Christmas Eve was meant to be the culmination of seven years of long-distance longing—the day Lorenzo finally slid an engagement ring onto my finger.

Instead, a sudden emergency surgery chained me to the operating table.

The patient wasn't just suffering from a premature delivery and catastrophic hemorrhaging; she was riddled with infections, the biological fallout of a reckless, hedonistic lifestyle.

The girl on the table spat out orders with a venomous entitlement that made my blood run cold. "My husband is the head of the Corleone family. He’s second to none, and this entire city bows to him. If you can’t save my baby, you’re all dead."

My mind went blank.

There was only one head of the Corleone family: Lorenzo.

"You’ve got the wrong man," I said, my voice wavering despite my frown. "The news said he’s already engaged to a woman from a rival family for a strategic alliance."

The girl looked at me as if I’d just told a pathetic joke. She surveyed me with a mocking sneer.

"Oh, he’s mentioned that woman. He said she’s like a cold corpse—that even touching her makes him sick to his stomach. She doesn't provide him a fraction of the pleasure I do."

She smirked. "He heard something happened to the baby. He’s en route from Sicily right now with his personal detail."

She flicked her phone screen open. There it was: a photo of her and Lorenzo, locked in a suffocatingly intimate embrace.

I froze.

A second later, a notification from Lorenzo vibrated against my palm.

“Darlin’, something urgent came up tonight. I’m skipping the engagement dinner. I’ll make it up to you later.”

Since they were so utterly in love, I decided to give them exactly what they wanted.

I dialed a number that had been silent for three years—the number of the true mastermind of the underworld, Don Sebastian.

"Does your proposal from three years ago still stand?"

After the Emergency C-Section

The anesthesia hadn't even fully worn off before Bella was already snapping at the nurse to hand over her phone.

"Lorenzo, it hurts so much. Why aren't you here with me yet?" she whimpered into the receiver, her voice dripping with practiced fragility. "I know I’m just a convenient distraction to you. Maybe I should just take the baby and end it all."

She struggled to push herself up, making a dramatic show of straining toward the third-floor window as if she might jump.

Lorenzo’s voice came through the line, thick with raw desperation. "Be good, Bella. Listen to me. All I want right now is to be by your side."

"I’ve already acquired that estate you liked," he continued. "I’m dispatching a private medical team to retrieve you and the baby right now."

Hearing that all-too-familiar voice, my mind reeled back six years.

Back then, Lorenzo had just ascended as the head of the Corleone family, and he had a target painted on his back everywhere he turned. On our first anniversary, assassins ambushed us in a dimly lit garage, trapping us inside. To protect Lorenzo, I took a blade to the gut. My blood had soaked the cold concrete.

That day, he had held me like a madman as he sprinted through the hospital corridors, falling to his knees and begging the doctors to save my life.

I survived, but that wound robbed me of my fertility forever.

I remembered how Lorenzo had held me then, his eyes bloodshot and face ravaged by tears. "I'm so sorry... I failed to protect you. From now on, I will never let another soul hurt you again."

When he showed me the paperwork for his vasectomy, I believed him. I thought he was my everlasting.

Now, it all felt like a vile, pathetic joke.

Bella hung up the video call, a triumphant smirk gleaming in her eyes.

"The toxins in your system will haunt that child for the rest of his life," I said, a hollow, self-deprecating laugh escaping my throat. "Do you really think a man like him will accept a son destined to be frail?"

Bella’s face stiffened for a moment, but she quickly recovered, sneering as she scrolled through her messages. She pointed to a photo of a legal document.

"Lorenzo signed this will and testament himself. Half of the family fortune goes to my son."

"That woman he’s supposed to marry is nothing but a barren wasteland," she spat. "Lorenzo’s been aching to kick her to the curb for ages. There’s no way he wouldn’t claim his own bloodline."

I clenched my fists so hard my knuckles turned white, burying my agony beneath a mask of professional indifference.

Bella leaned closer to my face, her gaze dripping with malice and disdain.

"Old lady, don't look at me with those jealous eyes. You'll never meet a man as generous as Lorenzo in your entire miserable life."

"Since you saved my life, I guess I could teach you a thing or two," she mocked. "I can show you how to handle a man of his caliber in bed so he never strays."

I instinctively took a step back, my disgust written plainly across my face.

"A man who cheats while he's engaged? A man like that is just... filth."

Bella carelessly admired her fresh manicure, letting out a sharp, contemptuous snort.

"Men crave vivid, pulsing flesh, not a marble statue—especially a woman as stale and moldy as that one."

"Lorenzo used to complain to me all the time. He said his fiancée was like a medieval nun, devoid of any spark. All I had to do was offer a little warmth, and he was utterly enslaved."

"Once, that woman was burning up with a fever, practically on her deathbed. The hospital called him a dozen times. All I did was tug on his necktie, and he turned off his phone to stay with me all night."

"A man I can bend to my will like that... well, even that so-called fiancée is just feasting on my scraps."

I gripped the hem of my lab coat, my nails nearly piercing my palms. I remembered that night. I had been delirious, and he had claimed he was handling a bloody turf war in Sicily. It turned out he was just wallowing in another woman's bed.

Bella lifted her eyelids, her predatory eyes scanning me from head to toe.

"Doctor, looking at your drab outfit, I bet you’ve never even tasted what a real man is like, have you?"

"Is your man satisfying his hunger elsewhere so that he has no interest in your withered body when he gets home?"

"If you get down on your knees and beg me, I might feel merciful enough to teach a peasant woman like you how to properly please a man."

Staring at Bella, my breath hitched.

But it wasn’t disgust I felt—it was the cold, sharp relief of a survivor.

Bella had tested positive for a severe infectious disease, the grim receipt for her reckless lifestyle. Throughout my seven years with Lorenzo, I had stood my ground, saving myself for our wedding night. No matter how many times he hinted or pressured me, I never buckled.

That "conservatism" he had mocked so often had just become my life-saving shield.

I looked at the festering skin near the crook of Bella’s neck and spoke coldly. "Does Lorenzo know about your condition? What the two of you are doing is slow-motion murder for that child."

"Shut up!" Bella snapped, her face twisting into a feral snarl as if I’d stepped on a raw nerve.

"Of course Lorenzo knows! He doesn't care about my past, and he doesn't care about my illness. He insisted that I carry his heir!"

Looking at her delusional frenzy, I found it almost pathetic. Lorenzo was a cold-blooded egoist. If he knew Bella was a walking biohazard, he’d be the first to dispose of her himself.

To shatter my doubts, Bella sneered and tapped a secret recording on her phone.

The audio filled the room—a nauseating exchange of heavy flirting. Bella’s cloying voice crawled out like a snake.

"Lorenzo, what if one day... someone hurt me and I got sick? Would you still want me?"

"Of course, baby. You’re the purest thing I know. Even if something happened, I’d only love you more. Now, come here..."

Then, Bella let out a calculated, pathetic sob. "But if that high-and-dry fiancée of yours found out, she’d look down on you forever."

On the recording, Lorenzo let out a cold, sharp bark of mockery.

"Why bring up that frozen block of wood? Seven years and she won't even let me touch her. If you ask me, she’s the one with the problem—a miserable, repressed freak."

"Let her die with her pathetic little 'sanctity' for all I care. Just touching her makes my stomach turn."

"Don't mention that dead fish while we’re in bed, baby. Let's see what other surprises you've got for me..."

Bella cut the recording, a vicious, arrogant smirk plastered on her face.

"Hear that? if you were that fiancée, you’d probably want to find a cemetery and bury yourself right now."

"Living such a failed life... honestly, she’s a disgrace to women."

Slap!

I stepped forward, my hand connecting with her arrogant face in a stinging backhand.

"Trash like you and Lorenzo don't even deserve to be parents to this child!"

"Are you insane?"

"Who do you think you are, judging me?"

Bella shrieked, her voice so sharp it nearly pierced the ceiling.

"A doctor assaulting a patient in postpartum? Is this your 'upbringing'? I'll make sure every media outlet in the city sees your ugly, malicious face!"

She slammed the emergency call button on her headboard, the piercing alarm instantly drawing the medical staff from the entire floor.

Bella clutched her cheek, her expression distorted. "This woman attacked me! Look at what she did! Call the police immediately—I want her to rot in prison!"

I let out a dismissive sneer, not even bothering to hide the contempt in my eyes.

"When the police get here, the first person they’re taking away is you—the walking infection."

"Knowing you have a communicable disease and maliciously spreading it... that slap was me educating you on behalf of your innocent victims. Go ahead, call them. Let’s see whose side the law takes."

I made a show of pulling out my phone, my thumb hovering over the dial pad.

The surrounding nurses exchanged uneasy glances. Bella’s lab reports were an open secret among the staff; they just hadn't encountered a patient this brazenly shameless before.

Seeing that no one was backing her up, Bella grew even more hysterical.

"So what? Lorenzo already knows! He actually gets off on the 'thrill' of it!"

She glared at me again, looking at me like I was a common cockroach.

"Regardless, you laid hands on me. You just ruined your career. I’ll have Lorenzo call the Chief of Medicine personally. You’ll never hold a scalpel again as long as you live!"

One of the nurses stepped forward despite the mounting pressure, her voice trembling as she tried to de-escalate the situation.

"Miss Bella, please. Dr. Joanna is a Chief Surgeon recruited from a top-tier medical school. We only asked her to perform this surgery as a rare favor because your case was so complex."

"Dr. Joanna has an impeccable reputation in the field," the nurse continued, her voice small but earnest. "There must be a misunderstanding. Please, just try to calm down."

Bella let out a derisive snort, her eyes—heavy with gaudy eyeshadow—dripping with disdain.

"Chief Surgeon? She’s just glorified labor. Who knows whose bed she crawled into to secure that title? She’s probably filthier on the inside than anyone else here."

A moment later, Bella’s phone vibrated violently. Lorenzo’s name flashed across the screen.

"Baby, my car is at the entrance. I brought your favorite cake."

Bella’s face transformed instantly. The predatory malice she had shown seconds ago vanished, replaced by a rehearsed, whimpering sob.

"Lorenzo… come up here, quickly. There’s a crazy woman trying to kill me."

The medical staff realized the gravity of the situation. A Head of the Family of Lorenzo’s caliber didn’t just get angry; he razed buildings. The nurse grabbed my hand, whispering urgently.

"Dr. Joanna, the surgery was a success. We’ll handle the rest. It’s Christmas Eve—since that gentleman is coming, you should leave through the back door. Don't let this ruin your engagement with your fiancé."

Bella caught the whisper and shrieked into the phone.

"Darling! The doctor didn’t just hit me—she cursed our baby, called him a cripple! And now they’re trying to let her slip away!"

"My face hurts so much… Hurry! I want her on her knees, begging for mercy!"

Lorenzo was the kind of man whose ego was a fortress; he would never allow his assets to be insulted. He gave the order immediately to lock down the entire hospital. Sleek black luxury sedans screeched to a halt, blocking every exit. No one was getting in or out.

"Anyone who dares touch my woman and my blood will vanish from the medical world forever."

"Wait for me, baby," Lorenzo’s voice roared through the speaker. "I’m going to shatter that doctor’s hands myself."

Bella flashed a triumphant, grotesque grin. The arrogance in her eyes was suffocating. The air in the room turned to ice; everyone was shaking. The Corleone family’s wrath was enough to incinerate this hospital by morning.

But I was calmer than anyone else in the room.

Bella walked up to me provocatively, shoving her red-manicured finger hard against my forehead.

"Regretting it now? Get on your knees and lick my heels clean. Maybe then I’ll ask Lorenzo to leave you with an intact corpse."

The nurse tried one last time to keep the peace. "Miss Bella, this really is just a misunderstanding—"

"Misunderstanding? She slapped me!" Bella tilted her chin up. "Either get on your knees, or get ready to wear concrete shoes at the bottom of the Hudson!"

The nurse looked at me helplessly. Everyone believed my career—and my life—had just been signed away with a single breath from Lorenzo Corleone.

"What? Too scared to speak? Kneel!"

I let out a cold laugh, my gaze as impenetrable as an Arctic vault.

"You want an apology? Neither you nor that piece of human garbage you’re with are worthy of one."

A flash of murderous insanity crossed Bella’s eyes. "You're asking for death!"

She turned and shrieked at the staff. "Do you want this pathetic hospital to burn? One word from Lorenzo and you’re all on the street!"

The nurse tugged at my sleeve in desperation, signaling for me to bow my head. I shoved her hand away.

Crack!

Another blistering strike. The force of it sent Bella collapsing onto the hospital bed.

"Trash like you… I’m afraid of contaminating my hands just by hitting you."

I moved forward to give her another lesson, but several nurses rushed in to restrain me.

Bella, clutching her face and abandoning all pretense of sophistication, bolted out of the room like a madwoman. She slammed right into the chest of a man who had just stormed through the doors.

It was Lorenzo, reeking of gunpowder and radiating a lethal, murderous aura.

"Lorenzo! Kill her! That woman hit me again!"

"I’ve never been so humiliated in my life! You have to get revenge for me and the baby!"

Lorenzo pulled her tight against him, his hawk-like eyes burning with feral rage.

"She must have a death wish. I’d like to see who has the guts to—"

Bella sobbed into his chest, playing the role of the helpless victim to fuel his protective instincts.

"Don't cry, baby. I'll make her die on her knees in front of you."

The moment Lorenzo kicked the ward door wide open, our eyes met.

In that instant, every ounce of Lorenzo’s brutality and arrogance evaporated. It was as if he’d been struck by lightning. He froze, anchored to the floor in paralyzed shock.

Still oblivious, Bella hid in his arms, pointing a shaking finger at me and screaming.

"Lorenzo! That’s the bitch! Have your men tear her apart!"

I stared indifferently at the man I had loved for seven years. My voice was a flat line, stripped of all emotion.

"Lorenzo, I thought the family meeting in Sicily was supposed to last until tomorrow morning. I didn't realize your 'meeting' was taking place on my operating table."