Lorenzo turned back, a face full of fake guilt as he crouched down in front of me. "Amore, I'm so sorry. It's all my fault for arriving so late and making you suffer so much. Don't worry. No matter what it costs, I'll have the Family's own doctors fix your skin and your face. I'll get you back on that stage."

I stared blankly at his Oscar-worthy performance, a bitter taste in my mouth. "Can I really get better?"

"Yes, you absolutely can." His confident lies only made me feel like a complete fool. To be rid of me, the one obstacle standing in Bianca's path, this man who had gone from a boy at my side to a betrothal blessed by both bloodlines, who had sworn on his name to love me forever, had used lie after lie to push me to my breaking point. Even my mother, who had treasured me like the trueborn daughter of the Barone line since I was small, had chosen to raise the knife for Bianca, the two-faced foundling she favored above her own blood.

At that moment, I truly wanted to scream at them, to ask why they were being so cruel to me. But all the words just froze in my ice-cold heart, turning into dead silence. A few of the Family's doctors came over with antiseptic, their faces showing pity as they looked at my ruined, burned body. "Signorina Barone, the specialist hasn't arrived yet. We'll have to clean the wounds first. It's going to hurt. Please bear with it."

Still, "a bit" was a cruel joke. The moment the disinfectant touched my skin, the pain shot through my body like fire. It felt as if I were being thrown into the flames all over again. My fragile veins burst open and the entire bed was soaked with blood and pus. My mother stood there watching, one hand clutched over her mouth, her whole body shaking as she sobbed. Lorenzo's eyes were red. His fists clenched so hard the knuckles turned white, as if he wished he could take the pain for me. Their concern looked so real. But I knew the truth. It was all a performance. The only real things were the lies and the pain.

When I woke again, two days had passed. Beyond the door I could hear Lorenzo and my mother speaking in the low, measured voices men use when a decision has already been made. "Lorenzo, Adriana's condition is already this bad. We've delayed the knife work for two days now. Do we really have to give her that experimental drug? The doctor says it hasn't been fully tested. The side effects could be seizures. Incontinence."

A few seconds of silence. Then Lorenzo's voice, firm and quiet, the voice of a man who no longer negotiated. "That's exactly the side effect we want. Tonight is Bianca's celebration, and half the important names in the territory will be there. Adriana is already a ruin. A little more disgrace won't cost her anything. Only when she's lost her dignity completely will she stop standing in Bianca's way. After tomorrow, I'll announce our betrothal. Consider that my compensation to her."

Then, carefully, he added, "Have the specialists wait outside the estate. The moment the banquet ends, they can see to Adriana."

My mother agreed at once. I heard the soft, restless sound of her fingers working the fabric of her mourning shawl between them, the way she always did before she chose the wrong daughter. I stared blankly at the ceiling as silent tears streamed down my cheeks. The salt stung the open wounds on my face, sending waves of sharp, searing pain through me. Still, none of it compared to the pain in my chest.

These were the two people closest to me. They knew how weak and sickly I had been since I was a child. They had watched how hard I fought, how much I gave up, to rise through the Family's showcases and make a name that was mine and clean. Now, with a few careless words, they had destroyed the one dream I'd built for myself. Had I known I would end up like this, I would have let the fire take me instead.

The door opened. Lorenzo saw I was awake and held out two pills with a look of tenderness. "Amore, I just spoke with the doctor. This is a new painkiller the Family's men developed. No side effects. It will ease your pain."

I lowered my eyes to the two bright red pills, my throat feeling as though it were full of rust. My voice was hoarse when I spoke. "Lorenzo, the medicine is too bitter. I don't want to take it."

Lorenzo hesitated for only a couple of seconds. Then he smiled and squeezed my hand, his thumb moving slow and steady along the edge of his signet ring. "Seeing you suffer every day breaks my heart. Can you really bear to watch your husband in pain? Please, tesoro. Do it for me."

Before I could even say no, Lorenzo pressed the pills to my lips. "Come on, be a good girl. Let your husband feed you."

The bitter medicine slipped into my mouth as he half-forced it in. That sticky, nauseating taste spread instantly and the next thing I knew, the world spun around me. Taking advantage of my dizziness, Lorenzo caught my hand in his. "Tesoro, today is Bianca's celebration. The whole Family will be there. Her one wish is your blessing. If you don't come, word travels through the territory that you're a petty thing who won't accept her own sister. I'll go. Just have my clothes laid out." His thumb moved once, twice, along the edge of his signet ring, faster than a man at peace with himself. I didn't know yet what that tell meant. It had already cost me everything.

I knew Lorenzo had it all arranged, down to the last chair at the table. He wasn't going to leave me a single opening, so there was no point in arguing. Just then my mother came in and caught the tail end of it. Her face lifted. "My sweet girl, I knew you were the sensible one." Her fingers found the edge of her mourning shawl and rubbed the fabric slow between them. "Once Bianca's night is behind us, I'll see to your union with Lorenzo myself." She said it smiling, as though absolution came cheap.

I numbly pulled my hand back. At that moment, my heart felt like it had turned to ash. The car brought us to the estate quickly. The moment I was helped down onto the gravel, a swarm of camera flashes broke over me all at once. I panicked and reached for Mamma's hand and closed on nothing. Out of the corner of my eye I saw her walking briskly away with Bianca folded in her arm, not sparing me a glance. My face went pale. I lowered my head and clutched my hat tight against it.

"Signorina Barone, we hear you feared your own sister would take the showcase from you, so you set the fire yourself to burn her alive, only it turned on you and marked your own face. Is that the truth?"

"Signorina Barone, a viper like you still dares walk into your sister's celebration? Have you no shame at all?"

"Signorina Barone, you twist so pretty on the runway. How could a girl like you fear losing to anyone? Or is it the men keeping you who've stopped being satisfied?"

As one of them spoke, another lunged and tore the hat from my head. A gasp went through the crowd in one breath. My burned, ruined face stood exposed under the hard white glare of their cameras.

"Dio, that's revulsion itself. Is that a monster?"

"I'm going to be sick. So hideous, like meeting a ghost in broad daylight."

My heart pounded and my vision started sliding to black in slow waves. They had no mercy in them. Phones went up all around me, and the live streams began, carrying my face to every corner of the territory.

"The famous Barone girl. Rotten and cruel to the bone. Tried to burn her own sister and got scorched for it instead. They say there isn't a clean patch of skin left on her. Let's see what the wages of sin really look like."

Someone shoved me and I went down onto the stone. The loose clothing I wore tore away easily. My arms, my thighs, my stomach, all of it bared to them. A hoarse, broken sob dragged out of my throat. Then my hands and my feet began to shake, past all my will. My whole body jolted as though a live current ran through it.

The ones tearing at me seemed to scent something new, and shouted, giddy with it. "She's having a fit. This is gold. Quick, get in close, get the shot, all of it."

My eyes rolled back with the pain and white foam kept spilling from my mouth. I knew the drug had taken hold, and there was nothing left in me to fight it. Like a jester stripped bare in front of the whole Family, I let them shred every last thread of my dignity. Then someone shrieked. A warm liquid ran out from beneath me and a foul, sour stench filled the air at once. The humiliation was so vast I couldn't even weep through it. I wished only to die there on the ground.

While they went on with their disgust and their insults, the flashes bore down on my lower body, snapping without end. I lay there like a dead dog, without a shred of strength left to struggle. "What are you doing. Who gave you leave to take pictures like that?"

Lorenzo cut through the crowd of associates like a blade through silk, seized the lead onlooker's camera, and shattered it against the marble floor. "Get out. Every last one of you."

My mother wrapped her mourning shawl around my shoulders with shaking hands, tears streaming down her face, her voice cracking. "The soldiers on this door. Are you all useless? How did outsiders get inside a Family celebration? You're finished. All of you."

Bianca hovered at the edge of it, one hand pressed to her mouth. "You've gone too far! How can you treat my sister this way? Don't you dare let a single one of those pictures out. My sister, seizing on the floor, soiling herself. You'd better not."

Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting. You want the crown of the showcase? You want to pour every ounce of the bloodline's love into Bianca? Fine. Take it. But why did you have to do this to me?

My mind swam in fog. I simply let Lorenzo kneel in front of me, gripping my hands tight. "Wife, I'm so sorry. This is my fault. I failed to protect you. It won't happen again. From this day, I'll never let you suffer so much as a breath of pain. Let's seal the union now, quickly. All right?"

I wanted to say no, but the metallic taste climbing my throat spilled first as a mouthful of blood. It splattered across Lorenzo. His pupils shrank and his face went white as ash. Before my consciousness faded into darkness, I heard him and my mother screaming for the Family's doctors.

"The wounds were already severe, and the delay has made them far worse. On top of that, she's been given an overdose of psychotropic drugs. Her internal organs are badly damaged. The knife work carries perhaps a thirty percent chance."

Lorenzo's voice trembled. "How could this happen? I don't care what it takes. If you can't save my wife, you'll all answer for it with your lives."

Tears fell onto the back of my hand. He wept without control. "Babe, we promised we'd be together forever. You can't leave me here alone."

My mother sank to her knees before the doctor, begging. "You have to save my daughter. I don't care what it costs. I'd give my own life for hers."

I closed my eyes, heavy as stone. Maybe dying like this wouldn't be so bad.

When I woke again, I was back in my own room. Faint voices carried through the door. "Mother, are you truly signing all of Father's tribute over to me? Won't Adriana be furious when she learns of it?"

My mother's laugh was soft, indulgent. "She has no right to be. She'll marry into the Falcone bloodline. She'll never want for food or money again. What does she need with this little inheritance? When your father was martyred and everything was at its darkest, I fell to the leukaemia. You were the one who gave me your blood, day after day, who gave me the marrow from your own bones. From that moment I swore you were the only daughter I would ever claim in this life. There isn't much left, and still I feel I owe you. I know you love Lorenzo too. I've already spoken with him. Your sister is in no condition to carry a child. So on the night of the alliance union, you'll take her place. You'll be the one to give the Falcone heir his firstborn."

Bianca's cheeks colored and she answered sweetly, "I'll do whatever you ask, Mother."

My mother pushed the door open just as my eyes met hers. Guilt flickered across her face, and she rubbed the edge of her shawl between two fingers. "Sweetheart, since you've heard it all, I won't hide it from you any longer. The Falcone bloodline is powerful. It needs an heir. But don't fret, the standing of Lorenzo's wife..."

"I agree," I interrupted, calm and even. "In my condition, it wouldn't be fitting for me to appear at the union anyway. Let Bianca go in my place."

A smile spread across my mother's face at once. "Good girl. You've truly grown. So understanding."

Bianca cast a disdainful glance at my ruined skin, then dressed her voice in concern. "Don't worry, sis. I'll take good care of your husband for you."

I turned my head away, weary, done looking at either of them. I pressed my thumb against the inside of my wrist, against the place the fire would one day mark, and held it there. I only hoped that on the day my mother learned the truth, she wouldn't come to regret it. Because that so-called precious daughter of hers had done a great deal more, back when the sickness took hold, than open a vein.