When I opened my eyes, the sharp scent of antiseptic and rubbing alcohol filled the air.

"You are finally awake." A man sat beside my bed, his posture untouched by exhaustion. He wore a dark suit, jacket unbuttoned, his sleeves rolled to the forearm as though he'd been sitting there for hours without once shifting his weight. "If there had been even a minute of delay last night, the baby would have suffocated."

I sucked in a cold breath as panic tore through me. My shaking hands flew to my stomach, pressing down, trying to feel my child.

"Don't worry," he said immediately, seeing my swollen eyes. "You gave me the moonflower's cure. I saved both you and your baby."

Instant relief washed over me, but the very next second, the man beside me reached forward to check my temperature. It was then a jolt of electrifying sparks burst across my skin, igniting my nerves. My fingers rose shakily towards the warmth blooming at my neck, and I froze. A ring. A heavy signet ring pressed into the hollow of my throat, its imprint still warm against my pulse. No ordinary Boss could place his claim on another man's wife and make it hold. Only the most powerful man in the Cosa Nostra could do that.

"This," I whispered, choking bitterly. "What does the Don of Dons, Dominic Valente, want from me? You claimed me. Why?"

My breathing slowed as his gaze held mine, careful, as if I might fracture.

"Nico Graystone murdered someone under my protection. By that act alone, the Graystone Family became my enemy."

His gaze sharpened. "You are their Lady. You know their borders, their alliances, their weaknesses. And now you share my enemy. We are perfect as partners, Bianca."

My throat tightened. "So you mark me, turn my life upside down, and call it strategy?"

He didn't deny it.

"I call it necessity, Bianca. Saving your dignity last night was my duty, but claiming you was a choice."

I looked away, my hand instinctively covering my stomach, grounding myself in the one thing that still belonged to me.

"I need time," I said quietly. "I can't give you an answer like this."

Dominic looked at me gently. "Rest assured. I will not cage you with a decision made in blood and shock."

He rose from the chair and turned away, then paused at the door. The light from the hallway cut across his shoulders, and for a moment the room felt like a confessional.

"When you are ready, when you choose not to fight alone, call my name once."

His voice was steady. Absolute.

"I will come."

After Dominic's departure, the silence inside me became unbearable. It pressed against my ribs, heavier than the antiseptic air, heavier than the bruises I could feel blooming across my body. It was until a notification lit the screen.

Serafina Blackwood sent you a video.

A decorated room came into view, walls lined with baby toys and pastel posters. Then the large rose bouquet in Nico's arms lowered. And the world narrowed to one impossible detail: Serafina's belly. Round and heavily swollen. Pregnant.

Serafina laughed softly. "You're worrying too much. The ultrasound report shows both our sons are strong."

Nico laughed in joy, lifting Serafina off the bed without effort, spinning her once as joy tore out of him.

"Two heirs, Serafina? You have given me what I have always dreamed of! In a week I will organize the biggest wedding our Family has ever seen and welcome you like a princess."

Serafina's eyes glimmered with tears as she tightened her fingers around the bouquet. She glanced at the camera, spoke gently.

"Nico, if you take me as your wife now, won't sister grow jealous? She loves you so deeply. Won't she resist?"

Nico didn't even look concerned.

"Jealousy only matters when a woman is allowed to speak," he replied calmly.

Serafina looked up, pretending to be confused.

"I have already prepared everything," Nico continued. "Bianca's biological father and brothers know her lies well. They cannot see you being bullied by her anymore and were almost relieved to sign the documents: medical records and evaluations from Family physicians. Every piece of evidence needed to prove Bianca is mentally unstable."

"Her family already believes she caused her mother's death," Nico added indifferently, making my entire body tremble. "Who do you think will defend her when she screams?"

Serafina's lips wobbled in worry.

"On paper, she is unfit to make decisions for herself, let alone carry a baby. So when I abort her child and sign her up for a surgery to make sure she never bears another, in front of the Family, I will already be doing her a kindness by keeping her as a secondary wife instead of discarding her completely."

The phone felt too heavy to hold. The world blurred, as if I had been shoved underwater, and a sense of rage coiled in my heart like a serpent.

Serafina's voice came out soft, almost fearful. "And if sister bullies me at home then?"

Nico's gaze turned cold.

"Once the Southern Shipping Route deal takes effect, Bianca will be useless to me," Nico said calmly. "If she mistreats you, I will send her to an institution until she learns where the fault lies."

A loud ringing filled my ears as Serafina looked at the camera with a mocking smile.

"Nico, we both would be your wives. I... I don't want to fight sister Bianca."

Her voice cut in gently. "I want to make sister feel less lonely after you terminate her pregnancy. She can help me raise our child. In the future, it will be as if she never lost anything."

"Also one day," she added with a shy smile, "when I give you a daughter you have always dreamt of, we can make sister her handmaid, so she won't feel useless."

A moment of silence followed before Nico pulled her into his arms and kissed her without hesitation, his fingers already undoing her clothes.

"It's your innocence I can't get enough of," he murmured. "Look at you caring about my lifelong dreams. If Bianca were half as devoted, she wouldn't be here now. I am happy to have my heirs, but if you can give birth to a daughter for me, I will give you everything."

A sharp pain sliced through my heart as Nico's past words echoed in my head.

"Bianca, a son is for the Family, but a daughter would be my own. The child whom I can spoil endlessly. A daughter like you is my lifelong dream. Please accept my love, Bianca. I promise to keep you happy."

I closed my eyes. A single tear slipping free before I could stop it.

Nico. The one thing you dreamed of is already here. But you... you don't deserve her.

The phone felt heavier than my hands could manage. I didn't throw it. I didn't cry. I just sat there, listening to the sound of my blood moving through my ears.

Nico was trying to destroy me, and I wouldn't let him succeed.

I dialed a number then.

"Mrs. Graystone? The Southern Shipping Route documents are ready. We await your confirmation."

"The contract is void. Effective immediately," I cut in.

A sharp inhale answered me.

"Void? Mrs. Graystone, you negotiated this for half a year. The Graystone Boss will have control over the most profitable smuggling corridor on the Eastern Seaboard with this!"

"I am no longer the Lady of the Graystone house. My work is no longer theirs to claim," I said calmly. "I once saved your life, and today I am asking you for a favor. Seven days. Get me all the classified border maps, underground passages, all the dirty treaties done under the table."

"...If this leaks, the Graystone Family won't survive the winter, Mrs. Graystone," the voice said hoarsely.

"That's why I need you to keep it a secret," I replied. "Conceal the cancellation for seven days."

There was a heavy pause on the other side. The voice finally said, "Understood, Mrs. Graystone. The agreement will be nullified quietly. As you once saved my life, this will remain between us."

The phone disconnected, and my palm rubbed small circles on my belly.

Three years ago, when you were captured by the rival Family, Nico, it was I who surrendered in exchange for your freedom. I remembered the chains. The cold. How I told myself it was worth it. How naive I had been to give my heart to a monster like you.

It's time I collect my debts one by one, Nico.

Two days passed in a blur. When I returned to the Graystone estate, the world felt foreign. Too beautiful and clean for someone whose soul was dipped in tar and simmering with rage.

I knocked on the study door.

"Come in," my mother-in-law said, her tone slightly dismissive.

I pushed the door open and saw her writing a proposal.

[PROPOSAL FOR CO-WIVES]

Primary Wife: Serafina child-bearing

Secondary Wife: Bianca children born will be illegitimate

I stared at those lines for a long time.

Strangely, I didn't cry.

Only a hollow space opened in my chest. So I had already been erased from their future so strategically.

"Illegitimate."

I suddenly remembered an evening years ago in the Family doctor's quarters.

Nico stood inside the room, holding a practice newborn doll in his arms. His movements were stiff, overly careful. When I caught him, he laughed like a child who had been discovered doing something embarrassing and pulled me into his arms.

"I have to learn, Bianca," he said. "When our baby is born, I can't afford to be clumsy."

Back then, I truly believed him. Believed that he would love our children even more than me.

Only now did I realize the future had always existed. It simply didn't include me.

"Bianca Ferrante, I heard you disappeared for days. I had told Nico not to bind himself to a lowly girl. One day she is serving him, another day warming the bed of another man."

Her insult landed like ash on a corpse.

"Shut up."

Her pen slipped as she stared at me in shock. Carmela Graystone adjusted the pearl choker at her neck, fingers pressing into the strand as if it could steady her.

"You dare speak to me like this! I will have Nico skin you alive!"

My bloodshot eyes looked at her, emotionless.

"Years ago, you gave me an offer. Name my price and leave Nico forever. Today I am here to take that deal. I want all the northern territories signed over in my child's name."

She inhaled sharply. "You greedy orphan—"

"I am not here to negotiate." I held her gaze without flinching. "I am here to end this farce. Sign the agreement, and neither I nor the child will have any ties to Nico or the Graystone Family."

"…Fine," she said tightly. "But Nico must never know you are leaving."

She searched my face for fear and yet didn't find any.

"Let's do it this way." I leaned closer. "Seven days. That's all you have. After everything is done, I will leave Nico completely."

Nico will never know that I will take our daughter and disappear from his life forever.

I ignored my mother-in-law's astonished expression and turned to leave.

The walk to my marital home felt endless. The long corridor of the Graystone estate stretched before me, portraits of dead patriarchs watching from every wall, and not a single soldier acknowledged me as I passed.

As soon as I turned the knob, a burst of confetti exploded in my face like a cruel joke.

"Surprise, Bianca!" Nico stood at the far end, smiling softly, like a man certain of forgiveness.

Candles flickered everywhere. The house glowed with careful celebration.

And on the table were blue irises, Serafina's favorite flowers, the kind that gave me severe rashes even if I touched them once.

Earlier, this would have destroyed me.

Now I barely registered it.

"Bianca," Nico said, walking toward me. "Where have you been all this time? Just because I cancelled the wedding, you disappear and leave me worried sick?"

As soon as his fingers grazed my hand I almost lost my mind.

In a small corner of the territory he had arranged for a dilapidated chapel, asking me to decorate it myself for our wedding. His words: "Too much luxury doesn't suit you, Bianca. The simpler, the better."

I cooked, decorated, and waited till midnight only for him to message me at last:

"This time the job is too dangerous. My life is on the line. If I live, let's marry next week, Bianca."

After that I crawled through the most dangerous stretches of rival territory and sourced the antidote from a cliff-side supplier just to save him.

And my reward?

Humiliation.

"Worried sick?" I forcefully smiled. "I thought you stood me up at our wedding because Serafina called at the last moment."

"Bianca, she was attacked by Bratva operatives. What was I supposed to do? Ignore her because you wanted a white dress and flowers?" He leaned closer to me and offered a hypocritical explanation.

"She was the one attacked?"

"She is your sister and yet you are so heartless. Why can't you learn from Serafina, huh?" he pressed, frustrated. "She was worried about you even while she was injured. She kept asking if you were alright, but the first thing you do is complain."

"This is why your father is tired, Bianca. He asked me what happened to the daughter he raised. Why she keeps pushing everyone away. No matter how much I spoil you, the Family will always be above your petty tantrums, so don't ruin my mood."

This was the man who had once covered the bruises from my father with trembling hands.

The same man who held me the night my mother died, when my father brought his mistress and illegitimate daughter home before my mother's body was even cold.

And now he used my secrets to collude and stab a dagger in my back.

He stepped closer, gently coaxing me, as if I were a child throwing a fit.

"Let's celebrate, Bianca," he murmured. "I know tonight means a lot to you. First cut the cake, and then we can go to the Feast of San Gennaro like every year—"

"What… are we celebrating?"

Nico froze.

He stared at me as if I had struck him.

"You don't remember?"

"Bianca… tonight is our anniversary."

"You cried the last time I forgot," he added quietly. "You held onto my shirt and begged me not to make it meaningless."

Silence stretched between us when a sharp echo of Nico's phone tore through the atmosphere, the caller ID flashing for a second before he snatched it from the table.

[Baby rabbit]

Years ago I had shyly taken his phone and entered my name as "Love bear." That day Nico had returned from the family compound and slapped the phone against the wall, making it shatter into a million pieces.

"Are you fucking stupid! Don't you know that I hate such childish nicknames! Don't you dare touch my things again!"

After that he threw all the couple's gifts I gave him straight into the trash.

But with Serafina, he didn't mind it at all.

The difference between love and indifference was clear.

"Nothing important. I will come right now," he muttered on the phone.

The candle on our anniversary cake fluttered and went out, just like the last three years where I cooked him a lavish meal and waited the entire night only to wake up and chew the cold food alone.

"Bianca, I don't think that childish festival you visit every time is too crucial, right?" he added, already slipping on his coat. A soldier appeared at the door, keys in hand, and Nico rolled the unlit cigarette between his fingers once before pocketing it. The decision already made. "There is some emergency regarding the southern shipping route, so I need to leave immediately. You—"

"Alright," I agreed quietly.

It was at that moment Nico froze. He tried: "You don't mind?"

"No," I said quietly.

Nico studied my face, his eyes narrowing slightly, like he was searching for the familiar cracks. The plea, the tremble, the question he was used to silencing.

"You understand… this is for the Family, right?" he added slowly.

"Don't overthink. I will be back soon."

He brushed past me so fast the air stung my cheek. The table hit my side, sharp pain bursting through my abdomen, and yet he didn't stop. The silent gasp left my lips as I doubled over in searing pain.

I used to think he ignored me because he was busy.

Now I know.

He simply didn't think of me at all.

My palm rubbed small circles on my belly. "Don't worry, baby. I will take you to see the fireworks. From now on I will fulfill the responsibility of both mother and father."

The carnival lights blurred, and in the glow the memories rose. A past version of us. Two teenagers sharing zeppole at the Feast, Nico brushing powdered sugar from my lips as he whispered: "If you like it, I will buy you hundreds more, Bia."

Him tugging my hand through these very stalls when we were twelve, lifting me onto his shoulders so I could see the fireworks.

I stared at the places where our laughter once lived and felt detached, like a stranger passing through.

"Look, sweetheart… your first festival—" My words were drowned by thousands of fireworks erupting all across the sky before my smile froze.

The night sky shone with [HAPPY BIRTHDAY SERAFINA]

And on the ground I saw Nico Graystone kneeling with a smile. In his hand was my mother's diamond ring, the one I thought I had lost forever.

I remembered how I panicked, sobbing into his chest, hating myself for losing my mother's only blessing to me.

His past words still echoing in my ears: "Just a silly ring. I will buy you hundreds more, Bianca. Just don't cry."

Now it glinted between his fingers as he held it up to Serafina. A birthday present amidst cheers.

This was his "emergency."

My fingers drifted to the hollow of my throat where my mother's locket once hung, but there was nothing there. My hand dropped. My jaw set.

My palm drifted instinctively to my belly as Serafina stepped onto the Ferris wheel, her lips locked with Nico's.

"Sweetheart… let's go," I whispered. "Mommy can't breathe here."

The fireworks kept bursting, bright enough to blind, as I stepped back until the noise dulled into nothingness.

Seconds, minutes, and hours passed until a sickly sweet voice called out, knocking the pastries from my hand onto the ground.

"Oh my, so you came alone, sister?"

Serafina stepped out of the shadows, one hand resting on the curve of her stomach, her smile a slow, deliberate provocation.

"I knew it had to be you from that worn-out dress. Don't worry, Nico's gone to bring me and the babies something sweet. If you'd like, I'll save you a small piece."

I didn't answer her mock concern. My silence made the corners of her smile twitch with a flash of frustration.

"Ah, don't tell me you're still trying to stay strong?" she whispered. "God, how sad. You were almost raped. Your body livestreamed across the internet for every filthy man to watch."

"Let me tell you a secret today. A month ago, Nico took the Southern Shipping Route deal you spent half a year building and presented it as mine."

Her smile widened, wicked.

"He told the Capos I wrote every word. That I was the mind behind the alliance with the southern corridor families."

That deal was my blood. My sleepless nights. My years of sacrifice.

Nico had handed all of my work to his mistress on a silver platter.

"And for my 'brilliance,'" she continued sweetly, "your loving husband rewarded me with properties. Land. And an obscene amount of money."

"Do you want to know what I did with it?"

"I replaced all your loyal soldiers. Signed a contract with the Volkov Bratva Boss to put me at the pinnacle of power. And hired those vile men to make your life worse than death."

"Do you even know it was at your birthday dinner that he first held me? Oh, sister, he took me everywhere. On the desk where you wrote him love letters. In the small rose garden where you made him bouquets. In the bed where you innocently dreamed about him." She paused. "And near the cemetery where your mother's tombstone lay."

Her smile widened, wicked and victorious.

"Only when I needed a break did I tell him: how about he use your body as an outlet until he can control his strong urges and handle me gently."

Three years ago. Nico entering my bedroom while I cried for my mother before holding me gently.

No buts, Bianca. He had murmured, fingers tightening. I need you tonight. Just this once. Be good for me.

I was exhausted. It hurt. I told him.

Just once more, darling, he whispered instead, while my body was already trembling, bruised and hollowed out.

And I let him because I thought it was love.

Serafina lifted one manicured finger, her smile widening as she watched my face morph into shades of anguish, as if whatever slept within me had heard those words and hated them.

"Shame the result of that day was born a bastard. But then again, children copy their mothers, right?" Her smile was gentle. "Even now a whore like you will breed a whore, won't you—"

Before she could say another word, a thunderous slap cracked through the atmosphere.

Crack!

The sound was so brutal that Serafina's face twisted to one side, blood trailing down her lips.

For the first time, the woman who always looked untouchable looked small.

Her face went blank with shock before twisting with humiliation, rage, and disbelief.

I stared at my own hand, breath ragged. That furious strength wasn't me.

For the first time in my life, I felt it.

My own power. A slow presence simmering in my chest. Not roaring, not fully awakened, but there. Breathing inside me.

"Bianca, you lowly whore, how dare you hit me?!"

"The whore was never me."

I leaned closer, fury settling into my bones like winter frost.

"And if what you said is true, then get ready to be replaced by another woman. Younger and more beautiful. Because men never keep mistresses forever. It's like a matching shoe. Once old and used, it will be discarded for another."

The last thread of sanity snapped inside her eyes, and she stared at me like she wanted to rip my soul out of my chest.

"Fine," she whispered. "Then tonight, you will see who is the real wife."

Before I could move, her nails dug into my skin as she dragged both of us off the private dock and into the freezing harbor water with a violent splash.

My scream drowned inside my throat as my hands frantically slapped the water to stay afloat.

It was then I heard a small laugh. "Remember how I drowned your pet dog as your birthday gift and framed you, sister? Let's play that game again."

I gasped at the ruthless memory as Serafina's hand pressed down on my head, forcing me under.

"Sister, you can't swim because of that trauma, right? Tonight I will make you relive that hell."

Her monstrous satisfaction shifted in an instant to a gentle cry.

"Bianca, please don't be angry. I just wanted to see the festival. Sister, don't hurt me. No! I didn't mean anything!"

My body convulsed, drowning, the world going dark at the edges. Through the muffled chaos, a loud roar shattered the night.

"SERAFINA!"

A splash followed immediately as Nico jumped into the water, pulling Serafina into his arms.

"Serafina! Are you hurt? Don't be scared! I'm here!"

It was then, with the last of my strength, my arm shot out of the surface, water filling my lungs, my mouth, my ears, as my daughter twisted in my stomach like she was crying frantically.

And only then did Nico look at me.

One glance.

One cold, enraged glare.

"Nico, go save sister. I don't blame her. She was just upset. She pushed me, but it's alright. I am willing to die to prove my loyalty to her."

Her tears fell on his shirt as she sobbed, and my entire being suffered in icy horror.

At last Nico spoke. His voice cutting deeper than any blade.

"Bianca, I am disappointed to have a wife like you. In childhood, Serafina went through your relentless bullying just because she understood your pain of losing a mother. She went abroad because you hated her living under the same roof. She saved my life because she wanted to see her sister's husband alive, so that you would remain happy."

The cold wind blew off the harbor, but his tone was colder than the water killing me. "And you dare scheme against her?!"

Scheming?

I sank deeper, lungs burning, unable to breathe, unable to fight anymore.

His final words cracked through the night:

"Since you shamelessly planned this, then get out of the water yourself!" And then he walked away with her.

Darkness covered my vision as my eyes closed.

No. I can't die here. I must save my unborn daughter.

Just before my consciousness faded completely, I reached for the hidden phone Dominic had given me and pressed the only number saved in it.

"Dominic, save me. Save my daughter."