A knot formed in my chest. I kept my head down, pretending not to notice, but Alessio did.

"Father, Mother." Alessio's expression was grave, his voice carrying the authority of the Don. "If you show my wife any more disrespect, don't blame me for returning the favor."

After a dead silence, Raul slammed his hand on the table, making me jump.

"Watch your tone. Are you really going to betray your own blood for this woman?"

Alessio gripped my hand, giving me no room to move, and calmly retorted, "Father, she is the love of my life."

"Harming her is the same as harming me."

"If it happens again, don't blame me for turning on you."

His acting was always so flawless, so seamless. Anyone witnessing this scene would say he truly loved me.

Too bad he didn't know my fingers were cold not because of his parents, but because of him.

Alessio stood before me, a perfect protector, but I felt no safety from him.

Sensing the tension, Margaret instantly shed her cold demeanor and put on a fake smile.

"Alessio, you've misunderstood." She stepped forward, reaching to embrace me. "Blair is like a daughter to me."

I stiffly allowed her to touch my shoulder. There was no warmth. "Dinner is ready. Let's go inside."

In the dining room, the crystal chandelier cast a dim glow, the only sounds the crisp clinking of silverware against porcelain.

Margaret kept making those grating little noises with her silverware, and my hand tightened around my fork.

"Blair, dear," she said, cutting her steak. "How are you feeling now? Are you recovering well?"

I knew what she was referring to. It had been six months since we lost our daughter.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking." I picked up a piece of carrot.

"That's good." She set down her knife and fork. "The family needs an heir, Blair. You know the Greco bloodline cannot be broken."

Alessio's hand tightened on his wine glass. "Mother, we just lost our child."

"Precisely because of that," Margaret's voice grew sharp. "You must have another one as soon as possible. Blair, as the Donna of the Greco family, this is your duty."

She paused. "Besides, if you had taken better care of our daughter, she wouldn't have died."

The air at the table instantly froze. Her words stabbed at my heart like daggers, but before I could speak, Alessio shot to his feet, his chair scraping loudly against the floor.

"Enough!" His voice was thick with suppressed fury. "We're eating. Don't talk about such nonsense."

Raul sneered. "Alessio, you call this nonsense? You've disrespected your parents time and again for an outsider."

"Outsider?" Alessio's eyes blazed with anger. "How many times do I have to say it? Blair is my wife, the Donna of this family!"

"I've already told you both, Blair is afraid of the pain. I won't put her through that again until I'm absolutely sure she has recovered. If we never have children, then so be it."

My hands were trembling, but I forced myself to remain calm.

Suddenly, I spoke. "Don't worry. You will all get what you want soon enough."

Everyone froze, three pairs of eyes fixed on me. Alessio turned his head, his eyes filled with confusion. "Blair?"

I didn't look at him, continuing on my own. "I promise." I took a sip of red wine. "In two weeks, the Greco family will have a new heir."

Alessio was about to say more when his phone rang.

He glanced at the caller ID, and his expression changed.

I knew who it was. And I knew he would be gone in three seconds.

Three, two, one. Just as I expected.

Alessio stood up right on cue. "Blair, I have to handle some family business. You stay and finish dinner. I'll be back to pick you up later."

He kissed my forehead and, without waiting for a reply, grabbed his coat and left.

The moment the door closed, Margaret and Raul's masks fell away.

"Now you can drop the act," Margaret sneered. "Can you really have another child? Or was that just another lie?"

"I have no reason to lie to you." I stood up. "If there's nothing else, I'll be leaving."

"Wait." Raul blocked my path. "Blair, you'd better understand your place."

"When Alessio isn't here, you're nothing in this family," Margaret said, stepping in front of me. "Just a pathetic outsider."

"If it weren't for Alessio protecting you, do you think you'd still be alive today?" Raul's voice was filled with threat. "The Greco family cemetery is filled with women who didn't know their place."

I fought back the nausea and pushed past them.

An hour later, the driver dropped me back at the villa.

As the car stopped, I opened the door to get out, and my hand brushed against something in the seat crevice.

I pulled it out. It was a used condom wrapper, not a brand we ever used. The implication was obvious.

To be more accurate, it was a fact that no longer needed proving.

I was just now learning that Alessio was into this sort of thing.

In the eight years we'd been married, I had always been the conservative one. The king-sized bed in our master bedroom was my only domain.

I once asked him if we should try more things, worried he might find it dull.

At the time, this was his answer: "Baby, don't force yourself to do things you don't like. All I want is you, no matter where."

And now, the car, the sofa, the dining table, the study… they had all become his battlegrounds with Sophia.

My husband of eight years, and I had never truly known him.

It was late when Alessio returned home.

He saw me sitting on the living room sofa and immediately came over.

"Baby, I'm sorry." He sat down beside me. "I shouldn't have left you there alone."

He pulled me into his arms, holding me tight. "Did my parents say anything?"

"Nothing." My voice was hollow.

"Blair, you know I'm always on your side," he kissed my hair. "You're the most important person in the world to me."

His embrace should have been warm, should have been safe.

But all I felt was a chilling cold, like the bars of a cage slowly closing in, about to suffocate me.

"I'm tired." I pushed him away. "I want to get some rest."

"Of course." He kissed my forehead. "You go on up. I have a few calls to make."

As I walked toward the stairs, I heard him on the phone in the living room, his voice low.

"Yes, I know you're worried, but she won't suspect a thing. She's always trusted my loyalty."

In the past, I would have insisted he carry me upstairs. This time, I didn't look back and went straight up.

The next morning, when I pushed open the bedroom door, I froze.

Over the sound of the shower, a woman was humming softly.

I walked over just as the bathroom door happened to open. Sophia stood there wrapped in my silk robe, a smug smile on her face.

She wasn't startled. In fact, her smile only widened.

"Oh, Blair! You're back." She tightened the belt, sauntering out with a lazy confidence. "I accidentally spilled some wine on myself earlier. Alessio told me to come up and wash it off."

"Are you wearing my clothes?" I pointed to the silk robe she had on. It was a limited-edition piece from a runway show that Alessio had brought back for me from Paris last year.

"Oh, this." She deliberately caressed the fabric. "Alessio said you wouldn't mind. We're family, after all."

She walked over to the vanity and casually started touching up her makeup with my products.

"What happened to your neck?" I stared at her reflection in the mirror.

"Just a little sparring in the training room. My opponent got a bit rough." She met my gaze in the mirror, her smile somewhat suggestive. "You know how some men are. They just don't know how to be gentle with a woman."

She turned to face me, deliberately tugging the collar of her robe lower.

My blood ran cold.

Alessio had once built a private training room for me in the basement, where he would personally teach me to use the family's weapons. He said that as the Donna of the Greco family, I had to learn to protect myself.

Back then, I would go to the training room every afternoon to practice shooting and combat.

Alessio would stand behind me, his hands guiding my grip on the gun, his breath hot on my ear, his voice low and sexy.

But ever since our daughter passed away, I had not set foot in there.

It seemed someone else was now doing that "training" for me. Her arrogance was the final straw. Fury churned in my chest as I lunged at Sophia.

"Take off my clothes and give them back to me..."

"Blair!" Alessio's voice came from the doorway. "What's going on?"

He strode into the room and saw us facing off.

Sophia immediately put on a wounded expression. "I think Blair misunderstood something. I was just borrowing the bathroom."

I stared at Alessio. "I just want to know, what exactly are you training her for?"

Alessio frowned. "Blair, you're tired. You need to rest." He came over and forcibly grabbed my hand.

"Don't touch me!" I tried to pull away, but his grip was too strong. He hauled me toward the stairs.

"Sophia, go back to your room," he said without looking back.

Alessio carried me upstairs. "Baby, you're tense. Get some sleep. I need to handle some family business in the study, and it might get loud."

He kissed my forehead. "The master bedroom will be quieter. Get some sleep."

I nodded and dragged my exhausted body upstairs.

But as I reached the landing, I realized I had left my phone on the coffee table in the living room. It might contain an important message from my black market contact.

I tiptoed back down the stairs, trying to retrieve it quietly. Then I heard sounds coming from the study.

I approached the door, which was slightly ajar. Through the crack, I saw a scene that made my blood freeze.

Alessio was seated in his leather chair while Sophia straddled his lap, her skirt pushed up to her waist. His hands gripped her hips, their bodies moving in a desperate rhythm.

She leaned close to his ear, her voice a purr of satisfied exhaustion. "That round in the training room just made me want more... You said Blair went to rest?"

He was panting heavily. "She won't come down. I told her I had to work on some files. Besides," his voice dropped, "if anyone dares to interrupt us, including her, I'll handle them."

I couldn't listen anymore. I covered my ears and ran to the bathroom, splashing cold water on my face over and over.

It was winter, but I didn't feel the chill. Nothing could be colder than my heart.

I retreated to the bedroom and slid down against the door.

This was the love I had believed in for eight years. True love, it turned out, was the most worthless thing of all.

In all those eight years, I had rarely entered Alessio's study, knowing he disliked anyone interfering with confidential family business.

But now, he could be naked with Sophia in there. What a fucking joke.

Perhaps it was sheer exhaustion, but I fell asleep without realizing it, only to be startled awake by Alessio's voice.

He was covered in sweat, his breathing ragged, as if he had just broken free from a nightmare. "Blair?" he fumbled in the darkness. "Are you there?"

I sat up in his arms. "Alessio, what's wrong?"

His eyes were bloodshot, his breathing uneven. "I dreamed you left me. It was hell, Blair."

"But you're still here. You're still here."

I lowered my head, the words I wanted to say caught in my throat. I couldn't tell his sincerity from the act, and I wanted to tell him that his dream would soon become reality.

Perhaps the nightmare made him genuinely afraid I would leave. After all, he hadn't gotten what he wanted out of me yet.

The next morning, Alessio wouldn't leave my side, following me everywhere.

I finally found a moment when he was distracted by family business and slipped out of the villa.

I went to the dim bar, where my contact was already waiting.

"Ma'am," he said in a low voice, pushing a manila envelope toward me. "Your complete identity documents. Passport, driver's license, bank cards. They'll be active worldwide within two weeks."

I reached for the envelope.

Just then, a familiar voice came from behind me.

"Who are you making a deal with?"

I slowly turned to see Alessio's ashen face, his voice trembling.

"What deal?" he asked again.

My heart skipped a beat, but I forced a faint smile, my mind scrambling for an excuse.

"It's not my deal. A friend's gallery is looking to acquire some European collectibles. She just called and asked me to help contact a broker."

For a moment, he just stared at me, as if he didn't quite believe me.

Then suddenly, he pulled me into his arms and swept me off my feet.

In the car, Alessio was silent.

I stole a glance at his profile. His jaw was clenched, clearly suppressing something.

"Blair," he said abruptly. "What's been wrong with you lately?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been different ever since we lost our daughter." He gripped the steering wheel. "You've changed."

I grew nervous, afraid I'd give myself away. "I haven't changed."

"Then why are you always doing things behind my back?" He stopped the car and turned to look at me. "Why do you look at me like I'm a stranger? Why don't you tell me things anymore?"

He suddenly pulled me into a hug, so tight I could barely breathe.

"I'm afraid of losing you, Blair." His voice trembled. "I've already lost our daughter. I can't lose you, too."

"When I couldn't find you at the villa, I was terrified. Please, promise me you won't just leave without a word, okay?"

"You won't lose me," I lied, patting his back.

"Really?" He released me, looking into my eyes. "Promise me."

"I promise." He kissed my forehead and started the car again.

I smiled and nodded, needing to calm the raging man beside me.

But I knew this was the last lie I would ever tell him.

That evening was the Greco family's charity gala.

Everyone was there. Politicians, business partners, allied families. The ballroom glittered with chandeliers and sparkling champagne glasses.

I wore the simplest, plain-colored dress. At this point, I didn't want to draw any attention.

Guests whispered in my ear constantly, telling me how lucky I was, how much Alessio doted on me, calling me the object of every woman's envy in the room.

"The way Alessio looks at her… that's what real love looks like."

I smiled bitterly. True love. Perhaps there had been a little, once upon a time.

The ballroom lights dimmed, and a spotlight hit the stage. Sophia emerged, gliding out in a golden gown. As she approached us, she deliberately raised her arm to adjust her necklace.

I saw it on her wrist, a small, delicate new tattoo. Identical to the one on Alessio's arm.

She noticed my gaze and gave me a triumphant, provocative smile.

When Alessio saw her raise her right hand, his face went pale. As Sophia started walking toward me, he grabbed her and pulled her out of the room.

I followed them quietly until they entered a private room behind the ballroom. The door was ajar, and I took out my phone.

"Are you crazy?" Alessio sounded agitated. "Showing off your tattoo here? If Blair finds out..."

"Finds out what?" Sophia's voice was coquettish. "Finds out you care about me more? Finds out you're going to get me pregnant with the true Greco heir?"

"Sophia, you know I have to be careful. It's not the right time..."

"When will it be the right time?" she cut him off, her voice sharp. "I'm tired of hiding. I want everyone to know I'm your woman. Get me pregnant, Alessio. Get me pregnant right now."

"Tell me," Sophia's voice turned seductive. "Who's your number one?"

"It's you, silly. You never have to ask that question again. Blair is just a tool, a stepping stone for me to climb higher."

My phone nearly slipped from my hand. My stomach twisted as I captured every cruel word of his betrayal.

They kept talking, but I couldn't hear them anymore.

I stopped the recording and staggered away.

Back home, I took out my suitcase. I packed all my essentials, leaving the divorce papers, my wedding ring, and the USB drive with the recording on the nightstand.

Two hours later, I was sitting in the lounge at JFK Airport, my new passport and boarding pass clutched tightly in my hand.

My phone rang. Of course, it was Alessio. I took a deep breath and answered.

"Blair? Where are you? I've been looking everywhere for you."

"I'm on my way home," I told my final lie. "I wasn't feeling well, so I left early."

"Do you want me to come back and be with you?"

"No need." I looked out at the city lights. "You just handle your business."

"Alright, sweetheart. I have to deal with a traitor tonight, so I'll be home late," he said. "Get some rest."

Then I heard Sophia's laughter, right behind him.

"I love you, Blair," he said.

"Goodbye, Alessio," I whispered, my voice hollow.

I hung up. Then I snapped my SIM card in half and dropped the pieces into an airport trash can.

As I stepped onto the plane, I finally felt free.