I laid Samuel gently on the bed. This time, I didn't carefully remove his shoes and socks the way I always had. I didn't spare him another glance. I turned and walked straight into the guest room, locking the door behind me, sealing out that nauseating tenderness and the lingering scent of him.

Before I closed my eyes, memories flickered unbidden through my mind. All those years of him supposedly "doting on me." Sweet soup delivered late at night. New clothes every time the season changed. Front-row seats at jewelry exhibitions.

Scenes that had once moved me to tears now pieced themselves together into something grotesque. Something mocking. Like a dull blade sawing across my heart, stroke after agonizing stroke.

Morning light filtered through the Castle's stained-glass windows, scattering fragments of color across my face. My eyes snapped open, and I found myself staring directly into Samuel's gaze, still soft, still tender.

He leaned in close, pressing a warm kiss to my forehead.

I turned my head away on instinct.

He paused, a flicker of surprise crossing his features. He assumed I was upset about his drinking and softened his voice even further, coaxing and intimate.

"Lois, were you unhappy last night? I'm sorry. I had too much at the family meeting. I promise it won't happen again. Don't be mad at me, okay?"

"Selene's coming over soon. Leave me a little dignity, will you? Don't let anyone see that the Godfather of Sicily can't even keep his own wife happy."

Gentle as always. Considerate as ever. But every word landed like ice against my skin.

I kept my expression blank, gave a flat murmur of acknowledgment, then turned and pulled out the divorce agreement I'd drafted the night before. I'd slipped it between the pages of a jewelry auction document.

"Sign this and buy it for me. Then I won't be angry."

Samuel was about to open the file when his phone lit up. I caught the name on the screen: Selene.

His expression shifted. Softened. Not the perfunctory warmth he usually gave me. This was real. A smile that came from somewhere deep inside him.

He flipped to the last page of the document, signed his name without reading a single word, and stood up to take the call.

I stared at the freshly signed divorce agreement. A sharp sting pierced my chest.

I thought of my mother's death. The ruin of my family. The plan I'd made with Joshua.

I steadied myself.

I retreated into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and let scalding water pour over me. I tried to wash away every trace of Samuel's scent, tried to scour away the truths that had carved themselves, word by word, into my skull.

When I stepped out, the long dining table was laden with an elaborate spread of brunch pastries. Shrimp dumplings, siu mai, custard tarts. Every single one had been my favorite, once upon a time. Every time I'd seen them laid out like this, I'd been touched for hours afterward. Now, looking at the delicate spread, my stomach lurched violently. I couldn't summon even the ghost of a smile.

Because I understood now, with brutal clarity. These weren't my favorites.

They were Selene's.

The woman who had destroyed my mother. The woman who had destroyed everything I had. These were her favorites.

The doorbell rang. Through the glass of the foyer, I saw Selene standing outside in the latest couture jewelry gown, her makeup immaculate, a servant trailing behind her. She pushed the door open and walked straight to the dining table as if she owned the place. She sat down without so much as a glance in my direction, her tone dripping with casual familiarity.

"Lois, sorry to intrude. The Godfather and I have the Sicily gemstone mine transfer meeting this morning. He told me to come to the Castle for breakfast first so we could leave together."

My gaze locked onto the silver badge in her hand. It bore the Castle's exclusive crest. An all-access pass, identical to the one I held. The highest-level credential in the entire estate, issued only to the Godfather's most trusted inner circle.

My fingers tightened around my teacup until my knuckles went white. I said nothing.

Samuel noticed something was off. He stood quickly, moved to my side, and leaned in close, his voice low and tinged with a barely perceptible edge of panic.

"Lois, don't misunderstand. Selene is our family's most important jewelry partner and the person I trust most. It's perfectly normal for her to have an all-access badge for the Castle."

Before he'd even finished speaking, something seemed to occur to him. He tensed, rose abruptly, and strode to Selene's side. In one swift motion, he snatched the cup of espresso she'd just poured.

"Your blood pressure runs low. I've told you a hundred times, you can't drink espresso. It's terrible for you. After all these years, you still don't take care of yourself?"

He turned to the sideboard, retrieved a cup of warm almond milk, and placed it carefully in her hands. The anxiety in his eyes, the tenderness, was something I had never once seen in five years of marriage.

Selene accepted the almond milk, pressed her lips together in a coy smile, and gazed up at him with her eyes curved into crescents, her voice playful and sweet.

"That's right. All these years, I've been so lucky to have the Godfather remembering every little thing about my health, looking out for me at every turn."

In that single moment their eyes met, the air between them seemed to shimmer with something pink and intimate. The atmosphere solidified around them, and I became a stranger. An intruder. Completely shut out of whatever world the two of them shared.

A chill shot from the soles of my feet to the crown of my head. I couldn't take it anymore. I shoved my chair back and stood, ready to leave the dining room, but Selene's voice stopped me.

"Lois, wait."

She set down her almond milk and looked up at me. A calculating smile curled the corner of her mouth.

"I have a private jewelry showcase this afternoon. I need professional still-life photography for the rare gemstones and design sketches, to put together a promotional catalog. The new photographers are all subpar, so I specifically requested you. The Godfather agreed."

My body went rigid. My blood felt like it had frozen solid in my veins.

A private jewelry showcase? Professional still-life photography?

I hadn't touched a camera since my mother died.

The moment I saw that black camera body, the moment I looked through that cold viewfinder, the memories came flooding in, beyond my control. My mother sitting at her desk, guiding my hands, teaching me how to photograph jewelry designs. My mother in front of the lens, radiating confidence as she presented her newest collection. And my mother, the light draining from her eyes, shattered by the news that her patents had been leaked.

That was the deepest wound I carried. The one I could never bear to touch.

Samuel knew that better than anyone.

He had locked every piece of my photography equipment in the Castle's vault himself. He'd told me that whenever I was ready, he'd bring it all out again.

But now, as if the memory had been wiped clean from his mind, he ignored my resistance. He seized my wrist, dragged me to the armored car, and pushed me into the back seat.

"Lois, stop being difficult. The showcase is important. Selene's jewelry brand just launched, and this promotion is critical for her. Just bear with it and sit in the back."

He turned to Selene, his voice dropping into something warm and solicitous. "Selene, you get carsick easily. I've told the driver to slow down, and I had a neck pillow put in for you. Take the front seat. You'll be more comfortable."

I sat in the jolting back seat, my stomach heaving, gripping the overhead handle so hard my knuckles turned bone-white.

My motion sickness was far worse than Selene's.

Three years ago, Samuel had been ambushed by a rival faction, cornered and badly wounded at a mining site. I was the one who drove. I got behind the wheel with him unconscious and bleeding beside me, and I drove us out. I was three months pregnant. The violent escape cost me the baby, and left me with a severe phobia of rough car rides.

But he'd forgotten all of it.

He remembered that Selene got uncomfortable in bumpy cars. He forgot that I suffered through every single one.

The car pressed on. Each jolt felt like a blade peeling back another layer of my nerves. I fought the nausea down, refusing to let myself be sick, but the bile kept climbing higher in my throat.

My phone screen lit up. Based on the timing, it had to be a message from Joshua.

I was about to check it when Samuel grabbed the phone out of my hand.

"What message is so important? If you're carsick, stop staring at your phone. Rest."

He tapped the screen out of habit, trying to open it, but the passcode stopped him.

My heart lurched. Samuel had always known my passcode. It was our wedding anniversary. I'd forgotten to change it these past few days. If he saw my conversations with Joshua, it would jeopardize everything. My escape. My revenge.

But Samuel tried three times and failed to unlock it. He handed the phone back with a trace of irritation, reminding me again not to use my phone while carsick.

He couldn't even remember our wedding anniversary.

I closed my eyes. A wave of cold settled over my heart.

We finally arrived at the showcase venue. The first thing Samuel did was step out of the car and carefully smooth out Selene's skirt. He checked her protective gear, then took her hand himself and escorted her into the gemstone exhibition area.

And me? I clung to the car door, crouched on the ground, gasping for air, trying to fight through the dizziness. Cold sweat beaded across my forehead.

"Lois, stop standing around outside. The showcase is about to start. The documentation work is important. It matters to the family and to Selene. Don't be selfish."

Samuel had come back at some point. He grabbed my wrist and hauled me into the exhibition area. I stumbled, off-balance. The camera bag nearly spilled from my hands, and a lens struck the ground with a sharp, brittle crack.

This was the first time in five years I had picked up a camera.

Terror engulfed me in an instant. My fingers shook uncontrollably, violently, and I couldn't press the shutter.

I forced myself to breathe. Forced myself to be calm. One deep breath. Then I began, frame by frame, documenting the still-life displays at the showcase. But every time the shutter clicked, I saw my mother. Teaching me. Guiding my hands. My heart felt crushed in an invisible fist, squeezed so tight I couldn't breathe.

During the intermission, the rest of the staff left to take a break. Only Selene and I remained.

She walked over, loomed above me, and looked down at the images I'd captured. A sneer of pure contempt twisted her lips. Her voice was cutting and cruel.

"Lois Simmons. You're just as useless as your mother. Couldn't even protect a core patent. Just stood there and watched while someone leaked it, drove her into a heart attack, and now you can't even take a decent photograph. Your hands are shaking like a leaf."

"A deserter on the battlefield. You couldn't even protect your own mother. What makes you think you deserve to stand beside the Godfather of Sicily? Let alone hold the title of his wife."

I gripped the camera so hard my knuckles went white. My nails dug into my palms, nearly breaking skin. Every ounce of willpower I had went into holding back the fury threatening to erupt.

Then a sharp, vicious slap cracked across my face.

The sound rang out, crisp and piercing.

Burning pain bloomed instantly, spreading across my cheek. My ears buzzed with a high-pitched ringing.

Selene lowered her hand, her eyes brimming with contempt and disdain. Her voice turned even more venomous.

"You actually think you deserve to sit in the Godfather's wife's seat? I never imagined that after Grayson dumped you, you'd latch onto Samuel so quickly. Absolutely shameless."

"You don't deserve him. Grayson, Samuel, they're both mine. They always have been, and they always will be!"

"You'll never be worthy of standing by his side, and you sure as hell don't deserve the title of Godfather Rowe's wife!"

My arm was still pressed against the ice-cold display case, a dull ache throbbing through it. Before I could even process her vicious words, Selene suddenly seized my wrist in a death grip and used my own momentum to fling herself backward, crumpling gracefully onto the cashmere rug beside the display.

She curled into herself, her eyes reddening instantly, tears glistening on the verge of spilling. Just like that, she'd transformed into the picture of fragile innocence.

"Lois, I wasn't saying your photos were bad. I just wanted to ask if you could try a different angle to capture the grain on the raw stones... Never mind, I was being presumptuous. Please don't be upset..."

The words had barely left her lips when the door to the private room slammed open. Samuel strode in, took one look at the scene before him, and hurled the custom glass tumbler in his hand to the floor. The sound of shattering glass cut through the air like a scream.

He rushed forward and shoved me aside. Hard. I stumbled back several steps, my spine slamming into the unyielding edge of the jewelry display case. A sharp hiss escaped through my teeth. But he didn't even glance my way. He was already crouching beside Selene, checking her over with painstaking care, his voice tight with worry.

"Selene, are you alright? Did you hurt yourself anywhere?"

"Samuel, I'm fine, really. Please don't blame Lois. I just lost my balance and fell on my own..." Selene tugged at his sleeve, her voice soft and pleading as she defended me, looking more delicate by the second.

"Selene, you're too kind. Don't cover for her. I saw everything." Samuel's expression was glacial as he helped Selene to her feet, handling her as though she were a priceless gemstone that might shatter at the slightest touch.

He tucked her protectively against his chest, then turned. His gaze locked onto me, and the coldness in his eyes drove into my heart like shards of ice.

In five years of marriage, he had never once looked at me like that.

"Lois Simmons, apologize to Selene. Now." His voice was low, each word edged with barely contained fury. "I've been too lenient with you all these years. It's made you reckless. You've gotten so out of line that you're shoving people, throwing tantrums like a child."

"Do you have any idea how important this showcase is to her? If she's injured, if it jeopardizes the jewelry partnerships that follow, can you bear that responsibility?"

His furious eyes bore into me. His gaze swept over the reddening skin on my arm where I'd hit the display case, swept over the pain I was barely holding behind my eyes, and dismissed all of it. As if the bruises on my body and the ache in my chest were beneath his notice.

I watched him shield Selene in his arms, and something inside me sank, degree by degree, until all that remained was cold.

I met his gaze steadily, my voice measured. "The one who owes an apology is Selene. She insulted my mother in front of everyone. She called her useless, said she couldn't even hold on to her own brand. I refuse to swallow that."

"And while we're at it, Samuel, don't you think you owe me an explanation about how my mother's jewelry patents were leaked?"

Something flickered in his eyes. Panic. It vanished almost instantly, swallowed by irritation.

"That was years ago. Why are you still dragging it up? Throwing another tantrum over nothing." He frowned, his tone dripping with impatience. "I promised your mother I'd keep you safe, give you a stable life. But that comes with conditions. You don't hurt Selene. You don't cause problems."

I stared at him, and a bitter laugh escaped me. I was laughing at myself. Five years of misplaced devotion. Five years of blindness, and only now could I see him for what he truly was. In his heart, my mother's injustice, my pain, none of it weighed more than a single tear from Selene Blanc.

The anguish in my chest surged. Days of suppressed anger, frustration, and disappointment crashed over me all at once. The room tilted. My legs gave out, and I fell backward into darkness.

When I opened my eyes again, the sharp sting of antiseptic filled my nostrils. The family's private physician was putting away her instruments. She noticed I was awake and offered a gentle smile.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Rowe. You're expecting. You've always been in excellent health, but during this time, you'll need to take extra care. Avoid stress, keep your emotions steady. No major upsets."

Instinctively, my hand drifted to my abdomen. A tiny life was growing there.

For five years, I had hoped, countless times, for a child with Samuel. A family of our own. But this baby had chosen the worst possible moment to arrive.

My phone buzzed on the pillow beside me. A message from Samuel. Two cold sentences:

"The doctor said you fainted from emotional distress. Nothing serious. Get some rest."

"When you've come to your senses, apologize to Selene, and I'll send someone to bring you back to The Castle in Sicily."

I stared at the words on the screen. The irony was almost poetic. I let out a hollow laugh, powered off the phone, and snuffed out the last ember of hope I'd been foolish enough to keep burning.

Before long, the physician pushed open the door again. Her expression was strained, slightly unnatural. "Mrs. Rowe, the Godfather has arranged an additional examination. He says it's for the sake of you and the baby. Please follow me."

Unease stirred in my chest, but I got up and followed her toward the side wing. I had just rounded the corner of the corridor when a familiar voice rang out behind me, dripping with satisfaction.

"So you're pregnant? Looks like I underestimated you, Lois Simmons."

I turned. Selene's eyes gleamed with the certainty of someone holding every card. She sauntered closer, her voice so thick with mockery it practically dripped from her lips. "Do you know why you never had a child these past five years?"

I looked at her. Said nothing. She didn't need me to respond. She kept going, and every word was a poisoned blade driven straight into my heart.

"Because I told Samuel that your child would compromise his position in Sicily's jewelry world. That it would become his weakness, cost him his best opportunities for expansion."

"Those herbal supplements he handed you every single day, the ones he made sure you took on schedule to 'nourish your blood'? They were contraceptives. He destroyed your chance at motherhood with his own hands. Tell me, isn't that hilarious?"

Selene's eyes were locked on my face, studying every micro-expression, waiting for me to shatter. Waiting for the tears, the screaming, the collapse.

But I just looked at her, and my voice came out steady. "Noted."

I turned to keep walking, even as agony tore through me like a riptide beneath still water. But before I could take a single step, a brutal force slammed into my back.

I had no time to react. My feet slipped out from under me and I fell hard from the raised step beside the hospital bed, crashing to the floor. A violent, twisting pain ripped through my abdomen.

The agony consumed me. I lay on the freezing tile, powerless, watching the bright red stain spread beneath me as my vision flickered and went black.

I lost our baby.

When I walked out of the operating room, I was numb. Cold to the bone. My heart was ash.

I placed the dissolution papers I'd prepared long ago on the bedside table. Without a backward glance, I walked out of the family's private hospital, the place that had been my prison for five years, and took a cab to the airport.

One moment before boarding, my phone buzzed a final time. One last message from Samuel, still laced with that untouchable arrogance:

"I never imagined you'd have the nerve to disrespect Selene like that. Not an ounce of dignity befitting a Godfather's wife. Keep this up, and you'll regret it."