Gaia and I were kidnapped.

Frost, my mafia boss husband, came to negotiate our release.

The kidnappers gave him an ultimatum: choose one to live.

I dropped to my knees, begging for my life.

Frost’s eyes were ice cold: “Gaia is pure—she doesn’t deserve to be touched by scum like you.”

“But this whore? She’s already been used. Take her.”

He threw me to them like garbage.

Four months pregnant with his child, he had no idea.

He also didn’t know he’d never get the chance to regret it.

————————

1

My husband's beloved Gaia was kidnapped. And I was the other one.

The setting for this little drama? A derelict pier in Chicago.

As the heir and chief negotiator for the Salvatore family, my husband, Frost, was the first on the scene, locking it down.

When the kidnappers agreed to release one person, he didn’t even hesitate. He chose her, leaving me behind to save that woman.

I knelt on the cold concrete, desperately begging him to save me first. He didn't even bother to look at me.

"Gaia is pure," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. "She shouldn't be tainted by these filthy animals. Unlike some who are already... soiled goods."

With that, he shoved me toward the snarling kidnappers.

He probably didn't know I was four months pregnant with his child. He was about to be a father.

"Veronica, you go," Frost pointed at me, his eyes signaling me to walk toward the kidnappers.

"What are you talking about?" I stared at him in disbelief, thinking he’d lost his mind.

His gaze was terrifyingly firm, but it never landed on me.

"Do I need to repeat myself? I have to save Gaia first. None of this would have happened if you hadn't asked her to meet you in this godforsaken place. Why should Gaia pay for your stupidity?"

Two hours earlier, Frost had texted me to meet him at the pier. When I arrived, the only person waiting was his old flame.

I scoffed and turned to leave, but several hulking figures dragged me out of the shadows.

The next thing I knew, my hands were tied behind my back, and I realized I'd been kidnapped.

Tied up next to me was Gaia.

I thought Frost would move heaven and earth to save me. After all, I was carrying the Salvatore heir.

Even though we'd been in the middle of a month-long cold war, he was still my husband. He was supposed to prioritize me.

How naive I was.

When Frost arrived, one of the kidnappers was pressing a gun to Gaia's temple.

His composure shattered, and he was humbly pleading with them to let her go. But they were unmoved, shoving me in front of Frost instead.

A sharp pain shot through my lower abdomen. I pleaded with him to take me to a doctor.

He acted as if he hadn't heard me, dead set on trading me for Gaia. I looked at him, tears welling in my eyes.

"What do you mean? Today was supposed to be—"

A sob choked off my words.

I turned to see a kidnapper tracing a line on Gaia's delicate cheek with the tip of a knife. A single drop of blood welled up. That was enough to send Frost over the edge.

He roared like a madman, demanding they release her.

I dug my nails into my palms, fighting to keep from screaming. I have a heart condition. If he abandoned me like this, neither the baby nor I would make it.

Driven by the will to survive, I swallowed my pride and knelt before him.

"Frost, you can't leave me here. I'm pregnant with your child, maybe—"

"Veronica, stop being so selfish! Stop your pathetic lying!"

"Gaia's not like you. She's going to marry a good man someday. If these scum defile her, who will want her?"

He looked down at me, his gaze was cold, like he was looking at a complete stranger, not the woman who'd been his wife for ten years.

"Don't worry, I've seen this kind of thing before. All they want is money or something else. Just cooperate, and you'll be fine."

"The family's soldati will come for you. And no matter what happens... I won't blame you."

He stepped closer, one hand on my shoulder, and leaned in to whisper in my ear, his voice icy. "Besides, you were never 'clean' to begin with, were you?"

"I still married you after you and Tony were all tangled up in bed, didn't I?"

His words were a poisoned dagger, making me tremble.

"It wasn't like that, Tony and I—"

He didn't give me a chance to explain, impatiently thrusting me toward the kidnappers.

I tried to struggle, but the cold barrel of a gun was already pressed against the back of my head. I could only watch as Frost led that woman away.

Frost held Gaia tightly, murmuring reassurances, while a kidnapper grabbed my hair and shoved me violently into their car.

The tearing sensation on my scalp made me scream, and one of them slapped me hard across the face.

"Shut your fucking mouth, or I'll cut your tongue out! Quiet!"

"Your man didn't even spare you a glance. Quit the waterworks."

I watched as Frost helped Gaia into his armored sedan and drove off without a single look in the rearview mirror. The last ember of hope in my heart died.

I clenched my jaw, closed my eyes in despair, and let them throw me into the trunk like a piece of trash. He didn't even think to check if I was dead or alive.

In that moment, it finally dawned on me.

My life and the life of our unborn child weighed nothing against Gaia. I had loved him for ten years, thinking I could melt his icy heart, but he could push me into hell so easily, without even a final glance.

Before I lost consciousness, I managed a broken smile in the direction he had gone. He probably had no idea that this whole kidnapping was a setup, designed to get me killed.

Two hours after I disappeared, my good friend Marco finally arrived with his men.

After taking Gaia to the family's private clinic, Frost never left her bedside. He seemed so worried about her that he'd completely forgotten to send his men to rescue me.

By the time he remembered, I had been tortured beyond recognition and dumped in an abandoned mine shaft in the mountains, left to die.

And now, my spirit trailed behind Marco, watching him frantically call Frost.

"Frost, I've searched the entire pier area. There's no sign of Veronica. Do you think she could have—"

Frost's voice came back, colder than a tomb. "What could have happened to her? She was probably released ages ago and is now sulking in a corner somewhere."

Marco hesitated. "Frost, Veronica isn't like that. If she were safe, she wouldn't waste the family's resources like this."

"You should probably come down here, just in case."

After all, as the matriarch of the Salvatore family, if something happened to me, it would be a huge blow to their reputation.

Frost, suppressing his irritation, answered coolly, "What for? I told you, she's fine. Those guys were just trying to scare her. It's not like they did anything to Gaia, right?"

"Alright, pull your men out for now. She'll get tired of it in a few days when she realizes no one's paying attention and come running back."

Marco tried to say more, but Frost had already hung up.

A chill ran down my spine. Ten years of marriage. You'd think he'd have some affection for a dog after that long. But he didn't care. In fact, searching for me seemed like a burden.

For the first time, I was glad I was dead, free from this cold-hearted bastard. I wanted to leave, but somehow my spirit drifted after Marco, finding its way to Frost.

He was sitting by Gaia's bed, gazing at her so intently that he didn't even notice Marco walk in.

Gaia was curled up in his arms, sobbing as if her heart would break.

"Frost, I was so scared. When that gun was at my head, all I could think was how much I regretted being so stubborn back then. I almost lost you forever."

Frost gently stroked her hair, a smile so tender, it was one I had never been shown. "Hush now, Gaia," he cooed. "I told you, no matter what happens, I'll protect you with everything I have."

The raw emotion between them was like a thousand needles in my heart. He had probably forgotten that his wife was missing, her fate unknown. He had always been cold to me, and I'd just assumed it was his nature. I never imagined he simply reserved his warmth for someone else.

We had known each other since we were kids; our families were old friends. I'd always hidden my feelings for him, thinking we could never be together. A few years ago, he had insisted on marrying Gaia, but his father, the old Don, had fiercely objected. Furious, Gaia left the country.

That night, at a charity auction, I was representing my art gallery. I didn't expect to run into a blackout-drunk Frost. He cornered me in an empty hallway, pressing me against the wall and kissing me without a word. His kiss was like an assault, biting at my lips, one hand already roughly making its way up my evening gown.

I knew I shouldn't give in, but my love for him ran too deep. Even knowing he saw me as someone else, I was hopelessly lost, letting him take me to a hotel. All night, as we made love, he cried out Gaia's name in my ear.

The next morning when he sobered up, he was livid. He grabbed me by the neck, calling me a cheap slut for scheming my way into his bed. But he was the one who had forced me.

In the end, for the sake of the family's reputation, he agreed to marry me. But at our engagement party, someone drugged my drink, and I was set up in a room with my equally drunk cousin, Tony.