The crash startled everyone inside. Dante's first instinct was to shield Chloe.

When he saw it was me, his face twisted into a foul scowl.

"Scarlett! What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Didn't I tell you where Sofia was? Is your only goal in life to ruin my anniversary with Chloe?"

My eyes swept over the room full of roses, then landed on Dante's chest. The 'S' he'd once tattooed for me had been crudely, brutally altered into a 'C'.

He noticed my gaze, his face showing not a shred of guilt. He spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

"Chloe deserves everything I have."

"She's not like you. She's just a simple girl who's never been loved like this before…"

Before Dante could finish his tired speech, I cut him off.

"I'm not here for your party."

"Chloe, where is my daughter?"

I leveled a glare at her that made her shrink behind Dante.

Dante roared at me.

"Scarlett! Stop being so damn crazy! Sofia is at home, isn't she?"

"You ruined my 100-day anniversary with Chloe. You need to apologize to her!"

I shoved the photos from the apartment into Dante's face—images of the blood-slicked floor, of Sofia's charm drenched in it.

Dante recoiled. "Where's Sofia? Why are you showing me this?" He quickly masked his panic with scorn. "You're pathetic, you know that? Pulling cheap stunts like this just to get my attention."

A flicker of panic crossed Chloe's face.

But hearing Dante's words, she quickly regained her composure and fanned the flames.

"Scarlett, I know you can't stand Dante being with me, but you don't have to go to such lengths, do you?"

"Sofia is your own daughter. To curse her like this, soaking her things in animal blood… Aren't you afraid of making it come true?"

I drove my foot into her stomach, sending her sprawling to the floor.

I grabbed her by the collar. "I'll ask you one more time. Where is my daughter?"

A bruise was already forming on her leg, but her expression remained defiant.

"I sent Sofia back hours ago. Who knows where you hid her after that?"

"Dante, maybe you should just go back with this crazy woman. I'm afraid she's going to kill me."

Chloe's voice was thick with false tears. In a blind rage, Dante flew at me, his fists flailing wildly.

"Scarlett! You lunatic!"

"Let go of Chloe! Or I swear to God, I'll divorce you!"

"A divorce?" I said, my voice cold as stone. "Fine. But not yet."

"Hand over Sofia, and I'll meet you at City Hall tomorrow morning."

Chloe's eyes lit up, but a trace of surprise flashed in Dante's.

With a cold snort, he sneered.

"Changing tactics? Trying to play hard to get?"

"Too bad. It won't work on me."

"I'll say it again. Let go of Chloe!"

I ignored him. The next second, Dante grabbed a nearby whiskey bottle and smashed it over my head.

Blood trickled down my forehead. I stared at Dante in disbelief.

But his eyes were only for Chloe.

"Chloe, are you okay?"

Chloe feigned unconsciousness, her eyes squeezed shut.

Dante grew anxious, desperate to rush her to the hospital.

"Dante!" I grabbed his arm, pointing to the blood matting my hair. "Shouldn't I be the one going to the hospital?"

"Besides, Chloe hasn't told us where Sofia is. She's only five…"

But Dante irritably flung my hand away.

My head slammed against the marble table. A fresh wave of blood bloomed across the fabric of my white dress, staining it crimson.

He didn't even glance at me. Instead, he continued his tirade.

"Scarlett! Haven't you caused enough trouble? You're the one who hid Sofia!"

"Besides, Chloe has already fainted. What more do you want from her?"

"If anything happens to Chloe, I swear, we are done!"

Dante helped Chloe up from the floor and rushed out, leaving me on the verge of collapsing from blood loss.

Three minutes later, he returned.

Just as a sliver of hope sparked that he'd found his conscience, he locked the door from the outside.

"Chloe is badly hurt. To keep you from causing more trouble while I get her to the hospital, I have to lock you in here."

He knelt, his hand cool as he caressed my bloody face.

"Don't worry, Scarlett. Even though you're old and boring, you're still the one I love most."

"Just behave yourself, stop bothering Chloe, and maybe, after I get tired of her, we can go back to being a family."

Dante left. My phone chimed.

A text from an anonymous number flashed on the screen. "Scarlett, you'll never find that little brat! Dante and his fortune are mine, and mine alone. Soon, I'll send you and your daughter to join each other in hell!"

Fortune? What the hell was she talking about?

Seven years ago, to solidify an alliance, my father arranged my marriage to Dante, who was just a low-level Soldato. I made him a Capo and put him in charge of our family's most profitable nightclubs.

Everything Dante possessed, he had because of me. What fortune could he possibly have that I didn't already own?

Before I could process it, the sound of a child crying echoed from the adjoining room.

"Papa, Mamma, where are you? It's so dark... Sofia's scared..."

It was my daughter's voice.

I scrambled to my feet to rush to her, but a Molotov cocktail skidded under the door.

It ignited the sofa, and flames devoured the room in seconds.

I poured the last of my mineral water over myself and charged into the fiery anteroom, only to find a phone on a table, playing a video.

In the video, Dante carried my crying daughter and shoved her into the trunk of Chloe's car.

They drove her to an unknown warehouse.

My daughter's small body was curled into a ball as she cried out for her Papa.

No one answered.

My heart shattered. I snatched the phone, intending to escape, but the door had been chained shut from the outside.

The air vents were sealed.

As the fire raged, I knew I had one chance.

I smashed a crack in the bulletproof glass and screamed to the street below.

"I am Scarlett Moretti!"

"Dante Romano and his whore are trying to burn me alive! Help me find my daughter!"