"Mmph—" My terrified scream was muffled by a warm palm.

I struggled desperately to break free, but the moment the hand was removed, I found myself staring into a pair of deep brown eyes.

"Salvatore, what are you doing here?!"

I looked in disbelief at the man in the driver's seat.

It was Salvatore Falcone, the new Don of the Falcone family. Alessandro's greatest rival. The man he wanted dead more than anyone.

"Hold on. Alessandro's men are right behind us," Salvatore said, wrenching the steering wheel as the tires shrieked against the pavement.

Before I could even buckle my seatbelt, the rearview mirror filled with a line of black, armored Cadillacs barreling toward us.

Just moments ago, I had been desperate to escape him, and I should have been terrified of him finding me, but my eyes were still drawn to the lead car.

As our vehicles passed each other, I couldn't help but look at the man in the window.

"Alessandro..." I whispered, a sharp pain piercing my heart.

But then I realized how wrong this was. "Stop the car! Let me out!"

My senses returned, and I shouted at Salvatore, "I can't be in your car! He'll never believe me now!"

"Celeste, use your head!" Salvatore floored the gas pedal, the car rocketing forward.

"He treats you like a piece of property he can buy and sell! If someone hadn't tipped me off, you'd be in a hotel room with those animals by now!"

"Someone from his circle told you? Who?" The urge to jump from the car vanished, my shock complete. Someone had betrayed Alessandro.

"His most trusted person. You'd never guess who. Celeste, come with me, or else..."

Before Salvatore could finish, the car jolted violently.

"Dammit!"

I whipped my head around in terror. Alessandro's lead car, like an out-of-control beast, was roaring up behind us.

He didn't care that we were in a busy downtown area. He slammed right into our rear bumper.

"Hold on!" Salvatore yelled.

The next second, the black Cadillac fishtailed, its tires screeching as it swerved to cut off our Lincoln.

CRASH!

The impact threw me against the airbag. The world spun, and a deafening ring filled my ears.

The car door was ripped open.

An icy hand seized my wrist, dragging me out of the Lincoln and onto the rough asphalt.

I looked up into a pair of bloodshot, violent eyes.

Alessandro stood against the light, his suit still impeccably smooth. He held a black Beretta, its muzzle pointed at Salvatore, who was still coughing in the car.

"Alessandro, are you insane? She's carrying your child!" Salvatore wiped a smear of blood from his lip. "Is this how the Santoros do business? Trying to kill your own wife?"

"My child?" Alessandro let out a short, derisive laugh. "I imagine that's just an excuse to protect your own bastard seed, Falcone."

"Don, I found it."

A Soldato pulled a black leather notebook from under Salvatore's car seat and respectfully handed it to Alessandro.

Alessandro took it. As his long fingers slowly flipped through the pages, his face grew terrifyingly dark.

I recognized it. It was the Santoro family's secret ledger, detailing all their smuggling routes and warehouse locations.

Why was it in Salvatore's car?

Before I could even try to explain, the heavy ledger was slammed into my face. The hard corner broke the skin on my forehead, and a warm liquid trickled down.

"Celeste, what do you have to say for yourself now?"

Alessandro crouched down, his powerful hand yanking my hair, forcing my head up.

"I loved you so much, I was so good to you, and you betray me again!"

"You stole the family's lifeblood for this man? Huh?"

"It wasn't me, I didn't!" I cried, shaking my head. Blood and tears mixed in my mouth, the taste bitter. "Alessandro, this is a trap..."

"Alessandro, what is wrong with you? I only saved Celeste because I couldn't stand to watch you..."

"Enough!" he roared, cutting Salvatore off. His fingers tightened. "Liliana, take Falcone to the basement. 'Entertain' him properly."

He stood, taking a handkerchief from Liliana and wiping his fingers with disgust, as if to clean my touch from them.

"As for her," he said, looking down at me, "take her to the lake house. Nail the windows shut. No one lets her out without my order."

"Alessandro! It's not true! Let me explain!"

I cried out in despair, my hands grasping at the air, only managing to catch the hem of his suit jacket before it was ruthlessly pulled away.

The black car door slammed shut, extinguishing all my light.

Late that night, in the top-floor office of the Santoro estate.

The lights were off. The room was thick with the heavy scent of whiskey.

Alessandro slumped on the sofa, his tie loosened, his normally decisive face now etched with pain and intoxication.

"Don, please stop drinking. It's bad for your stomach."

Liliana moved toward him in the moonlight, reaching for his glass, her body brushing intentionally against his chest.

In his drunken haze, Alessandro thought he caught the familiar scent of iris flowers.

"Celeste..." he whispered, instinctively wanting to embrace the warmth.

Liliana didn't hear him clearly. Overjoyed by what she thought was a show of affection, she leaned into his embrace.

But the next second, Alessandro's hand brushed against the warm tattoo on his chest, a blooming iris he had gotten for Celeste, in the spot closest to his heart.

The jolt of pain sobered him instantly.

"Get off!"

He shoved the woman away. The crystal glass in his hand smashed against the wall, sending shards flying.

"I'm a bastard! A goddamn fool!"

"She sent word that she wants to see me… and god help me, every time I hear it, I can't control the urge to go to her."

He gasped for air as the alcohol finally consumed him. He fell back onto the sofa, grabbing Liliana's wrist, his gaze unfocused. "Liliana..."

"I'm here, Don," Liliana said, hiding the pain from his tight grip as she leaned in.

"Arrange the meeting. I'm going to see her," Alessandro's voice was barely a whisper, filled with endless struggle. "Get the best doctor to the lake house. Don't let her die."

Liliana's expression changed, hatred flooding her eyes.

After saying this, Alessandro passed out.

He never expected that family business would consume him for the next few months.

And he would never know that his order to save her, once in Liliana's hands, had become her death warrant.

It was a lake house on the outskirts of New York. Beautiful scenery, but a prison without bars.

I leaned against the wall and tore another page from the calendar.

One hundred and twenty-seven days had passed since I was locked in this cage.

My belly was high and round, heavy as a boulder, making each step a struggle.

Alessandro never came.

It seemed he truly had no feelings left for me, wanting only to keep me alive until the baby was born.

All our years of love felt like a dream.

The butler and maids served me fine food and drink every day, a feast of delicacies and nutrients.

There was even a family medical team on standby here.

But I was like a walking corpse, just counting the days. Alessandro had blocked all cell and internet signals. The kind maid, Maria, was my only source of information.

From time to time, she would bring me news of Alessandro, smuggled in on creased, old newspapers.

The headlines always featured that fearsome Don, Alessandro Santoro.

He had launched a "cleansing war." Due to the Falcone family's provocations, street shootouts were constant in New York.

And always at his side was Liliana, clad in a bulletproof vest.

In the public eye, perhaps they were the perfect underworld couple.

I appeared calm on the surface, but in the middle of the night, when the pains of pregnancy woke me, I would still cry out his name.

I couldn't accept it. I wanted to ask him, "Do you really not love me at all anymore?"

"I wrote you so many letters. Why did you never write back?"

I didn't know that every cry for help I scribbled on small slips of paper and entrusted to Maria was sitting in Liliana's drawer.

Whenever Alessandro took a breath from the mountain of family affairs, he would ask about the shipment progress on the East Coast, or how I was doing.

And every time, Liliana's answer was the same: "There are some snags with the shipment; you might need to handle it personally for a few days."

"As for the Donna, the doctor says her condition is stable. It won't be too late to discuss it when you return."

Over these few months, similar scenes played out countless times.

Whenever Alessandro wanted to visit me, Liliana would "coincidentally" present urgent documents requiring his immediate attention at that very moment.

Then she would tell him that everything regarding me was normal.

And so, the days passed, one after another. When my water broke, it was far more dangerous than I had imagined.

Carrying twins meant a larger belly and double the pain.

Pain crashed over me in unrelenting waves. I gripped the bedsheets, feeling as if the lower half of my body was being ripped apart.

"Maria, the phone..." I was covered in a cold sweat. I grabbed Maria's wrist, my nails digging into her flesh. "Give it to me... I need to find Alessandro! I'm going to die..."

Maria looked at my deathly pale face, and tears streamed down her own. She bit her lip and pulled a disposable phone from inside her apron, one she had hidden for a long time.

"Donna, hurry, you only have a minute at most."

With trembling fingers, I dialed the number etched into my soul.

The first time, no answer.

The second time, the call was rejected.

I refused to give up and dialed again.

Even if there was only a one in a million chance, even if he wanted to kill me, I had to let him know these were his children.

"Hello?" It was Liliana who answered.

"Let me talk to Alessandro..." I gasped, my voice breaking. "I'm in labor, I'm begging you... the babies are innocent..."

Liliana's gentle voice came from the other end. "Donna, what terrible timing."

"The Don has no time for you right now. I just took a bullet for him in an ambush in the South Side."

"He's a little preoccupied with me right now."

Before I could process her words, Alessandro's furious and anxious roar erupted in the background. "Doctor! Where is the damn doctor! Liliana's bleeding!"

"I'm fine, Don. The bullet just grazed my arm. It only needs a bandage," Liliana's voice was perfectly frail. "Donna said she's going into labor and needs a doctor..."

"Isn't she due already?" Alessandro's impatient voice cut through the chaos of the hospital. "Isn't the family's medical team at the lake house?"

"She was fine before, she's fine now. This is a game. Liliana, you need the doctors. You took a bullet for me."

"But Donna..."

"Forget her!" Alessandro's voice was full of rage. "She's just trying to get my attention. Liliana, you took a bullet for me. How can I let anything happen to you? Your life is worth more than her petty games."

Liliana's soft sobs could be heard over the phone. "Don, don't say that... I'm sure Donna didn't mean to..."

"Enough!" Alessandro cut her off. "You rest. I'm having every doctor come consult on your case. As for her... she's fine. Let her wait!"

The line went mercilessly dead.

In that instant, a part of me died with it.

He didn't believe me.

In his eyes, Liliana, the one who took a bullet for him, was his salvation. And I was just a shameless burden, causing trouble at a critical moment.

A text from Liliana lit up the screen.

The screen showed only a few lines: "I forgot to tell you, Alessandro never saw a single one of your letters. Every time he planned to see you, a new 'family crisis' would conveniently appear."

"Right now, he's holding my hand, telling me I'm the real hero of the Santoro family. As for you, my dear Donna, you're on your own."

I stared at the words, my vision blurring.

The fragile thread of my sanity finally snapped.

A tearing pain ripped through my abdomen, as if something inside me was being violently torn away.

I wanted to scream, but no sound came out.

Darkness swarmed in, overwhelming me.

Only Maria's terrified scream seemed to come from far away:

"Oh God! Donna! You're hemorrhaging! There's too much blood!"