Heat stung my eyes. I fought back the bitterness and forced a brittle smile.

"So what you're saying is, you want me to look at your child with another woman every day, as a constant reminder of your betrayal?"

"I can't do that, Rafael. I'm sorry."

The moment the words left my mouth, his furious roar erupted from the receiver.

"Fine, Alessia. Remember every word you said tonight. And don't you dare come crying back to me!"

"What man in the Five Families doesn't have women on the side? I'm giving you the child Nina bears. I've shown you all the respect you're owed. If you can live with it, put on the damn wedding dress. If you can't, go back to your estate and rot for all I care!"

The line went dead. The suite's floor-to-ceiling windows reflected my pale, shattered image.

Presidential Suite 2031. This used to be our favorite place.

He had kissed every inch of me on this very French bed, telling me I was his only faith.

This suite had witnessed our most savage, desperate passion after every family war, on every night steeped in the scent of blood.

Now, I was the only one left standing in the ruins.

I wiped away a tear and had a car take me back to the Valentino estate, where I knocked on the sandalwood door of my father's study.

My father sat in his leather armchair, a cigar between his fingers. "Alessia, Rafael just called. He said you were being emotional and called off the alliance?"

"The Mancini family is our most important ally. This marriage is not a bargaining chip for you to throw around just because you're in a temper."

I took a deep breath, forcing the tremor out of my voice.

"His club dancer is pregnant."

My father blew a ring of smoke, his eyes cold. "Some gutter trash. Get rid of her."

"I'm not giving up the alliance. I'm just changing the groom. You know him, Giovanni Russo."

My father's hand froze mid-flick of his cigar ash. A look of profound shock crossed his weathered face.

"Giovanni? The head of the Russo family? Are you insane? You two have been at each other's throats since you were children. He almost pushed you off a cliff in Sicily!"

I let out a small laugh, trying to make my voice sound light.

"That's why I want to marry him. So I can make his life a living hell."

That night, the gash from the broken vase throbbed with a dull ache. I curled up on the cold bed and waited for dawn.

The next morning, I drove to the penthouse apartment by Central Park to retrieve my things.

It was the home we had prepared for our new life together. Downstairs, Rafael's ostentatious Aston Martin was parked brazenly in my private spot.

I pushed the door open, only to be met with a wall of oil paintings, all done by Rafael's own hand.

But the woman in the paintings wasn't me. It was Nina.

Sun-drenched Sicily, the azure Amalfi Coast, the ancient Roman Colosseum.

All the places we had once marked with blood and fervent kisses were now merely her backdrop.

I knew Rafael was a gifted painter. I had begged him for years, but he had never once shown me.

"Baby, I'm the heir to the family now."

"My hands are for holding a gun, not some useless paintbrush."

So for all these years, no matter how beautiful I was, he had never captured a single trace of me on canvas.

But now, Nina was his exception.

It wasn't that he had no time for painting. He just had no time for me.

Besides the paintings, there was a photograph. They stood before that wall of art, Nina stroking her flat stomach, her smile a picture of fragile shyness.

The sound of the door opening made them both turn. Their eyes met my icy stare.

Nina fell to her knees before me, wrapping her arms around my waist as she sobbed and begged.

"Miss Alessia, please forgive me. I was just scared to be alone out there. Please don't be angry with me."

"I only wanted the baby to feel his father's warmth... I swear, as soon as he's born, I won't try to take your place..."

Before I could step back, Rafael strode over.

He pulled Nina behind him, shielding her as he looked down at me, his eyes filled with impatience.

The air grew thick with a suffocating tension.

"Alessia, I've already found the person who drugged me. He won't live to see next month in New York."

"Nina is innocent in this. She was forced into it. You shouldn't have taken it out on her and thrown her out. I'll let what you did slide this time. Apologize, and we can put this behind us."

I looked up at him, my gaze as cold as the frozen depths of the sea.

The sheer absurdity of the situation washed over me.

"You want me to apologize? Rafael, have you lost your mind?"

The next second, a tearful Nina lunged at me, pretending to grab for my wrist.

Her shoulder, however, slammed right into the gash on my side.

A searing pain tore through my nerves. I gasped, instinctively shoving her away.

I barely used any force, but Nina flew backward into a nearby antique cabinet.

"What the hell are you doing!"

Rage flared in Rafael's eyes. He shoved me violently.

My back slammed hard against the wall, and I slid to the floor.

The bar cart next to me was completely overturned, sending a bottle of bourbon crashing to the ground.

Sharp glass and ice scattered everywhere. A pointed shard dug deep into my calf.

Blood gushed out, instantly staining the cashmere rug.

"I think you're the one who's lost her mind!"

"Nina already humbled herself before you, and I've explained everything. Get off your high horse."

"Apologize to her. Now!"

I clenched my jaw, swallowing the metallic taste of blood rising in my throat. I spoke each word with chilling clarity.

"Never."

"A Valentino daughter does not bow to a dancer who sells her body. Not even in death."

"The nerve."

Rafael was completely enraged. He summoned the two Soldatos standing guard outside the door.

"Take her to the prayer room."

"Let our noble Principessa kneel on the cold stone and clear her head!"

"No one is to help her up without my order!"

I fought through the excruciating pain in my leg, staring in disbelief at the man who had once sworn to protect me with his life.

"Rafael, you dare to lock me up? For a lying tramp?"

"Don't you forget, I am the future Donna of this family!"

"But right now, you're on my territory."

Rafael shot me a cold glance and said nothing more.

The Soldatos grabbed my arms and dragged me toward the dim prayer room.

My blood left a stark red trail on the hallway floor.

The heavy oak door locked behind me. The marble floor before the cross was chillingly cold.

I was forced to kneel, the wounds on my side and calf throbbing with a piercing pain.

Blood and cold sweat soaked through my dress.

The blood loss was making me dizzy, my consciousness slipping away.

Looking at the guards at the door, my voice was so hoarse it was almost a whisper.

"Get a doctor... Get Rafael, I'm begging you..."

A guard's lip curled into a sneer. He stood in the shadows, unmoved.

"Save it, Principessa. We've seen this act before."

"The Boss called his private doctor, but he's with Miss Nina right now."

I struggled to keep my heavy eyelids open, seeing only a sliver of cold light filtering through the high, stained-glass window.

The next second, darkness consumed all my senses, and I collapsed.

Through the haze of unconsciousness, I vaguely heard the guards' panicked shouts.

"Dammit! She passed out from blood loss!"

"There's blood everywhere! Go get the Boss, now!"

Familiar footsteps approached and stopped beside me.

Rafael's voice was cold, devoid of warmth.

"Are you done playing the victim?"

"Anyone would think you were the pregnant one."

"Alessia, your pride will be your downfall. I'm teaching you the rules."

The sound of his leather shoes turned and walked away. Nina was clinging to his arm, peeking into the darkness where I lay.

She looked up at him, her voice like a frightened doe's.

"Rafael, Miss Alessia lost so much blood. Are we being too hard on her?"

"She is a Valentino, after all. If her father finds out..."

The hard line of Rafael's jaw tightened.

"The future Don of the Mancini family doesn't answer to anyone."

"She was arrogant, and she hurt you. The heir isn't due for months. You can't let her walk all over you. That temper of hers needs to be broken."

A flash of triumph flickered in Nina's eyes before she quickly masked it with a look of innocence.

"I've heard that for powerful mafia families like yours, marriage is just a transaction, without any love. Is that true?"

The cold floor stole the last of my body heat, mercilessly freezing my already shattered heart.

For a moment, I could have sworn my heart stopped beating.

The next, Rafael's deep, slightly raspy voice echoed down the hall.

"There is only one seat beside the Mancini throne. The marriage is a transaction of power. I didn't have a choice."

"Alessia is reserved, composed. I never imagined any other woman as my Donna."

Tears slid down my cheeks, seeping into the cold marble cracks.

Rafael's gaze seemed to look past the person in front of him, his mind filled with images of Alessia, a faint smile even touching his lips.

But seeing Nina before him, he snapped back to the present.

"But you, Nina... you were an unexpected complication."

"You brought me an heir."

After all, the woman before him was carrying his bloodline. He couldn't ignore her; he had to take responsibility.

His words pierced my chest, one by one.

I could no longer tell what hurt more: the mangled flesh of my leg, or my heart, which was already in pieces.

The memories of fighting side-by-side under the Sicilian sun began to flake away.

What I had thought was the trust of watching each other's backs in a hail of bullets, what I had thought was deep love, was nothing more than a prize he claimed after weighing the pros and cons.

How pathetic. The sole faith of my life had been to become his wife.

To secure his throne as Don, to clear every obstacle from his path.

The boy who put a Virgin Mary pendant around my neck with blood-stained hands after a gunfight died today.

My body finally gave out. The infected wound on my leg sent a fever raging through me.

Outside, Rafael must have finally noticed the deathly silence within. He kicked the prayer room door open, roaring at his men.

"Get out of the way! Get the family doctor over here!"

"If anything happens to Alessia, you'll all pay with your lives!"

In my delirium, I felt myself being lifted.

Then, I fell into a warm embrace.

That familiar scent, a mix of gunpowder and Cuban cigars, had once been the only sanctuary I craved.

But when I regained consciousness, my eyes opened to the ceiling of a cold, dim guest room.

Rafael sat in a high-backed chair, his face a mask of irritation and cold fury.

"Why didn't you say the wound was infected?"

"Are you always this stubborn, Alessia? When are you going to change?"

I didn't answer his question. My gaze swept impassively over the cramped, cold room.

It was obvious who was now occupying my master bedroom.

A cold smile touched my lips. I didn't even spare him a glance.

I pushed myself up and tore off the thick gauze wrapped around my calf.

The raw, newly stitched wound was exposed again. I pressed my fingertips against the rough sutures.

I kept pressing until crimson blood seeped from between the stitches, staining my fingers.

My cold indifference finally pushed Rafael over the edge. He shot to his feet. "Enough! Can't you tolerate anyone?"

"I moved Nina in for her own protection, not so you could torment her!"

"Forget it. You have eight months until Nina gives birth. Use that time to cool off. You will stay in this room and think about what you've done until you learn how to be a proper Donna!"

With that, Rafael turned and left without a second glance.

The heavy slam of the door shook dust from the corners of the room. I stared at the stark red on my fingertips.

My eyes were a barren, dead landscape.

I noticed the gash on my side had been meticulously treated by the doctor and couldn't help but let out a cold laugh.

He caused all my suffering, and now he was playing the hero?

From outside the door, I could faintly hear Nina's delicate laughter. I expressionlessly pulled out my encrypted phone.

I dialed the number for the Valentino family's Consigliere.

This Central Park penthouse had been a property I purchased under my own name.

I didn't want to stay in this heartbreaking place a moment longer.

I immediately used a shell corporation to transfer the property's title to the Russo family.

That evening, the servants prepared a lavish dinner, most of which consisted of seafood that Rafael was allergic to.

I glanced down from the second floor, remembering how I hadn't touched seafood for over a year because of his allergy when we used to dine together.

He had probably long forgotten that Italian seafood was my favorite. He was never one to compromise for me.

Now, for another woman, he could even overcome his body's own aversion.

The line between being loved and being tolerated had never been clearer.

Returning to what was once the master bedroom, I found that my luggage had already been cleared out.

That saved me some trouble.