I'm a stripper who works in the red light district of Las Poverla. By sheer accident, I bring the mafia heir, Alessandro Pushkin, home with me while he's completely drenched in blood.

In order to cover Alessandro's astronomical hospital bills, I choose to sell my blood and my body.

Before we part ways, Alessandro gives the ring that symbolizes his family's authority to me. He promises me that once he purges his family of all traitors, he'll marry me and make me the future Donna.

But I don't receive any news from him since then.

I'm worried that Alessandro's met with danger again, so I keep asking around for news related to him. But that's when I see the scandal of him making out with his new lover, Cristina Romano, on the news.

In order to demand an explanation from him, I find my way to Alessandro's villa, only to be treated as a homeless person. As such, I get kicked out by his bodyguards. On top of that, I also get humiliated by his Cristina.

When Alessandro's enemy kidnaps both me and Cristina, he forces Alessandro to choose one of us. He immediately abandons me, even though I'm pregnant with his baby.

A gunshot rings out, causing me to collapse to the ground. Soon, Alessandro and Cristina leave.

That's when I get up from the ground and wipe the fake blood off my body. The man who shot me earlier looks at me, his heart aching for me.

"Principessa, how are we going to get revenge on them?"

That's right. I'm no ordinary stripper—I'm actually the only daughter of the Columbo family's Don, making me the Principessa of the most powerful family ever.

I stepped into Alessandro Pushkin's mansion in the Hillcrest estates during an upper-class party in full swing. In my cheap sequined bodycon dress, I looked like a walking virus to them.

A gunshot rang out. The bullet grazed past me and hit the floor.

"Alessandro! Your security is slacking off. A vagrant just wandered in!"

I looked up toward the voice and saw the man I came for. Alessandro stood with his arm around the blonde who had just fired the gun, and she was staring at me with utter disgust on her face.

"Relax, Cristina. Next time, I'll teach you how to put the safety on first."

Alessandro stroked Cristina Romano's hand affectionately and took the misfired gun from her.

"Why would I need the safety on? You never use yours." Cristina smiled seductively as she reached for Alessandro's crotch.

That bullet had nearly killed me, but they didn't care. They just kept flirting. And the man I'd sold my blood and body to save, the man I'd given everything for, hadn't even glanced at me yet.

"Miss, if you don't want to get hurt, please leave."

Two security guards approached me, treating me like some common thief.

I didn't move. Watching those two kiss on the second floor felt like slow torture.

"Alessandro! Have you forgotten who saved you three months ago when you were bleeding out? Have you forgotten you promised to marry me once you dealt with the traitors?

"I sold my blood during the day and my body at night to pay your medical bills, and now you've completely forgotten me?"

At my furious shout, the people around me stopped dancing and turned to stare. But I knew none of these elites truly cared. They just wanted fresh gossip.

"Who is she?"

"Is she joking?"

"Why would the heir to the biggest Lussian syndicate in Melcina marry her? What's she dreaming about?"

The mocking voices piled up, hammering my dignity into the ground. My eyes burned with unshed tears as I looked up at Alessandro.

He finally looked at me. His expression reminded me of someone finding a toy truck they'd lost as a toddler—not particularly excited, just vaguely remembering it existed.

I'd given almost everything for him, yet I meant nothing.

"Cecilia? I was planning to send someone for you. But I forgot where you lived." He smiled, his tone casual.

"I thought something happened to you! I called you over and over!" I demanded.

"Oh? They must have been filtered as spam."

My heart went ice cold. I was such a fool. Even after seeing the tabloid photos of him and Cristina, I still thought I needed to see his betrayal with my own eyes to believe it.

He had once placed the family ring in my hand and promised, "Cecilia, wait for me. When I come back, you won't have to struggle anymore. I'll prove myself to my father and make you the future Madre of the Pushkin family."

He clearly didn't give a damn about his family's honor anymore. What was I even doing here?

"Alessandro, I should've left you in the gutter where I found you!" I shook my head in disappointment.

Alessandro still wore that superior expression, his tone growing impatient. "Alright, Cecilia. You want money? I'll pay you five times your usual rate.

"You just stay here and clean the place. That way you won't have to strip anymore."

After saying that, he didn't look at me again. He lowered his head to kiss Cristina's neck. Cristina's lips curved into a smile, as if she'd thought of something entertaining.

"She used to strip? Let's have some fun."

She clapped her hands. Someone brought over several trays piled with cash.

"What was your name again? Whatever. Start moving. Don't stop until I say so, and all this is yours."

She tipped the tray over. Bills floated down like snow. I knew she wanted to humiliate me, but I would take back my dignity my own way.

The band started playing sultry music. I stared at Cristina and let my fury become fuel.

I began moving to the rhythm. As I danced, even the people who'd mocked me earlier fell quiet. The smile on Cristina's face gradually froze.

"How boring. I want to see something else now." She raised a champagne glass filled with ice and threw it at me.

The bone-chilling liquid poured over me, forcing me to stop.

"Hey! Cristina, you should've waited until she stripped before you did that!" Alessandro's tone held no sympathy. Only annoyance that his show got interrupted.

That complete indifference felt colder than the ice water.

I stared at the pair on the second floor and said coldly, "A second ago, I was thinking about letting you both go. But now I'm going to think very carefully about how to set up your downfall."

I picked up a bill from the floor and threw Alessandro's family ring down in its place. "Keep the change. Consider it payment for this cheap piece of trash!"

"Hey! Come back! You took our money, but we didn't get a show!"

Alessandro's crude remark triggered roaring laughter throughout the room.

I clenched my jaw and my fists, then turned and left. Clearly no one took my threat seriously. Fine. They'd see soon enough what was coming for them.

I barely made it back to my apartment before a vicious headache hit me. I had to call an ambulance to take me to the hospital.

At first, I thought the ice-cold champagne had triggered some kind of nerve reaction. But then the nurse came in with my diagnostic report.

"The preliminary scan suggests you might have a brain tumor. What we know for certain is that you're almost three months pregnant."

The universe had a sick sense of humor. The news hit me like a freight train. But there was no time to wallow. I frowned, trying to figure out my next move.

"Don't worry about the cost. We have a charitable fund from Mr. Pushkin that covers 80% of your expenses. You're so lucky!

"He's gorgeous and generous, basically the perfect dream man!"

The nurse practically glowed as she spoke.

The perfect dream man. What a joke!

Shouldn't the person worthy of praise be me, the one who'd been dirt poor but still used her own blood money to save his life? He had millions of dollars, and this so-called generosity was pocket change to him.

I ripped the IV needle out of my arm.

"Oh, my God, what are you doing?" the nurse shrieked.

I didn't have time to explain. I left the hospital and dialed Alessandro's number.

Please, God. For the sake of this child, let him answer just this once.

"Hello?" He actually picked up.

I got straight to the point. "Listen, I wasn't planning to call you, but I need to tell you something. I'm pregnant with your child."

"What? Cecilia? Cristina! Not so tight, God, I'm gonna lose it!"

Maybe God had been listening one second ago, but Alessandro dragged me right back to hell. I heard moaning on the other end. Images of them together flashed through my mind.

The nausea made me want to hurl my phone away and give my ears and sanity some peace. But for the sake of the baby in my belly, I tried to stay rational.

"When you're finished, I'll call you back."

Just as I was about to hang up, Cristina grabbed the phone.

"Cecilia? He's got me so worked up I can barely think straight. Why are you calling? Ready to come back and clean toilets? Come clean our bedroom later, and I'll give you extra tip money."

"Shit! Cristina, it's your fault for not focusing!" Alessandro complained in the background.

"You know what, Cristina? He never finished that fast with me. And yes, I am coming back!"

I hung up before the bitch could respond.

I flagged down a taxi. I had to go back. I needed to know how Alessandro felt about this child. His answer would determine his judgment.

When I returned to the mansion, the guard at the door didn't stop me. He whistled instead.

"Hey, sweetheart! You were smoking hot the other night!"

I decided to use this sleaze to my advantage and pressed close to his body.

"Tell me where Alessandro is, and I'll make you scream for your mamma tonight."

"He's in the basement. You don't need to bribe me, though, sweetheart. Mr. Pushkin said if you came back to work as a maid, you could come and go freely."

I wasn't about to waste energy on some lowlife. I slapped him across the face and headed down the stairs to the sound of his grating laughter.

Through the crack in the door, I saw Alessandro on the phone.

"I don't want to marry her, Dad! Are you selling me off like merchandise? You know Cristina and I have been together since we were kids! Don't tear us apart!

"Hello? Damn it!"

He talked about Cristina like some devoted lover, like they were childhood sweethearts. So what the hell was I?

He waited for hours in the freezing rain just to pick me up after my shift. He beat the hell out of some drunk who wouldn't leave me alone, even with healing wounds still on his body. He held me close and told me he could only sleep peacefully when I was with him.

But all of it dissolved like smoke before my eyes.

I took a deep breath to steady myself. When I heard his father hang up on him, I pushed the door open and walked in.

"Who does your father want you to marry?"

The words tumbled out. Maybe I just wanted confirmation that would finally kill whatever hope I had left.

"Cecilia? You scared the hell out of me! Even if I told you, you wouldn't know her. Besides, it's none of your business."

His response felt like a slap across the face, yanking me out of my memories and back to reality. The Lussian Don probably didn't even know I existed.

Alessandro was the second son in his family. He had a capable older brother, and to avoid disappointing his father, he'd probably never even mentioned his near-death experience.

I was destined to be forgotten by everyone. But my child wouldn't be!

I threw the pregnancy test results in his face. He froze. His eyes scanned the report, and his expression changed completely.

In suffocating silence, Alessandro looked me up and down. His eyes held mockery, disdain, and even disgust.

"Today's not April Fools' Day. You're not seriously claiming the kid is mine, are you?"

I felt all the blood in my body rush to my head.

"Isn't it?" My voice trembled.

"Come on, Cecilia. You're a stripper. You probably can't even remember which men you slept with three months ago!"

"You bastard, I only danced! During that time, you were the only one I was with!" I shoved him furiously.

He grabbed my flailing hands and said with forced patience, "Fine. When the baby's born, we'll do a paternity test. If it's mine, I'll have Cristina adopt him."

What? My child, the baby I'd carry for nine months, handed over to someone else to raise? And Alessandro looked so magnanimous about it, like I should be grateful!

Rage consumed me until I felt completely drained.

"You know what, Alessandro? I just didn't want my child to be illegitimate."

I stopped struggling and stormed out, slamming the door behind me.

"What do you expect me to do? I could never marry a stripper!"

Only when I could no longer hear Alessandro's damned voice did I pull out my phone and send the plan to a contact.

The second it went through, Cristina's voice came from behind me without warning, "Marco, grab this tramp!"

Before I could react, I was lifted off the ground. Cristina's man threw me down in front of her portrait, which hung nearly ten feet up the wall.

He grabbed my hair and forced me to look up at Cristina's image like I was bowing before a queen.

"Poor little thing. You dare provoke the future Madre of the Pushkin family again and again! Now, I'll teach you obedience!"

I laughed with contempt. The real poor little thing was still dreaming about becoming Madre.

My laughter set her off. She lifted her foot and stomped brutally on my hand. The sharp Prada heel sent pain shooting straight to my core.

"Think this is a game? This is mafia territory. The flowers in the backyard are fertilized with the blood and flesh of dead men!"

"Is that the best you've got?" I smiled without flinching.

"What?" She seemed unsure she'd heard me correctly.

"I said the future Madre of the Pushkin family is pretty pathetic."

I wrenched Marco's pinky back until it snapped. He screamed and released me. As I got to my feet, he swung at me.

I dodged smoothly and slipped behind him. Then, I wrapped my legs around his waist and locked my arm around his neck.

The six-foot-three Soldato collapsed under my rear naked choke. Cristina, who'd been staring in shock, finally remembered to reach for her gun.

But then, a massive explosion shook everything. The shockwave knocked us both down.

Half the mansion wall crumbled. Through the smoke, several men in black emerged.

The one-eyed man leading them carried a heavy machine gun. He snarled, "Take both women."

Cristina and I were roughly thrown over shoulders and tossed into a Hummer. Unlike my calm reaction, Cristina kept shrieking.

"Do you know who I am? Do you have a death wish?"

Someone slapped duct tape over her mouth.

The Hummer tore out of the neighborhood, and gunfire erupted behind us. Looking back, I saw Alessandro and his men in pursuit, firing wildly at the vehicle ahead.

The chase ended at the container yard by the docks. The men in black forced us out at gunpoint.

Seeing the situation, Alessandro didn't dare make any rash moves. "What's your problem with us?"

The one-eyed man replied, "Tell your punk crew to get the hell out of Chilego's underground gambling scene."

"You're with the Columbo family?"

"What do you think, kid?"

Alessandro went pale at the confirmation. "That's no problem."

"But we didn't come all this way for nothing. You can only take one. That's the rules." The one-eyed man's tone left no room for argument.

I watched Alessandro hesitate. Finally, his guilty gaze landed on me. "I choose the blonde."

He'd just sentenced me to death.

"Jesus, Alessandro! I'm carrying your child!" I collapsed to my knees, shaking my head and reaching for him.

This was the first time I'd broken down crying in front of him. It was also the first time I'd begged.

"Please, my baby already has a heartbeat!"

But all I heard was, "I'm sorry, Cecilia. Please forgive me."

The gunshot cracked through the air, and I went down. Blood slowly seeped out.

I watched Cristina run excitedly into his arms. They embraced, kissed, celebrated their survival and reunion, and then drove away until they disappeared from my sight.

"Principessa, get up. They're gone. How do we make them pay now?" The one-eyed man helped me up gently.

"Death isn't humiliation for the mafia. I want them destroyed and disgraced."

I stood and wiped off the honey mixed with red dye. My expression was blank as I stared in the direction they'd gone.

Our game was just beginning, Alessandro.