Chapter 1

For five years, I’ve worn his ring but never had a wedding. There were no blooms, no procession, no vows exchanged in front of famiglia or allies. Just a bloodless contract on paper, arranged by my husband Vance—leader of the Moretti family. He said we’d handle the ceremony once things were more stable and his position was secure. That moment never came.

Just last week, I worked up the nerve to ask again.

“Vance,” I began, folding one of his tailored suits. “Maybe we could finally have a wedding this year?” I kept my voice detached, like it didn’t mean everything. “For our fifth anniversary. We could do it at the estate, with the family.”

He didn’t look up from the encrypted laptop. “Why bother, Eileen? We’re bound by contract. Ceremonies are for politicians and civilians—people who need to prove something.”

“But you promised,” I said softly. “You said once the territory disputes were settled—”

“Enough.” His voice was a blade. “You’re thinking like a naive girl. This isn’t a fairytale. It’s a business. Our marriage is already recognized by the Family. That’s all that matters.”

As always, I let it go. But today was different.

It was our fifth anniversary. Vance claimed he was swamped—a shipment was coming in, a deal with the Irish mob needed his attention. He didn’t have time for sentiment. I believed him. I always did.

So I decided to make it special anyway. I’d cook his favorite meal—osso buco, the way his Sicilian grandmother taught me. I bought candles. I even picked up white lilies—the kind he noticed the first time he came to my family’s compound years ago.

I was nearly home, just cutting through the quiet streets near our protected zone, when I passed by the old municipal hall—a place the Families sometimes used for quiet, unofficial paperwork. I shouldn’t have looked. But something—instinct, intuition, the same sense that tells you when you’re being followed—made me stop.

And then I saw them.

Vance. And Ruby. My sister—the one who vanished five years ago, the night she was supposed to marry him herself. They were walking out of the hall, laughing like nothing had ever gone wrong. Her arm was tucked into his, a familiar, intimate gesture that made my blood run cold.

I froze, my grip tightening on the grocery bag.

Ruby was holding a marriage certificate.

“Are you sure this is safe?” she asked, her voice carrying through the quiet street. “What about Eileen? You’re still legally married to her.”

Vance didn’t skip a beat. “I don’t care about Eileen. That marriage was a front—a business arrangement. That’s why I never made it official in front of the Commission. This,” he said, tapping the certificate, “this is real. Now that you’re back, I’ll have her removed.”

Ruby gasped softly. “You still love me? Even after I left you at the altar?”

He turned to her with that tender smile I thought was meant only for me. “Always. It was always you. And you don’t have to apologize. I get it—you weren’t ready for this life back then. But you are now.” He leaned in and kissed her.

Tears burned behind my eyes.

“And my sister?” Ruby pressed, twisting the knife deeper. “Did you ever love her?”

He laughed coldly. “Never. She was convenient. A placeholder. A warm body to keep the seat until you returned.”

The air left my lungs. The world tilted. My vision blurred.

Five years ago, Ruby and Vance were supposed to unite two major mafia families—the Morettis and the Rossis. Their marriage would’ve ended a decade-long feud. But she fled on the wedding day, leaving us all exposed. The Rossis were humiliated. War nearly broke out.

That night, I found Vance drunk and bleeding from a knife fight he’d picked out of rage. I stayed. I cleaned his wounds. I listened. And then… we kissed. A week later, he proposed. A merger of convenience, he called it. I said yes.

I thought I was saving the family.

I thought I was building something real.

I believed I was his.

But it was all a lie.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get worse, two more figures stepped out of the shadows.

Marco and Alessio. My older brothers—capos in the Rossi family.

“You got the paperwork sorted?” Marco asked Vance, clapping him on the shoulder. “You move fast.”

Alessio smirked. “Just keep Eileen in the dark a little longer. She’s always been too soft for this life. We’ll ship her off to the Lake Como safehouse until things are finalized.”

I braced myself against the brick wall, my nails digging into the mortar.

Marco added, “She’s become a liability. Too emotional. Too attached.”

They all laughed—a cold, sharp sound that echoed like gunfire in an empty street.

Those were my brothers. The ones who swore to protect me after Ruby left. The ones who promised I’d always be family.

Now they were discarding me like a spent bullet.

Shame and rage washed over me. I wasn’t just betrayed.

I was collateral.

I turned and ran—past the sidewalk, past the storefronts, past the ringing in my ears.. My lungs burned. Tears blurred my vision.

I didn’t see the car coming.

A sharp horn blasted.

Tires screeched.

Impact.

Then nothing.

Chapter 2

Pain. That sensation enveloped me the moment I opened my eyes.

It seeped in gradually, akin to flames licking at my skin—dull throbs in my arms, a sharp sting radiating from my leg. I let out a small cry, trying to sit up, when a nurse hurried in and gently urged me back down. “Take it easy,” she advised softly. “You’ve been in an accident. You have a fractured ankle along with some minor injuries. Rest is essential.”

I blinked, disoriented. Accident?

Memories cascaded back in a confusing rush—Vance. Ruby. The marriage certificate. The mocking grins of my brothers—Marco and Alessio. My heart breaking... fleeing in the rain... the screech of tires, the blinding headlights of a rival family’s truck.

I swallowed hard, “How long have I been here?”

“Nearly a day,” the nurse answered, monitoring my vitals. Her eyes flickered toward the door where two of my family’s soldati stood guard, their postures rigid. Her expression turned sympathetic. “There’s something else I need to tell you.”

My heart raced. “What is it?”

“You were two months pregnant. I’m sorry, but... you lost the baby in the accident.”

I stared at her in disbelief. Pregnant?

“I was… pregnant?” I stammered, the words barely escaping my lips. The nurse nodded, giving my hand a comforting squeeze.

“I didn’t even realize,” I whispered, my voice trembling. My mind felt a void, yet my heart shattered again, this time deeper. In just a day, I had lost everything—my husband, my standing, my baby.

“Would you like me to call someone?” the nurse asked gently.

I hesitated. Vance. My husband. The man who married my sister. My brothers—Marco and Alessio—who vowed to protect me while laughing at my dismay, their loyalty forever pledged to the family, not to me.

Yet, I needed someone. Anyone.

“My phone,” I managed to say. “Please.”

She handed it to me my phone. I called Vance first. No answer.

I tried again. “The number you are trying to reach is currently unavailable…”

A third attempt, still silence. He was shutting me out. Cutting losses.

Then I called my brothers—no one picked up either.

Tears slipped free before I could stop them. No one was coming. They had all moved on now that Ruby was back.

The nurse placed a small, elegantly wrapped basket on my table. “Someone dropped this off earlier,” she said kindly. “Food, flowers… He claimed to be a close friend. A doctor who helped save you.” She lowered her voice. “He had… men with him. They didn’t look like hospital security.”

I furrowed my brows. “A doctor?”

She smiled nervously. “He didn’t want to share his name yet. Just said you should rest and that you’re under his protection now.”

Once she left the room, I sat alone, staring at the untouched tray of food. My stomach churned, pushing it aside. Instead, I opened my phone to check social media—hoping for a trace of concern, guilt, or anything indicating that I hadn’t been completely erased.

And then I found it.

Photos. Videos. Marco. Alessio. Vance. Ruby. All smiles. Holding plush toys. Posing in front of the Disneyland castle. A perfect, joyful group.

The caption read: “Finally a real family trip. Much needed!”

The air seemed to vanish from my lungs.

A real family. So what did that make me? The discarded daughter of the Rossi family, no longer useful.

I sobbed through the night until my throat felt raw, my tears eventually running dry.

By morning, my phone buzzed.

Vance. I hesitated, staring at his name before picking up.

“Eileen!” his voice was frantic, a practiced urgency. “Why didn’t you tell us you were in the hospital? The men stationed there said you’d been admitted.”

Us?

Just moments later, the door swung open, revealing Vance—his suit impeccably tailored. Marco and Alessio followed closely, their presence filling the room, all feigning concern.

“We rushed over as soon as we neutralized the threat,” Alessio said, his voice a low gravel as he walked closer to adjust my pillow, the glint of a pistol grip visible under his jacket.

“I saw your missed call last night,” Vance added, his tone shifting to a manufactured tenderness. “Why didn’t you reach out more? My phone was compromised during the… negotiations.”

I stared at them in silence, seeing the lie in their eyes. “Where were you?”

“Business,” Vance replied too quickly, a classic non-answer for family affairs. “You know how it goes.”

I wanted to scream. No, I don’t know how it goes. Because yesterday was the anniversary of our vows, sworn over a blessed gun. Because you married my sister in a ceremony that merged two criminal empires. Because you replaced me without a thought.

But instead, I stayed silent. In our world, silence was survival.

“I’m here now,” he said softly, brushing my hair behind my ear, his touch cold and calculated. “I’ll never abandon you. You’re still under my protection.”

I turned away. “I need to use the restroom.”

“You can’t walk. Let me help.”

He lifted me into his arms. For a brief moment, the scent of his cologne made it feel like the man I once loved remained present. But that illusion shattered as Marco’s phone buzzed with a specific, urgent tone.

“Vance!” he shouted, his hand going to his ear, receiving a comms update. “It’s Ruby—she fainted!”

Vance froze, his grip loosening. “What?”

“Ruby fainted! It might be poison!” Marco reiterated.

Just like that—he dropped me.

I crashed onto the cold floor, pain radiating through my spine as my injured ankle struck the tiles.

Vance didn’t even glance back. He was already barking orders into his phone, rushing from the room, calling out for Ruby, his true priority.

I curled into myself, humiliated and shattered, until strong, sure arms gently lifted me once more. These arms felt different; capable, calm, and radiating a quiet authority.

I blinked through my tears and recognized a familiar figure.

Dark hair. Warm brown eyes that held a world of secrets. A sharp suit that couldn’t conceal the power beneath.

“Xander...?” I whispered, recognizing the doctor from my past—the one who once cared for me after a rival’s attack but vanished without explanation, rumored to have started his own powerful family.

He smiled gently, a hint of danger in his warmth. “Still as clumsy as ever, huh?”

I blinked back more tears, too stunned to respond.

He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear, his touch unsettlingly gentle for a man known for his ruthlessness. “Eileen... would you consider running away with me?”

Chapter 3

My stay in the hospital dragged on longer than anticipated—not just because of the shattered ankle, but because no one from my family came. Not a single one.

Except for Xander.

Xander, a former friend from college who had once revealed his feelings for me. I had tenderly turned him down, as my heart was already committed to someone else—Vance.

Now, it was Xander at my side, holding my hand during my recovery. He brought me nourishing food and sat quietly with me as I cried, asking nothing in return.

On the day I was discharged, he personally wheeled me into the secluded garden behind the hospital. The air was crisp; the faint scent of smoke and distant city noise felt worlds away.

“I meant what I said, Eileen,” Xander said, his voice low, steady. “You don’t need to stay in that house. If you want to leave with me, I will protect you. No one will touch you again.”

I looked down at my hands—thinner, trembling—reflecting the weight of countless choices that had led me here, feeling empty and abandoned.

“Give me five days,” I whispered. “I need to settle my affairs. But after that… I’ll go with you.”

His smile was subtle, edged with something darker than sadness. “I’ll be waiting.”

By the time I returned home, the sun was high. The Moretti mansion stood imposing behind iron gates, all cold marble and imported stone. Two men in sharp suits nodded as I entered—foot soldiers who didn’t meet my eyes.

I leaned heavily on the cane they’d given me, each step sending jolts of pain up my leg. Each step filled with dread.

Opting for Xander, the man I once turned away, felt precarious. Yet, it beat staying in a house where I was a mere shadow.

I pushed the door open.

Laughter echoed from the grand living room.

Their laughter died the moment they saw me. As if I were a ghost. An intruder.

“Oh,” Vance said, straightening up. He didn’t even stand. “I forgot you were coming home today. How’ve you been?”

Forgot. I almost laughed. None of them had visited. Not one.

Before I could speak, Ruby rushed over, all false concern and sweet poison. “Sister! I missed you. I’m so sorry we didn’t come see you. I wasn’t feeling well, but I’m better now. How are you? Are you okay?”

Revulsion twisted inside me. I pulled back sharply.

“I’m not okay,” I said, my voice cold as steel.

Her smile flickered. “Eileen—”

“Don’t touch me.”

“Hey!” Alessio barked, rising to his feet. “Watch your tone. She’s been through enough.”



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