Dinner with Louis' mafia crew was always suffocating, a blend of power plays and fake pleasantries, but tonight, I held onto a secret—a small, fragile hope. I smoothed my hand over my abdomen, still flat but now full of life. Three years of marriage and failed attempts had left me raw, but today I carried the one thing Louis had always wanted: an heir.

The wine glasses clinked around me as conversations buzzed. Jack, one of Louis’ trusted lieutenants, leaned in to offer me a glass. I smiled and politely declined.

“No wine for me tonight, Jack. I can’t drink…”

His eyebrow arched, but he didn’t pry. Louis was too busy talking shop with the rest of his men, their voices low but charged with the usual business tension. I’d hoped to tell Louis my news in private, but I couldn’t wait much longer. He’d wanted this for so long.

I glanced at him, my husband, the kingpin of this city, with his sharp suit and sharper words. To the world, he was untouchable—cold, calculated. But I’d seen the man behind the mask, the one who once looked at me like I was his world.

Once.

Before the doctors told us I was infertile. Before every failed attempt turned his gaze colder. Now, I was the pretty wife he paraded, a symbol of status, but not enough.

I took a deep breath, steadying myself. I could change that tonight. The timing wasn’t perfect, but it never would be in this life.

Jack's phone buzzed just as I was about to lean in and whisper the news to him. His expression shifted, and he passed it quickly to Louis.

“Boss, there's news you might want to check.”

Louis’ face lit up in a way I hadn’t seen in years as he read whatever was on that screen. His smile, wide and genuine, made my heart skip. For a second, I thought maybe he already knew.

“Jane’s pregnant,” Louis announced, his voice brimming with pride. “Can you believe it? My god-sister is going to have a baby!”

The room erupted into congratulations, but my stomach sank. Jane? Of course, it had to be Jane. The golden child, the one he always admired, who could do no wrong.

I forced a smile, but the words to reveal my own pregnancy caught in my throat. Maybe after he finished celebrating with the others, I thought, I would tell him.

But Louis turned to me, his eyes sharp as ever, his voice was filled with disgust. “You see, this is what a woman does. She brings life into this world. Not like you, Alexandra.”

I blinked, stunned into silence.

“Three years, Alexandra. Three years, and nothing. What good are you, huh?” he said, his voice low but cutting. “You sit there, pretty and useless, while others—real women—do what you can’t.”

A chill ran down my spine. His words hit harder than any physical blow ever could. My secret, once something I’d clung to with hope, felt like it was slipping from my grasp.

I wanted to scream at him, to throw the truth in his face, but my voice was gone, stolen by the shock and the betrayal. How could he say that to me now? How could he, when I carried his child?

Before I could gather the strength to speak, Louis stood, straightening his jacket.

“I’m going to Jane’s to celebrate,” he announced to the room. Then, with a cold glance in my direction, he added, “Don’t wait up.”

The door slammed behind him, and I was left alone at the table, surrounded by men who wouldn’t dare meet my eyes.

Tears threatened to spill over, but I swallowed them back. I had been through worse. I had to be stronger than this.

I looked around, the clinking glasses and murmured conversations now distant noise. I had to tell him. He needed to know the truth. But not like this—not when he was with her.

My hands trembled as I stood from the table. I could feel their eyes on me, watching, waiting to see if I would crumble.

But I wouldn’t. I couldn’t.

I sat on the edge of the bed, numb and staring into nothing. Louis’ words echoed in my mind, their sharp edges cutting deeper with each replay.

Useless. Pretty and useless.

I pressed my hand to my stomach, feeling the faintest flicker of life beneath my fingertips. The child Louis had wanted for so long, the one that was supposed to bring us closer together, felt more like a burden now than a blessing.

How could I raise a child with a man who treated me like this? How could I let my baby grow up in a world where its father cherished someone else more than its mother?

Jane. It always came back to her. From the beginning, Louis had been obsessed with her. She wasn’t just his god-sister; she was his ideal woman. Every time she entered a room, his gaze would shift, his posture would change, and I would fade into the background.

I remembered our wedding day, the way his eyes had drifted to Jane as she stood there in her perfect dress, smiling that perfect smile. He looked at her as though she were the sun, and I was nothing more than a shadow. I had convinced myself it was just my imagination back then. But now, after three years of watching him choose her over me, I knew it wasn’t.

Every holiday, every celebration—Jane was always there, and Louis’ attention was always on her. He spent more time with her than he ever did with me. And now, she was pregnant. Who knows if it was really Jane’s boyfriend that got her pregnant or maybe it was my husband.

A single tear rolled down my cheek, but I quickly wiped it away. I didn’t want to cry anymore. I didn’t want to feel weak. I had to make a decision, for myself and for my child. I had to stop pretending that things would ever get better.

I stood up and walked to the dresser, pulling out my phone. My hand hovered over the screen as I scrolled through my contacts, finally landing on the number for my lawyer. If I was going to leave, I needed to be smart. Louis was powerful, and leaving him wouldn’t be easy, but I wouldn’t let my child be raised in this environment. I wouldn’t let them see their mother belittled and pushed aside.

But as my finger hovered over the call button, another thought crept into my mind. What if I didn’t have the baby at all? What if I ended it before it even started? The thought struck me like lightning, and for a moment, I couldn’t breathe.

Was I really considering an abortion? Was I really thinking of erasing this last piece of hope?

Tears welled in my eyes again, but before I could fully process the decision I was contemplating, my phone buzzed in my hand. I blinked away the blur of my vision and glanced down at the screen.

A text from Jane.

My heart dropped.

With trembling hands, I opened the message. It was a photo—Jane and Louis together. He had his arm around her, and she was smiling up at him like they were a perfect little family. The caption read: Celebrating new beginnings.

I felt my chest tighten as my breath caught in my throat. The betrayal, the humiliation, the overwhelming sense of abandonment crashed over me like a tidal wave. I wanted to scream, to throw the phone across the room, to break something, but all I could do was stare at the screen, my heart breaking all over again.

The next morning, I woke up feeling as though a heavy weight had settled in my chest. The events of last night were still fresh in my mind—Louis leaving me to celebrate with Jane, and the photo of them together that haunted my thoughts. I had blocked Jane's number after that, desperate to put some distance between her smug face and my shattered heart, but the damage was done.

I tried to push the image of them out of my mind as I got ready for the day. Today was another mafia gathering, and my role as Louis’s wife meant I had to show up, look the part, and pretend like everything was fine.

I slid into a sleek black dress, the kind Louis liked, with heels that added a few inches to my height. My reflection in the mirror showed a woman composed, perfectly put together, but inside I was unraveling. I couldn’t let them see that, though—especially not Louis or Jane.

By the time I arrived at the gathering, the room was already buzzing with the usual mix of mafia business and socializing. I scanned the room, trying to spot Louis. Part of me hoped that he’d come to his senses, that he’d approach me with some kind of apology or explanation, but deep down I knew better.

And then I saw them.

Louis and Jane, standing together at the far end of the room. He had his arm casually draped around her shoulders, talking to one of the other members, completely ignoring me as if I didn’t exist. The sight of them together made my stomach churn, but I kept my composure, holding my head high as I walked deeper into the room.

I had to do something to distract myself, to push away the swirling storm of emotions inside me. I needed to feel something—anything—other than the pain of betrayal.

That’s when I saw him: Sebastian, Louis’s second-in-command. He stood off to the side, a drink in hand, watching the scene unfold with his usual cool detachment. He had always been a bit of a mystery to me—loyal to Louis but never too involved in the drama. He was attractive in a rugged way, with dark hair and piercing eyes that always seemed to be analyzing everything around him.

I didn’t think. I acted.

I approached Sebastian with a confidence I didn’t feel, putting on the mask I’d worn so many times before in this life. As I sidled up next to him, I felt his gaze shift to me.

“Sebastian,” I said smoothly, flashing him a smile, “How’s the business?”

His eyes flickered with amusement, but he remained calm, as always. “Business is good, Alexandra. You know that.”

I took a step closer, my body language casual, but there was an undeniable edge to the way I stood near him. “I suppose so. But I can’t help thinking that maybe things could be… better.”

He raised an eyebrow, clearly catching onto the undertone of my words. “And how do you suggest we make things better?”

I placed a hand on his arm, lightly, letting the touch linger just a little too long. “Well, I’m sure you’re full of ideas. You’ve always struck me as the kind of man who knows what he wants—and how to get it.”

Sebastian’s expression didn’t change, but I could see the shift in his posture, the subtle tension in his body. “Careful, Alexandra,” he said quietly. “You’re playing a dangerous game.”

But I didn’t care. I was tired of caring.

Just as I opened my mouth to respond, a hand gripped my wrist, hard. I turned to see Louis, his face dark with fury. Without a word, he dragged me away from Sebastian, pulling me toward a more secluded area of the gathering. His grip was tight, almost painful, and I had to quicken my steps to keep up.