No More the Don's Broken Doll

The game of hide-and-seek ended when my husband's adoptive sister shoved our daughter into the sea.

Her excuse was unthinkable: "It was so dark... I didn’t see her asking for help… I thought she was a dolphin."

"You can't tell a person from a dolphin? Are you blind?" I shrieked.

My husband, Don Marco Torrino, promised me vengeance for our little Principessa.

Instead, he had me drugged.

When I woke up, I was tied up in an abandoned warehouse.

"My sister's traumatized," he said. "You shouldn't have provoked her."

"You like calling people blind, don't you? Then let's see how you like it when you can't see a thing."

I struggled in the darkness.

They all expected me to fall to my knees and beg for mercy.

But my fingers found the earring hidden in my hair.

"Get the helicopter. The marriage is over. So is he."

————————

1

Seeing that I wasn't begging for mercy, Marco's henchmen burst into mocking laughter.

"Anastasia, are you deaf? The Boss told you to untie yourself. What good are your teeth going to do? Ah, I forgot. You're just a useless bitch now." He cackled.

"She had it coming, didn't she? A nobody like her should have been thanking her lucky stars she got to marry into the Torrino family. And she dared to insult the Boss's sister. Tying her up is getting off easy. We should've just cut out her tongue."

"Anastasia, how about we help you loosen up a bit?"

They clamored around me, taunting me like a caged animal.

They were waiting for me to break down like I had before, to start screaming and begging for mercy.

The cold wind in Chicago whipped through the holes in the warehouse. I was wearing only a thin silk nightgown and I shivered uncontrollably, twisting my body desperately.

Marco had his arm around Sofia, lounging on a leather sofa in the loft diagonally above me.

Worried that Sofia might get cold, he had someone bring over several expensive cashmere blankets. Then, he cast his gaze down at me.

"Anastasia, you're cold, aren't you?"

"You're not leaving this place in the state you're in. If you don't want to freeze to death, get on your knees and apologize to Sofia. Do that, and I'll take you home right now."

I stopped struggling and looked up.

"Does your promise to avenge our daughter still stand?"

Marco, thinking I had softened, replied in a gentler tone, "Of course. Once we're home, I'll have Sofia grounded for three days. That should satisfy you."

An icy sorrow washed through me.

So this is all she was worth to him.

Our daughter. The future of the Torrino family. Nothing.

"Marco Torrino, listen to me closely. I would rather die than apologize to that murderer!"

Hearing this, Sofia's eyes immediately reddened.

"Marco, Anastasia still blames me, doesn't she? But I really didn't see that it was Lily... Since Anastasia hates me this much, I'll just jump into the sea right now and pay for Lily's life with mine!"

But I saw it. I saw Lily's little hands clinging to the deck railing, crying and begging her aunt to save her.

I was about to rush forward, but Sofia's high heel stomped viciously on Lily's little hands. She smiled as she watched our daughter plunge into the dark sea.

Marco's heart ached for her instantly, and he spoke with a cold voice.

"Anastasia, I know you've always been jealous of how I dote on Sofia, but she's my sister. It's only right that I treat her well. As my wife, can't you be a little more understanding?"