almost exactly the age my daughter should have been if she hadn't died.

Now Selena Johnson was carrying Alessandro's second child.

Enough.

If he wanted that life... He could have it.

The day I discovered Alessandro's betrayal, I did only two things.

First, I ordered the hospital to release the ashes of my unborn child.

Second, I signed two documents.

One relinquished my position as Lady of the De Luca Syndicate. The other ended our marriage.

Then I called my father. "Dad..." My voice cracked. "I'm coming home."

There was silence before the familiar, commanding tone of the head of the Morentte Mafia echoed through the phone.

"You've finally made up your mind."

"I'll inherit the family."

"I will return as soon as my papers are ready."

"I warned you years ago," Father said quietly.

"A man like Alessandro only knows how to possess. But not how to love."

Tears blurred my vision. "You were right, Dad."

After hanging up, I stared at the tiny white urn resting in my lap. It was impossibly small.

Too small for a child who never even had the chance to breathe.

My heart aches that made me cry. Softly. Silently. Then I stood.

Before I could leave, voices drifted from the office nearby.

"Don Alessandro... I'm not asking for more money."

The voice made my blood freeze. It belonged to the cardiac surgeon who had operated on my daughter three years ago.

I moved closer.

The door was slightly open.

"If anyone talks," the doctor continued nervously,

"The De Luca Syndicate will collapse."

My heart skipped.

On the other end of the call, Alessandro's cold voice sounded.

"Then make sure no one talks."

The doctor hesitated.

"But... stealing a donor heart that was legally assigned to your own daughter..."

"You ordered me to transplant it into Miss Johnson's son instead."

"I wonder what your wife will do if she ever learns the truth."

My mind is blown. The hallway spun. The air disappeared from my lungs.

No... This couldn't be real.

Selena Johnson.

The woman is Alessandro's first love.

Seven years ago, when rival families nearly wiped out the De Luca Syndicate, she fled without looking back.

My family stepped in. I married Alessandro.

The Morentti Mafia poured billions into his organization, weapons into his warehouses, soldiers into his ranks.

I saved his empire.

Then, three years ago, Selena returned.

After that... Alessandro slowly became a stranger. He stopped coming home.

Missed our anniversaries. Skipped family dinners.

I told myself he was busy expanding the syndicate.

One afternoon, I opened his office door and found him kissing Selena.

I became hysterical. I broke furniture. Destroyed everything within reach.

He only sighed.

"It meant nothing."

"She stumbled."

"You misunderstood."

I wanted to believe him.

Then our daughter was diagnosed with congenital heart failure.

Everything became insignificant. All we cared about was saving her.

I still remember Alessandro holding us both.

His forehead against mine. His lips brush our daughter's hair.

"I swear on my name as Don of the De Luca Syndicate..." "Our daughter will live."

I believed him.

When a matching donor heart was found, I thought heaven had answered our prayers.

But she died on the operating table. I spent years believing fate had stolen her.

I was wrong. It wasn't fate.

It was her father.

The man who promised to save her...

Gave her heart to another woman's son.

On the anniversary of our little girl's death...

He celebrated in the amusement park with the family he truly wanted.

My hands instinctively rested on my empty stomach.

The child I had just lost...

Our daughter...

Every ounce of pain merged into something colder. Something far more dangerous.

Love died that day.

All that remained was the blood of the Morentti Mafia running through my veins.

Fine. If Alessandro De Luca wanted Selena Johnson…

He could have her.

I would disappear from his life without looking back.

And the next time we met...

It would no longer be as husband and wife.

It would be the future Queen of the Morentti Mafia...

Standing against the Don, who had destroyed everything she once loved.