“Stop it, I am not pregnant.”

But Luciano paid no attention to my words.

He grabbed my wrist and yanked me out of the bed, urgency flashing across his face.

"You've done well. This is perfect timing." His voice was almost distracted. "Mother is expecting at least five grandsons. Even if there are one or two girls along the way, it doesn't matter."

He grabbed my arm, already pushing me inside the bathroom.

"Go. Take the test. We need to confirm."

I stood there shaking, one hand pressed against my hollow womb.

The excitement that once made butterflies flutter inside my stomach now felt like the cruelest joke in the world.

Minutes later, I emerged from the bathroom. The test in my hand indicating what I had already known all along.

[Not pregnant.]

Luciano took it from my fingers. His face, which had held a flicker of hope, darkened immediately.

"Negative." His voice was quiet. Controlled. "How?"

He grabbed my shoulders gently and yet his eyes that bore into my skull were full of suspicion. "Don’t tell me you are taking contraceptives behind my back when I clearly prohibited it?"

“Now that you say it.” I gritted my teeth “I regret not taking them sooner.”

“Penelope!”

He pinched the bridge of his nose as if I were being unreasonable again.

“We've been trying for months now! Right when I desperately need another heir, you fail me again!”

Fail.

The word pierced deeper than any knife.

His gaze swept over me.

Cold.

Assessing.

Like a businessman staring at a failed investment.

“Every time something goes fucking wrong with your body.” His jaw tightened. “You conceive only to miscarry.”

“Wrong?” My wet lashes quivered as I barely looked at him, suppressing my erupting hatred.

Two years ago, heartbroken, with wide open eyes, I had bled on the operating table as the doctors removed my seven‑month‑old fully developed fetus from my body.

I still remembered hearing one of them whisper to my devastated husband:

“Mr. Moretti, her body is badly damaged. Even if the women in her family have a history of high fertility, her body cannot endure another pregnancy so soon. If pushed again… she may not survive.’

Yet a week later, Luciano still walked into our bedroom and gently fed me a soup laced with aphrodisiac drug.

That night, he had embraced me, apologizing with bloodshot eyes:

“Penelope, the Moretti Family isn't a fairy tale. If I die tomorrow, the five subclans will tear each other apart. I need five heirs. One for each clan. Only then will nobody dare touch you after I am gone.

So... even if you hate me now, endure this for a little longer. ”

I believed him.

I believed every lie.

He was the one who ruined me step by step and yet, still had the audacity to blame me?

"Wasn’t this all orchestrated by you?!" I spat. "“Even after the doctors warned you-”

“The doctors know nothing!”

Luciano cut me off sharply.

His patience finally cracking.

“You were born for this!”

His words landed like a fist to my gut, knocking the air straight out of my lungs.

He kept pushing my broken body. After every miscarriage, he waited weeks, sometimes days and tried again.

And all along he thought my body was made to endure such pain?

The ugly truth I had avoided for years finally stood naked before me.

From the very beginning, Luciano had never built a future with me.

He had been preparing one for Kiara and I was merely keeping her seat warm.

My fingers curled sharply at my sides despite the agony jabbing my heart.

“Penelope, even if you had contraceptives these days.” Luciano stepped closer, towering over me. "

“You are my wife.”

The possessiveness in his voice made my skin crawl.

“Don't forget your responsibilities.”

Ice flooded my veins as he embraced me, his hands already roaming over my body.

For a second I almost lost all my reason and shoved him away hard.

"No! I don’t want it!"

Luciano froze.

Then slowly frowned.

“No?” His voice dropped dangerously low.

“Are you refusing me?”

A long silence followed before he laughed.

Not because he found anything funny but because he thought I was being ridiculous.

"Penelope.”His jaw clenched, racking his fingers through his hair before he finally looked at me with quiet, terrible certainty.

“Have you forgotten who keeps the Solon Family standing?”

My heart skipped.

“Your mother.”

He counted calmly.

“Your younger brother.”

Blood rushed to my ears and for a moment I almost thought I misheard before he continued.

“They all depend on me. If you don't behave, you can forget about your father's medical treatment."

The blood drained from my face.

My father- the man who treated Luciano like his own son, his greatest ally who helped him claim his position as Italy’s Mafia King.

The man whose final request before slipping into a coma had been:

Protect my daughter.

And now Luciano was using him as leverage.

The fight drained out of me like blood from an open wound. My arms fell limp at my sides before trembling as they fumbled with the hem of my shirt.

Luciano sighed. “Now, its not that hard is it Pene?” His eyes didn't waver. They moved over every inch of my skin like he I was a negotiation he won again.

I pulled the shirt over my head, my skin burning raw as his took in my breasts, my stomach, the scars from the miscarriages pale, silvery lines he had never bothered to notice before.

When he laid me down on bed I clenched my jaw tightly, tears pooling in my eyes as my body trembled beneath him while he took whatever he wanted and labeled it as love.

"Get cleaned up." He finished, standing up before straightening his clothes.

Minutes passed as I turned my head away, laying limp on the bed.

All those innocent memories I had treasured suddenly felt rotten.

Eight years ago, the son of a rival mafia family had cornered me during a banquet ready to assault me when Luciano found us.

Beating the man until he lay unconscious in a pool of his own blood, Luciano hadn’t even cared about the punishment that came as hundred poisoned whips, splitting his back open.

The husband who broke me tonight was the same boy who had wrapped his coat around my shoulders and whispered: “No one touches you while I am alive.”

Tonight, those words felt like a joke.

Watching my frail back shuddering with silent sobs, Luciano’s voice softened slightly.

“Penelope, everything I'm doing is for your own good.”

I nearly laughed in rage.

My own good?

Building a life where Kiara would have your heart and throne, and I would have the storage room and secret midnight visits like a dirty mistress was for my good?

“Pene…“If you take care of Kiara properly, she'll recover faster.”

Once she's stable, I will explain the circumstances of our marriage.”

Explain.

As though I were the mistake.

As though I were the problem.

“I'm sure she'll forgive you.”

Forgive me?

Something inside me snapped, anger seeping through cracks in my composure.

In four days, I would divorce him.

This marriage he had trampled beneath his feet…I would tear it apart with my own hands.

I will become the first woman in mafia who would challenge the almighty Moretti clan.

I didn’t even realise that I had passed out until I woke to the empty space beside me. Luciano was already standing by the window, shirtless, running a hand through his hair.

His eyes found me still curled on the bed, still wearing the clothes I had pulled on after he finished, before he looked away.

"Penelope." His voice was quieter than usual.

“I was angry about the test.”

A pause.

“So I was rough with you.”

Rough.

As if bruises could be softened by choosing a different word.

My body still reeling from the shock, flinched when he came close wordlessly and kept a transparent glass box on the bed.

My breath caught instantly. Inside rested a blue sapphire pendant.

For years, it had been my favorite piece in the Moretti vault. A family heirloom passed down through generations of Moretti wives who were cherished by their husbands.

Once, I had accidentally touched it during a family banquet when Luciano’s coldly told the butler: ‘Send it for cleaning, its all dirty now.’

Now he kept it there without a word like a makeshift band-aid meant to mend my trampled heart.

He paused, then added, almost like an afterthought "Are you okay?"

The man who had threatened my father's life, treated my body as a tool and spoke of children like business assets wanted to know if I was alright.

I swallowed the bile rising in my throat.

"I will be." I said softly. "If you help me with something."

I lowered my gaze, hiding the storm rising beneath it.

His brows furrowed slightly. “What is it?”

I opened a drawer and withdrew several prepared documents. “I want to secure Ian and Lucas's future.”

Luciano’s eyes softened instantly, a flicker of pity reflecting in them.Then something else….something almost smug.

“Penelope, I know everything.” he said, almost under his breath. “You’ve always put me and the children first.”

“Don't worry,” he added, almost gently. “I won't mistreat you.”

Taking the documents from my hands, he barely skimmed through them, before signing without hesitation.

Pressing a kiss to my forehead he smiled. “Prepare Kiara's welcome banquet today. Make sure everything is perfect.”

Then he left. The moment the door clicked shut, my gentle facade disappeared.

Slowly.

Carefully.

I opened the documents.

At the very bottom, beneath Luciano Moretti's signature, were the papers I had hidden among the property forms.

DIVORCE AGREEMENT- Penelope Solon no longer a part of Moretti Family.

My fingers tightened. At last, after fifteen years of loving him t was finally over.

I threw the documents into my suitcase and continued packing.

Luciano wanted all the pleaures: the purity of his childhood sweetheart and the utility of the loyal wife he believed would never leave his side.

Too bad I was finished giving..

His family, his support or even his love, he could keep them all to himself!

With that I picked up the Moretti pendant I once desired like a dream and weighed it in my palm, a miserable smile clouding my eyes as I contacted the biggest auction house in Rome..

[Sell this pendant to the highest bidder in two days. Five years ago my wedding jewelry costed 10 million euros, make sure you get rid of that thrash and convert it into hard cash today.]

Since my father’s life is so cheap to you Luciano, I will drain all your resources and transfer him back to the Solon family.

Soon the day of Kiara's welcome party arrived.

The Moretti estate was drowning in the sickly sweet scent of red tulips as the grand doors swung open.

“You must along with her, Penelope.” Luciano murmured under his breath, his hand settling on my shoulder in a light squeeze. “Don’t embarrass me.”

Wearing a high-slit white gown, Kiara looked like an angel descending from the heavens, unlike my plain self, who was almost invisible.

"Sister!" She held my hands, yet her eyes strayed toward Luciano, looking at him like she was wronged.

“I was so worried about you.” she said, her voice trembling slightly. “Do you… hate me, Penelope?”

I stilled.

“We are sisters, but you never once came to see me in the hospital.” Her lashes lowered, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. “I almost thought… you didn’t want me to wake up.”

A few nearby guests had already begun to turn, drawn in by her soft, breaking voice.

“I was just busy.” I replied coldy not wishing to even look at her eyes shining with hidden pleasure.

I was about to turn away when her loud voice made me freeze in my tracks.

I was about to turn away when her loud voice made me freeze in my tracks.

“Penelope, no matter what happened to our families, I never would have guessed that my own little sister would become Luciano's surrogate."

The word landed like a slap.

My body froze.

"If Father knew" she continued, her voice trembling with manufactured sorrow, "he would be so sad."

“Shutup!!”

She flinched just enough to look convincing before a vicious gleam sparked in her eyes..

“I know” she rushed to say, shaking her head as if blaming herself. “You’re angry… you have every right to be. It’s all my fault.”

“After I fell into a coma, you had to become your brother-in-law’s surrogate and even gave birth to mine and Luciano’s children.”

Her tears flowed even harder.

“I-I don’t blame you for sleeping with my fiancé, Penelope. Now that I am back, I will surely compensate you. Whether it's money or jewelry that you fought with me for all those years, I will give it all to you.”

Kiara’s tears trickled, acting like a saint who was showing mercy.

[I always thought Penelope was the victim. Turns out she's just a greedy gold-digger who seduced her sister's husband!]

[To think she acted so noble all these years when really, she was just renting out her womb for cash and jewels.]

[A lowly woman like that doesn't deserve to be Donna of the Moretti Family. No wonder Luciano is giving the position back to the real one!]

My eyes shook violently as my vision swarmed red with rage when Luciano’s gaze bore into my skull.

Cold, sharp and heavy with warning.

‘Endure it. Don’t forget who’s been supporting your family.’

I almost sneered.

Setting my wine glass down with a heavy thump, I looked Kiara dead in the eyes.

"If you're so sorry, sister, then perhaps you can find a good man for me to marry.

Since you're so generous with compensation, don’t forget to include the grand villa and mansions my biological father transferred to you, an adopted daughter he took in out of charity."

Kiara’s smile froze, the gentle, fragile mask flickering dangerously.

“Penelope!” Luciano’s eyes darkened. “It seems you has drunk yourself to madness.” Luciano’s dark eyes locked into mine as his hand clutched my arm tightly, making blue bruises bloom on my skin.

His voice dropped in rage. “Don’t act all innocent and wronged, its not like you didn’t went out of your way to seduce me to fuck you. Now that Kiara is extending her hand for forgiveness, why can’t you just accept it?!”

With that, he pushed me away like a pest before walking toward Kiara and pulling her into his arms as though she were something precious.

“Penelope has no reason to be angry. If anything, she should apologize to you properly.”

His gaze remained cold.

“She stole your place beside me and tried to surpass you because of her ugly jealousy.”

He wrapped an arm around Kiara's waist.

“I will make sure she spends the rest of her life repenting for her sins.”

My chest tightened painfully.

Despite knowing the years of neglect I had endured by his side…

The miscarriages.

The drugs.

The way he had used my body as a vessel for Kiara's future children.

Luciano still spoke about me like I was a child throwing a tantrum.

My heart sank beneath an anguish so deep I thought I might drown in it.

I turned away before they could see the emptiness settling inside me.

Each step felt distant, like I was walking outside my own body as I slipped out onto the balcony, breathing in the cold night air.

"Oops, is that you, sister?" Kiara's voice called out mockingly from behind me.

"If I didn't know better, I would have assumed that was a servant's uniform."

Her heels clicked against the marble tiles as she approached me with a smirk, her diamond bracelet catching the light while she scanned my dress from top to bottom.

“Oh my, you have so many scratches on your neck… don’t tell me that day you were really kidnapped and tormented by thugs?”

Her eyes widened like a perfect opera actress as a delicate hand rose to her lips, feigning shock, while her eyes glittered with quiet mockery.

“Sister, if they raped you, let’s go for a checkup immediately… who knows which dirty criminal might have planted his seed in your belly. It’s better to abort it now-”

“Watch your mouth!” At my dead set eyes glaring at her sharply, Kiara’s eyes gleamed, and she took a leisurely step closer, voice dropping like a blade.

“Angry already?Then maybe this grand news will lighten your mood sister.

Tomorrow on your own freaking wedding anniversary, Luciano is going to marry me. In a week, I will legally become your children’s mother.” She tilted her head slightly, watching me as if savoring the moment.

“If you want, I can definitely make you my maid of honor.” She laughed.

For a moment, I couldn’t hear anything before I lowered my gaze, my fingers trembling faintly at my sides before stilling completely.

“After everything you gave them… how does it feel to be discarded like a common whore?”

“The whore was never me.” I said almost too calm to be breaking from within “If you want Luciano you can have him…. afterall since you treasure my leftovers so much, I will once again throw it your way."

“Leftover?” The haughty smile on Kiara’s lips was wiped out instantly. "Luciano and I were always meant to be!”

“You were nothing but a warm body while I was gone but tomorrow everything is going to change.”

She stepped closer, her composure slipping just enough to show the venom beneath.

"Tomorrow Luciano will fuck me in your marital bed." She lifted her chin, triumphant. "On your own loving anniversary, we will spend our honeymoon in the same bed you made your children."

The words that could have killed me once, now faded into nothing but a dull ringing in my ears.

“That night you were screaming to be rescued from the kidnappers… Luciano was inside me. Sister, it was so damn hot as he grabbed my hair and made me do wild things… god.” She grinned.

"He said you were too much of a prude to try such stuff, too vanilla for his liking. That touching your like big breasts, he almost thought that it was an animal’s udders…it almost made him puke.”

Something inside me snapped as I gritted my teeth almost seeing red.

"Mommy!"

The word came from behind me. Small, sweet, desperate.

I spun around.

Ian and Lucas stood at the balcony entrance, their faces flushed as tears gathered in their eyes.

My heart lurched with a fragile, desperate hope. My precious children…did they finally came to protect me?

My arms opened instinctively. "My babies-"

But they ran past me straight to Kiara.

They clutched her legs, burying their faces in her white gown. I staggered back, my arms still open as they stood infront of Kiara protectively.

“You are bad! We hate mommy!! Auntie loves us the most!”

My heart splintered as Lucas shouted. “She even taught us Spanish and we were going to use it to wish you on your birthday-”

His voice faltered for a second before hardening.

“But you don’t deserve it!”

Ian stepped forward clearly annoyed. His voice was clear and rehearsed. as he repeated the words he was taught.

[A cheap substitute like mommy will never enter daddy’s heart. She must leave."]

Lucas recited next, his small face serious. like he was doing just that for the sake of Kiara.

[After mommy is kicked out, auntie will make sure we are raised like the bastards we are.]

The words melted into my ears like red hot iron.

My entire being froze like I was thrown in an ice cellar.

Ian and Lucas didn't even know what they were saying. They glared up at me as if giving ‘proof’ of how Kiara cared for them and taught them things I couldn’t.

My pupils shook violently as something inside me snapped beyond control.

My hand moved before I could stop it.

A sharp slap cracked across Kiara's face. She staggered back, hand pressed to her reddening cheek, eyes wide with feigned shock.

"I am the Donna of Moretti Mafia Syndicate. The legal wife of Luciano." I said, my voice low and steady. "If anyone here is a mistress, it's you."

Silence.

For a single heartbeat no one moved.

Then Kiara's knees buckled. She crumpled to the ground like a marionette with cut strings, her hand rising slowly to her mouth, fingers trembling as if she couldn't process what had just happened.

"Donna….?" she whispered, faint and fragile, like a practiced actress delivering her finest performance.

Her eyes lifted to mine glassy, shaken, beyond broken. A masterpiece of victimhood.

Then those eyes shifted. Just past my shoulder.

"Luciano…" Her voice cracked, barely above a breath. "What… is sister saying? Did you accept her as your wife? Am I… just a mistress?"

My blood turned to ice.

I spun around.

Luciano stood at the balcony entrance. His face was stone. His eyes black with fury.

I hadn't heard him approach. Neither had I seen the guests gathering behind him, their faces a mix of shock and glee.

"Penelope." His voice was low. Deadly. "What did you say to her?"

My mouth opened. "She is lying! She already knew-"

"I didn't mean to cause trouble sister!" Kiara sobbed from the ground, clutching her chest. "I swear I didn't know you became my fiancee’s wife!”

“The arranged marriage you and Mom set up for me five years ago…I won't fight it anymore sister.

Even if the groom is fifty years older than me…. I swear I will obey you!”