My father cheated. I cut him out of my life.

To get my forgiveness, my father put Lucas Moretti, the Don of New York, in my bed.

I fell for Lucas, fast. He knew how to play gentle.

Night after night, he’d hold me tight, fuck me like he owned me, and whisper how obsessed he was with me.

Six months later, I was pregnant.

I was the princess of New York's underworld.

My father and Lucas gave me everything. They treated me like I was made of glass.

But the day of the baby's blessing at the church? They were a no-show.

My father said there was family business to handle.

Then I got an anonymous link. A wedding. Live.

In the video, my father, Lorenzo, was walking his mistress, Carla—the woman who killed my mother—down the aisle, a happy smile plastered on his face.

And the other happy couple? My fiancé, and my father's bastard daughter, Sofia.

I could hear Lucas’s voice clearly: "Well, Bella used to bully Sofia. I'm just helping her get the justice she deserves... As for Bella, it's time she was unburdened from a life she isn't built for."

"I'll take over the Gallo family shares for her," he continued, "so she and our child can live without a care in the world."

My father’s voice followed. "Bella’s too much like her mother—ambitious. That’s not a good thing for a woman."

As my world shattered, a text from an unknown number lit up my screen: "Marry me, and the child you're carrying will be the sole heir of the Russo family."

I thought I was the treasured princess of the Gallo and Moretti families. But three months pregnant, I found out my fiancé had already married my father's bastard daughter. It was all a setup, just to make my child a bastard too.

"Bella, you're so lucky. Mr. Gallo and Lucas treat you like a real princess," a socialite told me, her eyes full of envy.

Their gazes swept over my expensive jewelry and dress, proof of how much my father and Lucas supposedly worshipped me.

I forced a smile, my face felt stiff.

Princess?

A princess betrayed by her father and her fiancé, about to become the laughingstock of the city?

What a fucking joke.

My phone buzzed in my palm. "Lucas" flashed on the screen.

I took a deep breath, walked to an empty corner of the church, and answered. I didn't say a word.

It wasn't Lucas's voice on the other end, but a roar of rough laughter.

It wasn't Lucas's voice on the other end, but a burst of rough laughter.

"The Don’s got some moves. Bella finally agreed to sign over the Gallo shares," a gravelly voice said. One of Lucas’s top guys.

"If it weren’t for Miss Sofia whispering in the Don’s ear every day, saying Bella’s mother raised her wrong, that all she cares about is power, the Don would’ve never made up his mind."

"Tell me about it. Miss Sofia’s so sweet. Always saying, ‘My sister’s just confused. Taking her shares is for her own protection,’" another voice chimed in. "The Don’s killing two birds with one stone. He gets the shares, Miss Sofia becomes the official Miss Gallo, and he gets to play the hero. Now Bella can finally focus on the baby instead of meddling in all this dirty business."

So that was it. Everything was for Sofia, all under the guise of ‘what’s best for me.’

I thought back to three months ago, when Lucas had me sign the share transfer agreement. He’d said the Gallo family business was too dangerous, that he didn't want me and the baby caught in the crossfire. He'd manage everything for me, let me be his carefree princess.

And like a fool, I believed him.

The line went dead quiet. A beat later, Lucas's smooth voice came on, laced with a hint of panic he couldn't quite kill.

"Who touched my phone?"

"Sweetheart? When did you call? Did you… hear anything?"

He knew I was on the line.

I did my best to sound normal. "It's nothing. I just missed you…"

Just then, Sofia's sweet voice cooed in the background, "Honey, the baby's kicking!"

Lucas mumbled a few quick words to calm me down and hung up.

That evening, I returned to the villa that once felt like home.

My father and Lucas were already there.

My father looked exhausted, but he still pulled me into a hug. "Bella, sorry I couldn't be with you today. Some family business came up, but it's all handled. From now on, you don't have to worry about these things."

Lucas presented me with an elegant velvet box. Inside was a key and a document. "An island in the Maldives. I named it after you. Do you like it? A little something to make up for today."

They were perfect actors, playing the good father and the loving fiancé.

Lucas came closer, reaching for my hand.

I flinched back, avoiding his touch.

He froze. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said, pulling a document from my purse. I handed it to him, trying to keep my voice steady. "You know how pregnant women get, Lucas. Insecure. I just… need some reassurance. Sign it."

Lucas glanced at the cover: "Asset Transfer Agreement." He must have thought I was having a moment, looking for another way to test his love.

He didn't even open it. He just picked up a pen and scrawled his signature.

"There, my princess. Feel secure now?" he said with a smile.

I took the document back and walked to my room.

The second I closed the door, the tears finally broke free.

I flipped to the last page, to the clause I’d buried deep in the fine print: "Lucas Moretti voluntarily relinquishes all rights of inheritance, ownership, and guardianship over Bella Gallo and her children."

Then, I wiped my eyes and dialed the lawyer my mother had trusted most. "Mr. Capello, I need to activate the full authority of my mother's trust. Immediately."

I paused, watching Lucas and my father chatting happily downstairs through the window.

"And," I said, each word sharp as glass, "cut off all funding to the Moretti family's operations."

"Don't you worry, Miss Gallo. Your mother's trust is completely separate from the Gallo family estate. It has the highest level of legal protection. In seven days, you will officially inherit everything. Mr. Lorenzo and his… new wife, won't be able to touch a dime."

The lawyer's words were the only good news I'd had in days.

I hung up and curled up on the sofa. My mind flashed back to when my mother died. I had locked myself in my room for days until Lucas broke through like a ray of light. He talked to me gently, used sex to let me burn off the grief, and when I was so desperate I put a gun to my own head, he lunged and knocked it away.

He just smiled through the pain of a gunshot wound in his shoulder. "Protecting you is my mission," he’d said.

Looking back now, it was all just a trap.

My phone lit up. A message from Sofia.

It was a picture of her and Lucas’s marriage certificate. Their smiles were blinding.

Next was a video. It was dark and shaky. All I could make out was Lucas, seemingly passed out drunk on a sofa, with Sofia whispering in his ear.

The video was blurry, but the voice note she sent after was crystal clear:

"Listen, sister. Hear that? Lucas is saying my name… He says fucking you is like a chore, stiff and boring. But with me? I’m the only one who can make him feel truly wild."

Sofia's triumphant laugh echoed in the recording, followed by the sound of a soft, intimate moan.

"Oh, and by the way," she added, "he told me that after watching you bully me all those years ago, he swore he'd grind you under his heel one day. And now, he has."

Bile rose in my throat. I stumbled to the bathroom and heaved until I was empty.

Lucas came in and saw the mess I was. His face filled with worry as he held me.

"What's wrong, Bella? Still feeling sick?" he cooed, rubbing my back. "I'll go get you your favorite candy."

He actually left. He came back with a bag from my favorite candy shop, a good thirty-minute drive away. He didn't even send one of his men.

Lucas unwrapped the candies one by one and fed them to me, his eyes full of devotion.

"Taking care of you and our baby… this is true happiness."

Such a good actor. If I hadn't heard those words myself, I might have believed him again.

"Are you hiding anything from me, Lucas?"

He saved my life once. For that alone, I'd give him one chance to come clean.

"Of course not," Lucas said, looking shocked. He pinched my nose playfully. "I swear, I've never hidden anything from you. I love you, sweetheart."

I didn't say another word.

That night, he lay beside me as usual, his hand resting gently on my stomach.

In the middle of the night, I woke up with a jolt, just like always.

Ever since my mother died, I’ve had nightmares about finding her in the bathtub, the water stained crimson.

Lucas’s eyes were still closed, but his body reacted instantly. He pulled me close, his hand stroking my back. "I'm here," he whispered. "Don't be afraid. It's okay…"

His tenderness felt like a blade twisting in my chest. How could a man who seemed to love me this much betray me so completely?

I pretended to be soothed, my breathing evening out. Half an hour later, he slipped out of bed, grabbed his phone, and tiptoed out of the room.

I opened my eyes, my gaze like ice.

I knew where he was going. He couldn't wait to be with his new wife.

I looked at the last picture Sofia had sent me.

On Lucas’s shoulder, where a white rose tattoo—a symbol for me, meant to cover the scar from the bullet he took for me—used to be.

The white rose was gone. Scrawled over it, raw and crude, was the name "Sofia."

That last, fragile piece of hope I was clinging to shattered.

I found the number from the mysterious text message.

My fingers typed out a simple reply and hit send.

"I'll marry you."

The next day was my birthday. It was also the anniversary of my mother's death.

It was a day I did my best to erase from the calendar, but my father threw a party anyway, right under my nose.

"Everyone, quiet down!"

My father’s voice boomed through the speakers, and the music died.

He held Carla's hand high in the air, a proud, gloating smile I'd never seen on him before. "I'd like to introduce you all to the new matriarch of the Gallo family—my wife, Carla Gallo."

My world went silent.

The guests' whispers crawled into my ears like snakes.

I looked around the house I grew up in. It was completely different.

My mother's favorite paintings were replaced with Carla's tacky self-portraits. The scent of white roses my mother loved was gone, choked out by a thick, cloying perfume.

They were erasing every trace of my mother.

I started to walk forward, to stop this whole farce, but Lucas grabbed my arm. "Bella, don't. Think about the family. Think about the bigger picture."

"The bigger picture?" I scoffed. "My father is marrying his mistress and announcing it on the day my mother died, and you want me to swallow it for the 'bigger picture'? Or do you have your own reasons?"

"I just want you to respect your father's decision," Lucas said, his tone turning weary, like I was being unreasonable. "We're all going to be family soon. This is not the time to be selfish."

Just then, Sofia walked over.

She wore a tight maternity dress, one hand resting proudly on her small baby bump, the other latched onto Lucas's arm like she owned him.

"Brother-in-law, my sister has always been this dramatic. The pregnancy has made her even worse," she said with an innocent smile, but her voice was pure poison. "I'm pregnant too, but I'm happy every day. Maybe it's because my baby's father is actually excited for him to be born."

She was taking a shot at me.

Implying the child in my belly was an unwanted mistake.

But I didn't have time to react to her taunts. My eyes locked onto her neck.

She was wearing a sapphire necklace. It was my mother's, a Gallo family heirloom passed down to the matriarch. My mother gave it to me on my eighteenth birthday, telling me to wear it on my wedding day.

And now it was on the neck of a thief's daughter.

Blood rushed to my head. Something inside me snapped.

"Take it off," I said, my voice shaking with rage.

Sofia feigned surprise, clutching the necklace. "Sister, what are you talking about?"

"I said, give it back!" I took a step closer, my eyes burning into her. "You don't deserve to touch it!"

"Bella, calm down!" Lucas pulled me back, but he shielded Sofia behind him. "It's just a necklace. If you like it, I'll buy you ten more. Don't make a scene."

"I don't want another one," I said, each word clipped and cold. "I want that one. Lucas, make her take it off."

Seeing her advantage, Sofia stepped towards me. "It’s okay," she said loudly for everyone to hear. "If my sister wants it, she can have it."

Then she leaned in and whispered, so only I could hear, "Everything that belonged to your mother is mine now. Including your man."

She said it with a smirk, deliberately pushing her stomach out. Then, as everyone watched in shock, she let out a sharp cry and threw herself backwards.

"Ahh—!"

She hit the floor hard, clutching her stomach in agony.

"My stomach… my baby…"

It happened so fast, everyone assumed I had pushed her.

Lucas lunged to her side, scooping her up as Carla ran over, screaming.

"Bella, why would you do this?" Sofia's tears came on command. She buried her face in Lucas's chest, sobbing. "I know you've always hated me… you and your friends ganged up on me in school… but I never thought you'd go after an unborn child…"

Rewriting history. Just like always.

The "bullying" was nothing more than Sofia getting caught trying to play three different rich kids at once. She got slapped around for it and kicked out of school.

But no one believed me.

Every glare in the room was a knife, stabbing me with disgust, with judgment. They were all enjoying the show.

I looked at Lucas. My last hope.

But his eyes held only disappointment, a cold, condescending judgment.

For the first time, his voice was hard as he gave me an order.

"Bella. Apologize."