A bomb was strapped to my chest, with only a ten-minute countdown.

I was forced to call Don Logan Carbone, my boyfriend, "I've been kidnapped! Don't—"

"What the hell are you playing at?" he snarled. "I told you I was handling business. How dare you joke about this!"

His furious roar came through the phone, followed by the sweet, coquettish voice of another woman.

Even the kidnappers shook their heads and sighed. "Logan doesn't give a damn about this whore. We grabbed the wrong one."

Before the world went white, I sent my last text. Goodbye, Logan. I hope we never meet again.

My body was obliterated. But my soul was trapped, chained to his side.

And then, I overheard a secret.

————————

1

My boyfriend, Logan Carbone, was the Don of the Carbone family.

And I had been kidnapped by his archenemy, Marco, the leader of the Rinaldi family.

A car bomb was strapped to my chest.

My kidnapper, Marco, had a vicious glint in his eyes. "You're Logan's girlfriend, right? Tell him to get his ass over here, now!"

I was forced to call Logan. He answered the phone, his voice clipped with impatience. "I told you not to call me when I'm handling business! What, are you trying to piss me off?"

I stammered, "Logan, I've been kidnapped! They're getting revenge on you! Whatever you do, don't come—"

Before I could finish, Marco snatched the phone from my hand.

Logan's voice cut through the speaker, sharp and ice-cold. "Jasmine, have you lost your mind? I told you I'm dealing with something! What the hell is this, some kind of joke?"

"Alessia screwed up a shipment in Red Hook. You know what that means? If I don't go handle it, who's going to cover the family's losses? And you pull a stunt like this just to get my attention? You might as well just tell me you're dying!"

I glanced down at the bomb strapped to my body. The timer showed a ten-minute countdown.

"Enough! I'm not listening to your lies! To Alessia, that shipment is everything! If it goes south and she goes down with it, it's on you! I swear to God, Jasmine, I won't let you off the hook!"

On the other end of the line, a delicate, wounded voice piped up. "Logan, you're the best! Are you really coming to help me with this mess?"

Then, the call was disconnected.

Marco cursed loudly. "Fuck, what a bust! Logan doesn't give a damn about this broad! We grabbed the wrong person!" He and his accomplice bailed.

I looked down at the bomb on my body. In that moment, tears streamed down my face.

Even the kidnappers could see it: Logan didn't love me.

But it took me until the final moments of my life to face that truth.

The Alessia that Logan mentioned was the daughter of another crime family, his childhood friend.

When we first started dating, he swore Alessia was just like a sister to him. And I believed him.

By the time I sensed something was wrong, I was in too deep to escape.

Whenever Alessia called, Logan would rush to her side immediately, no matter the time or place.

He even ditched me and my parents the first time he met them, all because Alessia claimed she was scared to be alone at the docks. He didn't even bother to explain, only saying, "Something urgent came up."

I had grabbed his arm then, begging him to stay, for my parents' sake.

Logan had just sneered. "Jasmine, this is how it's been with Alessia and me for twenty years. If you can't handle it, you can't handle me."

I used to tell myself he only saw Alessia as a sister, that deep down, he still loved me.

But it wasn't until I was about to die that the truth hit me. Logan had never loved me.

The only woman he ever cared about was Alessia.

Before the bomb detonated, I sent him one last text message. "Goodbye. I hope we never meet again in the next life."

My body was blown to pieces. It was impossible to recognize the remains as human.

My soul floated in mid-air, gazing at the wreckage. There was no sadness. For me, death was a release.

I don't know how long it was before Logan arrived.

He followed behind a group of Soldati, his expression cold. He took command of the scene, ordering a lockdown on the news.

A trusted Capo said, "We found traces of high explosives at the scene. Looks custom-made. The problem is, we can't identify the victim yet."

Logan frowned, looking at my remains.

A ridiculous flicker of hope ignited in my heart. If he found out it was me, would he feel regret?

I stared at him, trying to catch a flicker of recognition in his eyes.

But he just stood up, his face an unreadable mask of stone. "Clearly a woman. Judging by the clothing scraps, she had good taste. Check for any recently missing young women."

His words plunged my heart into an icy pit. He hadn't recognized me at all.

Right... he never cared about me, so how could he possibly recognize me?

After the scene was cleared, my body was taken to one of the family's safe houses. My soul followed.

I ended up in the backseat of that black Cadillac. Logan sat in the back, while his Consigliere, Luca Verratti, drove.

Luca said, "Don Carbone, was your phone off? The family was trying to reach you."

Logan frowned immediately, as if remembering something. "It was that damn pest, Jasmine. I warned her not to call when I'm handling business, but she never listens!"

Even though I was used to hearing such words, the undisguised disgust on his face still made me feel suffocated.

Luca sighed softly. "Don, Ms. Ricci was probably just worried about you."

Logan snorted and didn't reply. He turned on his phone, and the first thing that popped up was my text message.

My heart clenched. Would he notice something was wrong?

Instead, his expression turned thunderous. "You call this concern? She actually told me goodbye!"

He dialed my number. But I could never answer again.

The call wouldn't go through, and Logan's face grew even stormier. "Fine. Jasmine Ricci, you'd better get lost and never come back!"

With that, he blocked my number without a moment's hesitation.

It never once occurred to him that I might have been in danger.

The dull ache that had tormented me began to fade into numbness. I no longer felt anything for Logan.

I should have known long ago. I was dead, so why was I still clinging to such a fantasy?

And so, I followed my own corpse into the family's secret morgue. But my soul was trapped by Logan's side.

Wherever he went, I followed. I was forced to watch as he ordered men to cut my body open.

Soon, the family's private doctor completed the autopsy.

Logan announced to his men, "The victim was approximately twenty-two years old. The kidnappers harbored a deep hatred for her; she was tortured before death. Ultimately, she was killed in the explosion."

"Most importantly, at the time of her death, the victim was two months pregnant."

A hush fell over the room as he delivered the report. Torture. Explosion. Two lives lost. Every word was horrifying.

Hearing the result, I was stunned. Then, in disbelief, I looked down at my own stomach.

I... was pregnant? My child... I didn't even know it existed, and it was...

Tears slid silently down my face.

As for Logan, there wasn't a trace of pity on his face. Instead, a cold fury took its place. He slammed the autopsy report on the table.

"A car bomb," his low voice seethed with murderous intent, "in Manhattan. On our turf. This is no longer a simple murder. This is a declaration of war against the Carbone family."

He looked up, his sharp eyes sweeping over everyone present. "I don't care who this woman was. What I care about is who had the balls to do this in my city. This is a humiliation. If we don't respond, there will be a second, and a third. Everyone will think the Carbone family has gone soft."

He stood and walked to a map, his finger pressing down hard on Manhattan.

"Make this top priority," he commanded, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Use every resource. Find me the rat hiding in the sewers. I want to know who he is, where he breathes, and then, I want him and his entire family to pay a hundred times over for what they did today."

I stared at him and let out a cold laugh. He only ever thought about the family, power, and his goddamn pride. If he found out the victim was me, would he still say such things?

After the autopsy, Logan's expression remained grim. He and Luca crouched in the backyard of the safe house, quietly smoking cigars.

Luca said, "Don, couples fight. Since Ms. Ricci is angry with you, why don't you go a little easier on her?"

Logan just sneered. "Easier on her? She'll only stir up more trouble! Calling me during family business, then threatening me like this? Next time, she'll probably fake her own damn death!"

He had no idea that I really was dead. When he learned the truth, would he regret it?

But I didn't care anymore. Now, I just wanted to leave him forever.

Seeing he couldn't be persuaded, Luca could only sigh.

The family's orders were passed down. Countless informants and lookouts began moving through every neighborhood, asking about missing persons. Luca compiled the intel pouring in from all corners of his base.

After a few days, the stack of lists on his desk had been replaced over and over.

Just then, Logan's phone rang. It was Alessia.

"Logan, when are you coming back? I just went to your place to look for you, but you weren't there."

Logan's face was etched with fatigue from sleepless nights. But as soon as he heard Alessia's voice, he forced a smile. "I'm dealing with some trouble. As soon as it's handled, I'll be right there with you, okay?"

Alessia's voice was sweet and coquettish. "But Logan, I want to watch a horror movie! I'm too scared to watch it without you! You always used to watch with me!"

Logan didn't get angry at her interruption, but instead soothed her patiently. "I promise, as soon as this is over, I'll take a vacation and we'll go on a trip, how about that?"

Alessia asked nonchalantly, "Oh, okay! What kind of trouble are you dealing with?"

Logan replied, "Someone was playing with fire on our turf, planted a bomb. We're investigating who's behind it. We think it was a message for the family."

He chuckled softly, his tone becoming gentle. "Let's not get into the details. You're easily scared. If you heard the specifics, you wouldn't sleep for a week."

I watched this scene, just sneering. How ironic.

He still had the mind to worry about whether Alessia would be scared. Yet he never once spared a thought for where I might be.

He had always been two different people with me and with her.

After hanging up, Logan continued to watch Luca mark up a giant map of New York, which was surrounded by countless handwritten reports and notes.

By midnight, there were no matches. The case was at a standstill.

Logan stared at my corpse and finally said: "Send the victim's description to the men in all the major families. Have them all keep an eye out."