At three in the morning, I was urgently called to an underground hospital in Verdanza to operate on the mafia Don's only son.

But the man lying on the bed was my husband, the same man who had sworn before leaving that he was going on a business trip, promised he would drink less, and told me not to worry.

Outside the operating room, a young woman clutched my sleeve and nearly broke down in tears. "Doctor, please save my fiancé! He got shot while protecting me. We can pay anything!"

A well-dressed middle-aged woman quickly pulled her back. "Sylvia, calm down! Think about the baby."

At that moment, I came to a horrifying realization.

The man I had supported for ten years with my scalpel, the man I believed was bankrupt and drowning in debt…

He was actually the heir to the biggest mafia family in Verdanza.

And now, he had put himself in the ICU to protect another woman.

I felt as though my heart had been ripped open.

In our years together, we had once had a child. Back then, he had convinced me to terminate the pregnancy with the excuse that we were buried in debt and couldn't afford a baby.

Yet now, another woman was carrying his child, surrounded by his family's protection and cherished like a priceless treasure.

If that was how it was going to be, fine.

After this surgery, everything Luca Colleone and I had together would be over.

Ten years of history, wiped clean.

I gathered myself and gently pushed Sylvia's hand away.

"Hospital policy says family members can't interfere with medical staff. Please wait outside for updates."

Years of training made my hands steady like machines. Even though everything inside me was chaos, every move I made on the table was exact.

For years, my life had been nothing but midnight operations and silent exhaustion.

Whenever I reached my breaking point, I told myself to hold on just a little longer, because Luca Colleone promised that once the debts were paid, we could finally live peacefully.

As it turned out, every word of it was a lie.

When I reached the final stitching stage, a sharp voice screeched outside the door.

"Is that doctor even competent? If my son ends up with complications, she's going to regret it! Sylvia is carrying the Colleones' only child, our future heir. If anything happens to her, you'll all pay for it!"

The word "child" slammed into my chest like a bullet. My surgical instrument shook in my hand and nearly slipped.

In our years together, we had a child, too; one Luca casually dismissed with the excuse of wrong timing.

Now, I had understood.

He just never wanted one with me.

The heart monitor started screaming. I took a deep breath, crushed down the storm inside me, and continued.

I was precise, calm, and ruthless.

Under my hands was no longer the man who had deceived me for a decade. He was just another patient I was pulling back from death.

When I walked out of the operating room, Gabriella Colleone, the Donna, looked at me and froze.

"You?"

She pulled out a check from her purse and slapped it against my bloodstained scrubs.

"That's your payment. Take the money and forget you ever saw my son! Sylvia might not have a clean background, but at least she's likable. She's much more useful than an orphan surgeon with no status like you."

I looked at the amount written on the check.

One million dollars.

Ten years of devotion, bought off for pocket change.

I tore the check in half and dropped it into the trash can.

"Payment is handled at the front desk, Mrs. Colleone."

Gabriella's face darkened. "Ungrateful little thing!"

"Gabriella, it's okay," Sylvia said, then smiled sweetly at me. "Dr. Rossi, thank you for saving him. I'll take care of him from now on."

She cradled her barely visible belly, pride and triumph flickering in her eyes.

I organized the chart and said calmly, "I wish you happiness. One more thing. The patient needs three months of rest. Any physical strain could reopen the wound and be life-threatening."

Sylvia's face flushed as she asked shyly, "Including…bedroom activity?"

She looked at me on purpose.

My chest tightened as my nails dug into my palm.

Just then, the medical director rushed over. "Dr. Rossi, the family has already hired a specialist team from overseas to take over the heir's recovery. Your services aren't needed anymore."

"Understood."

I exhaled in relief and went straight home.

I had practically lived at the hospital for two weeks straight to make more money.

As soon as I opened the door, a wave of perfume hit me in the face.

I recognized the scent. A nurse once mentioned that a single bottle cost six months of my building's maintenance fees.

The closet was overflowing with designer clothes, all in Sylvia's loud, glittering style. Any one of them cost more than my yearly expenses.

On the floor lay a shopping receipt. The payment account made my stomach twist.

It was our joint account, the one I used every month to quietly pay off his supposed debt.

The timestamp was from last week.

My birthday.

That night, Luca had handed me a tiny cupcake and held me gently.

"I'm sorry, babe. Once this deal goes through, I'll buy you the biggest diamond ring in the world."

So that was it.

While blinking out candles with me, he was also spending a fortune on another woman.

My phone rang. Seeing the word "Honey" on the screen felt like a cruel joke.

I meant to decline, but my finger slipped and answered it instead.

"Come here."

Just two words, but Luca's voice carried a sharp authority I had never heard before. The voice of a mafia heir, not a husband.

"I'm busy." My voice was flat and empty.

"I was shot. You're my wife."

I didn't react. His tone turned colder and harder.

"Alivia, get here now unless you want Sacred Heart Hospital to shut its doors. Your precious coworkers won't have jobs anymore."

He used my colleagues and the career I had built my life around to threaten me.

I swallowed back the disgust and went, not because I gave in, but because I was going to end this with my own hands.

The hospital room stank of perfume mixed with disinfectant. Sylvia was half undressed, curled up beside Luca.

One glance was enough. I knew exactly what had happened here.

"Didn't I say no physical strain after surgery?" I pointed out.

Sylvia looked hurt. "Alivia, you just can't stand seeing me with Luca. That's why you're saying that."

Luca casually pushed her away and told her to wait outside. Then, he looked at me with steady disappointment.

"You'll need to get used to the lifestyle of women in the Colleones. Some things are better ignored. It's healthier for both of us. As for Sylvia, she's a helpless woman trying to survive out there. I'm just offering her protection."

I almost laughed.

He had nearly died in a shootout for her and gotten her pregnant, yet he made it sound like it was just charity work.

Without a word, I pulled the divorce papers from my bag and placed them in front of him.

He looked surprised for a second, then scoffed.

"Don't be dramatic. You know who I am now. Stay with me, and you'll be the future Donna of the Colleones. Isn't that what people dream of? I hid my identity because it was part of my family test. Do you think I enjoyed living in that dump with you, eating your cheap cooking?"

I cut him off before he could say more. "If I don't divorce you, what about the child she's carrying?"

Luca frowned like he was seriously thinking about it.

"That baby carries Colleone blood. It has to be born.

"Alivia, you've worn yourself out over the years. Your body's probably ruined. You may not even be able to have kids anymore.

"Once the baby's born, you raise it as your own."

Before he even finished, Sylvia burst in crying and threw herself into Luca's arms.

"Luca, does Alivia not want the baby and me around? I can go. I don't want to upset her, but the baby is innocent!"

As she brushed past me, her hand knocked over the steaming cup by the bed. Scalding coffee spilled all over my right hand, and pain shot up my arm.

I instinctively looked at Luca.

For ten years, he had treasured my hands more than anything. He always said, "You save lives with those hands. Don't ever let them get hurt."

But when his eyes passed over the blistered red skin on my hand, he didn't stop for even a second.

Instead, he grabbed Sylvia's shoulders urgently.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

Sylvia's smile flickered before tears filled her eyes. "I'm sorry, Alivia. The baby kicked, and my hand slipped."

Luca pressed her gently. "It's not your fault. She was standing too close."

The pain in my hand turned sharp and unbearable.

I turned and walked out without saying a word. I was going to get my hand treated at the ER.

Behind me, Sylvia cried softly, and Luca soothed her.

"It's not your fault. She should've moved."

At the ER, the nurse gasped when she saw my hand. "With burns like this, you won't be able to perform surgery for at least a month!"

My chest tightened.

Just as I started worrying about work, my department head walked over with a heavy expression.

The Colleones had pressured the hospital. I was suspended indefinitely. The official reason was "emotional instability that could compromise surgical safety".

"Dr. Rossi, I'm sorry. We just can't withstand that level of pressure."

I nodded. I understood.

The hospital had no real choice against the mafia.

And so, I started packing my office belongings.

Then, an unfamiliar number called my phone. Antonio Vettori, director of St. Lorenzo Memorial Hospital.

I knew the name.

"Dr. Rossi, I heard you're leaving Sacred Heart. Would you consider coming to St. Lorenzo? You'll be paid nine million a year. We give you a private top-tier lab team and a secured oceanfront residence near the harbor. I promise that no one will ever threaten you again."

Nine million dollars. That was thirty years of my salary from Sacred Heart combined.

I stared at the few pathetic items in my box and couldn't help laughing at myself.

Other hospitals had tried to hire me over the years, but Luca always said, "Alivia, don't take risks. My career is unstable. We need your steady income. Just wait for me a little longer."

So I did, for ten years.

Now the chance was right in front of me, and I didn't hesitate.

"I'll start next month."