My adoptive father was my only weakness.

In the photo, he was tied to a chair, his white hair a mess, his eyes filled with terror.

My hand trembled violently.

"You can't touch him."

"I don't want to," Axel's voice was tight with a twisted kind of pain. "But you're forcing my hand."

I thought of the old man who waited for me all night outside the orphanage fifteen years ago.

He wasn't my real father, but he gave me a home.

"Papa will give Aria the best life," he'd always say.

To keep that promise, he worked himself to the bone, even borrowed money to send me to the best schools.

Then he got set up, and ended up with a massive gambling debt.

I was still in college. To save him, I learned everything I could.

Painting, sculpting, antique appraisal...

I became the best art forger in the underworld.

And in that world, I met Axel, who was still fighting to become the head of his family.

"Launder my family's art collection for me," he'd said the first time we met, "and I'll give your father the best medical care money can buy."

I helped him turn his dirty collection into a legitimate one, and it helped him win his family war.

And he kept his promise.

My father was moved into the best care facility, with a dedicated medical team.

"I'll treat him like my own father," Axel had once whispered in my ear.

And for the five years we were in love, he did.

When he proposed, he rented out all of Central Park and filled it with a hundred thousand black roses. It was the talk of the city. He made me the envy of everyone.

He bought a penthouse overlooking all of Manhattan and put it in my name. He invested millions in my father's clinic and covered every expense.

All the people who used to look down on me were suddenly congratulating me, sucking up.

Back then, they'd whisper behind my back, wondering what terrible thing Axel must have done to be that good to me.

I was so deep in it, I thought our love was unbreakable.

Then Seraphina shattered the dream.

But I never, ever thought he would use my father's life to threaten me.

Using my only weakness to buy his whore some peace of mind.

I clenched my fists, my nails digging into my palms. The pain was nothing compared to the agony in my chest.

I couldn't breathe. I closed my eyes, and silent tears rolled down my cheeks.

When I opened them again, my gaze was empty. Dead.

"Fine," I whispered. "I give up. What do you want?"

Axel looked away, pulling a document from his jacket.

"Sign this. End it. It's better for everyone."

I took the document with a shaking hand.

The document twisted the truth into an unrecognizable knot.

[I, Aria Sterling, admit that driven by jealousy, I conspired with outside forces to leak Family secrets, causing significant losses. Furthermore, due to an unstable mental state, I suffered from the delusion that Mr. Axel Thorne was not dead, and based on this delusion, I made malicious and false accusations against innocent people. I hereby clarify: Mr. Axel Thorne did in fact die six years ago, and all of my previous allegations were the result of paranoid delusions.]

A tear hit the paper, smudging the ink.

"Axel, are you really going to do this to me?"

He stood with his back to me, his shoulders tense.

He said, his back still to me. "Sign it."

I closed my eyes and shakily wrote my name. Every stroke of the pen was a knife in my heart.

When I was done, Axel placed a Swiss bank check on my bedside table.

"Ten million dollars," he said, placing a Swiss bank check on the table. "It'll cover your father's debt and set you up for life."

He let out a long, tired sigh.

"Leave this place. Go live a good life."

There was a hint of guilt in his voice, but mostly relief.

He turned to leave.

"Axel," I called out.

He stopped but didn't turn around.

"I hate you."

His back flinched, just for a second. Then he walked out and shut the door.

The moment it closed, my phone rang.

It was one of the Family elders.

"Miss Sterling, based on the statement you just signed, the Family is revoking all of your titles and privileges. You are no longer recognized as our Donna, and you no longer have the Family's protection."

A cold, formal execution.

I had been erased.

I hung up, and my phone immediately buzzed with a text. And a photo.

From Seraphina.

[Brother said it's time to completely forget the past. A is gone. Now there's only S.]

[And just so you know, the night he decided to exile me? He was in my bed. He fucked me seven times. He could never let me go.]

The photo was of Axel's bare back.

The "A" that used to be tattooed on his left shoulder blade was now completely covered by a massive black rose.

The rose looked so real, like it was mocking me.

I deleted the photo, but I couldn't stop the tears.

It started to rain outside.

I dragged my exhausted body out of the clinic. The cold wind bit at my face.

The ten-million-dollar check felt heavy in my hand.

Severance pay. For five years of my life.

Just then, my phone rang again.

An urgent call from my father's doctor.

"Miss Sterling, your father had a massive heart attack!" the doctor's voice was frantic. "It's critical. You need to get to the hospital now!"

I bolted from the clinic, stumbling through the parking lot.

The rain was coming down harder now, cold and blinding, mixing with my tears.

As I reached the edge of the lot, several men in black suits stepped out of the shadows.

Valkov's men.

"Well, well. If it isn't the high-and-mighty Donna of the Thorne family," the leader sneered. "Look at you now. Like a stray dog."

"Get out of my way!" I tried to push past them. "My father is dying!"

"Dying?" another one laughed. "You think you're still the Thorne Donna? That the Family still has your back?"

They circled me, trapping me.

"Heard you got kicked out of the Thorne family."

"Your own man faked his death just to get away from you. You got any shame left?"

"Please!" I fell to my knees in the rain. "Let me go to the hospital! My father is sick!"

"Hahaha!" They roared with laughter. "Look at the former Donna, begging on her knees like a dog!"

A steel-toed boot came down, crushing my phone under its heel.

The screen spiderwebbed into a thousand pieces.

"Five million dollars. Not a penny less," the leader said, squatting down and grabbing my chin. "Without Axel Thorne to protect you, how are you gonna pay?"

"I have money!" I pulled the check from my coat with a trembling hand. "Ten million! Take it all!"

They paused for a second, then burst out laughing again.

"Is that your pity money? Looks like the new Donna wanted to make sure you were thoroughly humiliated."

Just then, a hospital security guard appeared.

"What are you doing? Get out of here!"

The Valkovs looked at each other, then backed away with a smirk.

"This ain't over."

I scrambled to my feet and ran for the hospital.

The elevator was too slow. I took the stairs.

Twelve flights.

My legs felt like lead. Every step was a struggle.

I finally burst onto my father's floor.

The door to his room was open. There was a figure on the bed, covered with a white sheet.

"No..."

I stumbled over and ripped the sheet back.

It was my father's pale, peaceful face.

"Doctor! Doctor!" I screamed hysterically.

His doctor walked in, his face full of regret.

"Miss Sterling, we did everything we could."

"How..." I collapsed to the floor. "You said he was stable."

A nurse standing nearby spoke in a low voice. "About a half hour ago, a woman calling herself Mrs. Thorne came to visit."

My head snapped up.

"She was arguing with him, shouting things like 'your daughter betrayed our family' and 'she'll do anything for money'."

The nurse glanced at my face, then continued. "The old man became extremely agitated. His heart just gave out."

My own heart felt like it was being torn in two.

"And..." the nurse hesitated. "The top cardiac specialist Mr. Thorne had arranged... his surgery was suddenly canceled by his office at the last minute. They said it was a 'scheduling conflict'."

I understood.

This was Seraphina.

She didn't just provoke my father's heart attack. She cut off his only chance of survival.

And Axel... he knew how evil she was. And he let her do it.

I held my father's cold hand, tears streaming down my face.

"Papa... I'm so sorry..."

The person who loved me most in this world was gone.

Because of me. Because I was stupid. Because I loved the wrong man.

For the next three days, I handled everything alone.

No one came to pay their respects. No one called.

I was a ghost. Nothing left to hold onto in this world.

On the day of the funeral, I stood alone at his grave.

It was still raining.

I looked at my father's kind smile on the headstone, and my heart turned to ash.

"Papa," I whispered to the gray sky. "I'm coming home."

At dusk, I dragged my empty body to the Brooklyn Bridge.

The sun was setting, the river glittering below.

I took out my backup phone and started recording a voice memo.

"My name is Aria Sterling. If you are hearing this, it means I'm dead."

"Six years ago, Axel Thorne didn't die. The yacht explosion was a carefully planned hoax..."

I told them everything.

Axel's betrayal. Seraphina's poison. How they destroyed my life, piece by piece.

When the recording was done, I set it to send on a timer.

Then I walked slowly to the edge of the bridge.

The wind was strong, whipping my hair across my face.

I closed my eyes, thinking of the warm days with my father.

"Papa, we'll be together soon."

Then I jumped, and the world went dark.

---

Meanwhile, in the Miami penthouse.

Seraphina was clinging to Axel.

"Honey, my tummy hurts... I think our baby is being naughty," she cooed. "Can you stay with me?"

Axel frowned, his mind elsewhere.

He hadn't been able to shake a feeling of dread since Aria left.

"You're probably just tired. Get some rest," he said, distracted.

"Nooo," Seraphina whined, grabbing his arm. "I'm scared to be alone..."

Just then, Axel's phone rang.

It was Marco, his voice panicked and rushed.

"Boss, it's bad," Marco's voice was panicked. "It's the Donna—I mean, Miss Sterling. She... she jumped from the Brooklyn Bridge."