Chapter 1

When my husband Alessio learned I was pregnant, he didn't look happy at all.

Instead, he set two abortion pills and a glass of water in front of me. His voice held no emotion.

"Elena, the timing is wrong. Until I own Greyhaven Terminal outright, you can't give birth to my heir."

The Costa Family still owned a thirty-percent stake in Greyhaven Terminal, the last obstacle between the Rossi Family and total control of the harbor's freight traffic.

If I stayed pregnant, my father would use the baby as leverage to raise his price at the negotiating table.

Alessio would never let anyone gain leverage over the Rossi Family, not his wife, not even his own unborn child.

This time, I swallowed both pills without a fight.

When the cramps folded me in half, something in his expression softened.

He sat beside me on the bed and took my hand.

"Someday, I'll repay you for everything you've sacrificed for me."

He thought I had no idea. The day before, I'd seen a pregnancy announcement on my best friend Bianca's social media.

In the photo of her positive test, I recognized the sleeve of my husband Alessio's shirt.

The mysterious boyfriend Bianca had always refused to introduce was my husband.

Looking at the guilt on his face, I spoke weakly.

I said I needed his signature to sell a small block of shares in the import-export company he'd given me.

I handed him a stack of papers. Guilt did the rest: he signed every page without reading a word.

This time, though, I was building my exit. Buried in the stack was a postnuptial property agreement.

Once the agreement was in force, I would be gone for good.

Chapter 1

Three days after the abortion, I dragged myself home from the hospital, weak and hollowed out.

Bianca was in the living room, toying with an anklet —— a gift I'd bought for my own baby when I first found out I was pregnant.

"Elena, you're back! Alessio said you weren't feeling well and asked me to come keep you company."

She linked her arm through mine affectionately.

I looked at her counterfeit smile and laughed coldly to myself. Sending the mistress to comfort the wife. Alessio had a vicious sense of irony.

The anklet brought back the baby I'd carried for barely two months, and bitterness rose in my throat.

But I kept my composure and replied politely.

"I'm fine, don't worry about me."

Then came a sharp, mocking voice.

"What could possibly be wrong with her? She's been married to Don Rossi for years and hasn't brought one worthwhile advantage to the Family."

"She'll never measure up to you, Bianca. She doesn't even follow her parents' instructions."

My mother's voice cut through the room, high and sharp.

I turned as my parents, Victor and Margaret Costa, swept into the living room and settled onto the sofa as though they owned the mansion.

They had come to negotiate over Greyhaven Terminal. Margaret had told me to meet them at the door, but I'd been in the hospital and forgotten.

To them, it was one more failure. I could never understand why nothing I did measured up to Bianca, a woman with no blood tie to them at all.

Their attitude toward me had changed the moment I introduced them to her.

Bianca stepped in to smooth things over as usual, carefully pouring tea for Victor and Margaret before speaking softly.

"Please, Elena isn't feeling well today. Let's not be too hard on her."

"Not feeling well?" The words seemed to trigger something in my mother. She suddenly grabbed my arm, her expression turning eager.

"Are you carrying Don Rossi's baby? Wonderful, wonderful! You must rest, you absolutely must!" Margaret had already decided pregnancy was the only possible explanation.

After I married Alessio, she asked almost every month whether I was pregnant. She wanted a Rossi heir she could turn into leverage.

Whenever she learned Alessio had made me use contraception, she called me useless for failing to earn the right to bear his child.

To Victor and Margaret, I was a bargaining chip with a womb. I had never been the daughter they raised for more than twenty years. I had never been family.

I didn't answer her rambling questions, because I saw Alessio come through the door.

Alessio came in to find Bianca pouring tea for my parents. His gaze flicked to me, unreadable.

"Why is a guest serving tea?"

I reached for the cup in Bianca's hands. Somehow, the scalding tea arced toward her stomach before the cup hit the floor and shattered.

Alessio lunged to catch Bianca, knocking me onto the couch in the process.

Bianca looked startled, her eyes reddening as she clutched Alessio's arm, perfectly timing her wounded expression.

"Elena, what's wrong? Are you still not feeling well?"

It sounded like concern, but it was a calculated reminder of my abortion. Alessio assumed I was jealous of Bianca's baby, even though he believed I had no idea who the father was.

Alessio shielded Bianca behind him, his gaze turning cold.

"Elena, you're clearly not yourself. Apologize to Bianca, then go upstairs and rest."

One command, and he'd convicted me in front of everyone. He never noticed that Bianca was dry while hot tea soaked the front of my dress.

I lifted my chin and met his eyes. Ours was an arranged marriage, but for years he'd treated me with basic decency. Surely he couldn't be this blind.

"I didn't push her. Why should I apologize?"

Alessio stared at me in silence, his expression unreadable.

The silence stretched until Victor rounded on me.

"Don Rossi told you to apologize. Are you deaf? We raised you better than this."

Victor's roar made me flinch. I looked to Alessio for help. Whatever else we were, I was still his wife; he shouldn't have let outsiders humiliate me like that.

But this time, he said nothing in my defense.

His silence told me everything. I lowered my head. There was no point giving them another excuse to hurt me.

"I'm sorry."

Behind me, Bianca rushed to play peacemaker.

"It's fine. Really. Don't be so hard on Elena. I heard some handsome heir has been chasing her. What if she gets angry and runs off with him? What would we do then?"

Chapter 2

Her words stopped me mid-step on the staircase. My heart sank.

Two weeks ago, I'd run into a man while shopping with Bianca.

I recognized him as the heir to another powerful Family, though he didn't seem to recognize either of us. He paid for lunch and asked for my number. I refused and made it clear that I was married.

The moment Bianca noticed the signet ring marking his rank, interest flashed in her eyes. She gave him her number instead, and I teased her about it afterward.

Now, in Bianca's version, that harmless encounter had become proof that I was entertaining another man.

I fought to swallow my rising anger and glanced at Alessio. I was sure he wouldn't believe it, wouldn't let anyone slander his wife like this.

But his defense never came. All I heard was his impatient voice.

"Just go upstairs. We'll deal with the rest tonight."

No one gave me room to explain. By then, I was too numb to waste another word on any of them.

They favored Bianca. I didn't care. I packed my suitcase in silence, put everything in order, and waited for the agreement to take effect so I could leave.

That evening, after the negotiations ended, Alessio came upstairs. He saw me folding clothes and suspected nothing. He wrapped his arms around my waist from behind and nuzzled my neck.

"I refused your parents' demands after the way they treated you today. You're not mad at me, are you?"

The ticklish sensation on my neck made me uncomfortable. I pushed him away, keeping my expression neutral.

"Handle your business however you want. It has nothing to do with how I feel."

Not getting the answer he wanted, irritation flickered in his eyes.

"Then perhaps you should explain the man Bianca says is pursuing you."

"I don't owe you an explanation. You owe me one, Alessio. Who got Bianca pregnant?"

I had no idea where the courage came from. I'd spent our entire marriage accommodating him, never once defying him. I was shaking, but the words left me lighter than I had felt in years.

Alessio's face darkened. He gripped my chin and forced me to look at him.

"When did you find out? I'm warning you, Elena—touch Bianca, and I'll make you regret it."

Thunder rumbled outside the window. The tense atmosphere inside was suddenly shattered by the shrill ring of a phone.

A ringtone reserved for Bianca cut through the room. Alessio released my chin and answered. Bianca's anxious voice came through the line.

"Alessio, my stomach hurts. The thunder is terrifying, and I keep having nightmares. I need you..."

Alessio hung up without looking at me again and walked straight out the door.

I stood by the window, watching the car slowly pull away from the estate. Not a single ripple of emotion stirred inside me.

Then I called the woman who had told me she was my biological mother.

Two weeks earlier, I'd learned that Victor and Margaret were not my birth parents. The Nightingale Family had found me and explained that I was their only direct heir living outside the organization. They wanted me home, but I'd just discovered I was pregnant and had been afraid to upend my life.

But now, there was nothing left in this family worth holding on to.

The call connected, and a warm, steady female voice came through.

"Elena? It's Cecilia Nightingale. Have you made your decision?"

I took a deep breath and answered.

"Yes, Mother. But before I come home, I need your help with a few things."

I asked Cecilia to uncover the full timeline of Alessio's affair with Bianca, along with every crime he had committed while leading the Rossi Family.

This time, I was no longer alone.

Chapter 3

Alessio spent the night at Bianca's and returned the following afternoon.

Without explanation, he took me to the Costa estate for a banquet.

I couldn't recall any major family event that warranted a banquet. Before I knew it, I was there.

A staff member handed me a gown and directed me to a private dressing suite. Bianca was already inside.

She grabbed my hand excitedly.

"Elena, you made it! I have the most amazing news to announce today! We're going to be family!"

Faced with her forced intimacy, I felt a wave of nausea. The pretense between us had already shattered. I had no interest in playing the sisterly act anymore and quietly pulled my hand free.

She didn't mind and kept talking.

But then I noticed something. The jewelry she was wearing looked very familiar.

It was the one-of-a-kind ruby suite my birth family had given me days earlier, valued at fifty million dollars. They had noticed how simply I dressed and insisted I accept it.

I had locked the jewels in the safe Alessio and I shared. He must have assumed they were his gift to me and handed them to Bianca without asking.

I stared at Bianca coldly while she continued showing off her new jewelry.

"Elena, isn't this gorgeous? Alessio gave it to me."

"He said the stones suit me better. You could never carry them the way I can. Besides, an adopted daughter has no business wearing something this valuable."

"And perhaps no one told you: I'm Bianca Costa, Victor and Margaret's biological daughter. You stole twenty years of my life. I won't ask for those years back—but from now on, anything you have is mine to take."

"Both our parents and Alessio agreed to that."

I already knew I was adopted, but learning that Bianca was the Costas' biological daughter still drove a blade through my chest. I remembered Victor and Margaret's shock when I first introduced her, and every slight that followed finally made sense. They had known from the beginning.

"You can have everything that belongs to the Costa heir. Those jewels don't."

I reached for the necklace around her neck, but before my fingers even touched her, Bianca suddenly threw herself backward toward the floor.

In the same instant, a pair of arms caught her around the waist.

"What are you doing!"

Alessio's voice exploded in my ears. Before I could react, his palm struck my face hard.

My cheek swelled beneath my palm. Alessio's usually cold face was alive with fury. He'd waited until we were alone to hit me.

"You knew Bianca was pregnant. How dare you push her! Are you trying to kill my child?"

"I should have known. No matter how you dress yourself up, Elena, you can't hide the lowness in your blood."

Rage shook me from head to toe. I'd believed that even a loveless marriage should contain respect. I'd stood beside him through his worst years, and now he spoke of me as though I were a disposable pet.

"Believe whatever you want about me, Alessio. Those jewels are mine. My birth parents gave them to me."

"Your parents are Bianca's birth parents!"

Bianca, cradled in his arms, clutched her belly and cried pitiful tears. Hearing my words, she tugged at his sleeve urgently, begging.

"Alessio, please, stop. It's all my fault. I came back and took my sister's things. She has every right to be angry at me."

She slapped herself across the face, twice, hard.

"I'm sorry, Elena. Please don't be angry. We used to be best friends. I thought becoming sisters would bring us closer."

"If it makes you unhappy, I... I don't have to come home."

Her voice broke, and by the end she was nearly sobbing. Alessio hadn't been able to stop her in time. He touched her reddened cheek with trembling fingers.

When he turned to me, his eyes were blazing.

"Guards, lock my wife in the storage room. Perhaps a night alone will teach her some discipline."

Chapter 4

Because we were at the Costa estate, Alessio's men took me to a windowless storage room off the service hall.

I could hear Alessio explaining to the guests outside.

"My wife isn't feeling well. She's resting in one of the guest rooms."

I touched the handprint on my face and laughed bitterly. He could lock me away and still perform the devoted husband for an audience.

Through the wall, I could make out bits and pieces of the banquet.

Bianca's face was swollen, so she wore a mask. After my parents announced that she was the true biological daughter of the Costa Family, they broke down crying and embraced her.

My husband Alessio also made an announcement.

"From this day forward, Bianca is my wife's sister. I will protect her and make amends for the twenty years she lost."

I dug my nails into my palms. Bianca was his lover in secret, yet in public he called her family. Alessio could turn any cruelty into a performance of honor.

I bit down hard to keep from making a sound. I couldn't let anyone discover I was locked in here and lose my last shred of dignity.

The banquet went on deep into the night.

Everyone drank until they were stumbling, then left.

My family, my husband, nearly everyone had forgotten I existed.

Without Alessio's permission, none of his men dared bring me food.

Light-headed with hunger, I leaned against the door and knocked as hard as I could, hoping someone might hear.

But through the crack in the door, I saw Bianca's malicious face.

When I saw what she was holding, cold sweat broke out all over my body.

She held a plastic crate alive with small snakes, each as thick as my thumb.

We used to be best friends. She knew I was terrified of snakes.

"Elena, I brought you a little something to eat."

She opened the door, seized my jaw, and tried to force a snake between my teeth.

I had no strength left to fight back. All I could do was clench my teeth shut with everything I had as the snake writhed closer and closer to my lips.

With every ounce of strength I had left, I kicked her hard. Bianca let out a piercing scream.

Blood began pooling between her legs.

The scream woke most of the drunken guests in the mansion.

When Victor, Margaret, and Alessio arrived, they found Bianca unconscious on the floor, clutching her stomach. Dozens of snakes writhed around her. I lay zip-tied nearby, soaked in sweat and barely conscious.

Margaret dropped to her knees, gathered Bianca into her arms, and began to wail.

"My baby, what did she do to you! Your first day home, and your vicious sister attacks you like this!"

"It's all my fault. I should never have left you two together. You were bringing your sister food, and this is how she repays you?"

Hearing my mother's hysterical cries, I couldn't hold back anymore.

"Food? Where is the food, then?"

Victor's face twisted with rage. "Shut your mouth! Look what you did to Bianca! That baby is Don Rossi's!"

Whispers broke out around the room before he had finished the sentence.

"The Don's wife hasn't even gotten pregnant, but her sister has? What's going on?"

"Maybe Bianca should be the real wife?"

The crowd buzzed like they'd stumbled onto the scandal of the year. But the instant Alessio's gaze swept across the room, every mouth snapped shut. No one dared to breathe.

Alessio rushed in, lifted Bianca into his arms, and carried her to the hospital.

Before he left, he gave me one long, unreadable look.

Chapter 5

I didn't expect him to come back so quickly. Bianca's baby must have survived.

He'd left her at the hospital and rushed back to interrogate the culprit.

Everyone in the mansion had been sent away, leaving just the two of us.

He dragged me out and threw me onto the couch in the main hall.

Alessio sat on the opposite end, his presence suffocating, tension radiating from every inch of him.

His men checked the security system and found every camera between the service hall and the storage room had been wiped for exactly that window of time.

Only someone with authority over the Costa estate could have wiped that much footage. Alessio considered this for a heartbeat, then fixed his fury on me.

Nearly blinded by fury, he drew his gun and pressed it against my forehead.

"Why did you hurt her? I promised I'd give you a child someday. Why can't you stop being jealous of Bianca?"

"Behave, and you will always have your place as my wife."

His absurd promises made me sick. I'd gone a full day and night without food, and all my stomach could produce was acid.

Gunfire shattered the silence. The front doors burst open, and a tactical team in black flooded the hall, weapons trained on Alessio's men.

One shot knocked the gun from Alessio's hand. The next thing I knew, I was in my mother's arms.

Alessio froze for only an instant before his training kicked in. He scanned the room, counting heads and weapons, then stood up slowly, his face ashen.

"I don't know who you are, but you're on Rossi property. Lower your weapons, and I'll forget this happened."

My mother ignored him.

She held me tight, looking down at my swollen cheek and frail body. The warmth in her eyes turned to ice, degree by degree.

Then she passed me to someone behind her, rose to her feet, and turned around.

"Elena is my daughter. I'm Cecilia Nightingale, head of the Nightingale Family, and I'm taking her home. Try to stop me."

The Nightingale Family. The moment that name hit the air, I felt Alessio go rigid.

The Nightingale Family was the oldest and most secretive criminal organization on the East Coast. Its reach was vast, and no rival crossed it lightly.

"She is my wife. You can't take her."

Alessio clenched his fists. For the first time, the man who was always composed, always in control, had a tremor in his voice.

No one answered. Two Nightingale guards moved to help me stand.

Alessio suddenly lunged in front of me, his eyes bloodshot, sweeping the room. Every word was ground out through clenched teeth.

"She is my wife. Touch her and see what happens."

Cecilia laughed.

Before the laughter faded, a guard behind her moved without a sound.

A suppressed shot cracked through the room.

Alessio's arm dropped at an unnatural angle. Whatever bone the bullet had struck, he could no longer block my path.

As I was helped out the front door, I caught a glimpse of Alessio from the corner of my eye. He was on his knees, clutching his shattered arm, his eyes locked on my retreating figure.

I turned away without a shred of hesitation, gulping down the fresh air outside.

Sitting in the Nightingale Family's car, I watched the Costa estate disappear behind us.

I rested my forehead against the cool glass, closed my eyes, and let out a long breath.

I was finally free.