Chapter 7

I took the urn with trembling hands, cradling it like a precious treasure.

He stood up and walked to the window, looking out at the Mediterranean Sea.

"They will pay for this," Stephan's voice was chillingly cold. "Every single person in the Falcone family will pay in blood."

I looked up at my brother, the tears in my eyes had dried up, replaced by a deep-seated hatred.

"Darren Falcone thought that by killing you and the child, he could cover up his own stupidity."

"But he has no idea he just woke a sleeping dragon."

Stephan turned and looked at me.

"That child's life has washed away the injustice you suffered."

"Now, you will make everyone who hurt you pay the price."

"By the way," Stephan said as he walked to the door, "Darren thinks you're really dead. He's kneeling by your 'body' right now, weeping."

"When you are strong enough, it will be time for revenge."

He walked to the door and glanced back at me.

"Welcome home, my sister."

"Welcome back to the Moretti family."

“This wasn’t the life you were meant for. Being a mother, even for a moment, created a bond that will never break.”

Stephan sighed, his face filled with sorrow for me.

"Don't waste your grief on that man. He isn't worth it."

Stephan was right. Welcome home.

But this home was not the one I had fled three years ago.

And I was no longer the naive girl who would abandon everything for love.

A few days later, I finally had the strength to get out of bed and walk around.

Stephan gave me a tour of the entire castle. The rooms that were once familiar from my childhood now seemed strangely foreign.

"Do you remember this place?" he asked, stopping in front of a heavy oak door.

Of course I remembered. It was my father's study.

Pushing the door open, I saw the portraits of the past Dons of the Moretti family hanging on the walls.

My gaze rested on the last one, a portrait of my late father.

"What would he have thought if he knew you married Darren?" Stephan asked, looking at me.

I lowered my head. "I disappointed him."

"More than disappointed," Stephan said, walking over to our father's portrait. "Do you know why we supported the Falcone family in the first place?"

I shook my head. When I left, I knew nothing of the family business.

"Because they were obedient. Because they knew their place," Stephan said, turning to face me. "When you married him, you sent a message. That a Moretti princess could be thrown to the dogs."

The words were harsh, but I couldn't argue.

Because now, it seemed Darren was indeed a dog.

A mad dog that would bite its master.

"You tore up the blood oath in front of the entire council," Stephan continued. "Do you know what that meant?"

I remembered that night, standing in the center of the family council hall.

"Stephan, I love him," my voice was trembling but firm back then. "I want to be with him."

"Love knows no status!"

Then, in front of everyone, I had torn the blood-oath contract, a symbol of family loyalty, to shreds.

The pieces had fluttered to the ground, as if I had torn up not just a piece of paper, but the entire family's trust.

"Regret it now?" Stephan's voice pulled me from my memories.

I clutched my child's urn tightly, my voice hoarse. "I thought he would cherish me."

"But he never trusted me from the beginning."

I hadn't told Darren my true identity. In his eyes, I was just an orphan with nothing to my name.

He thought I had gotten close to him just to get pregnant and seize the Falcone family's fortune.

Then his older brother died unexpectedly, and Darren, to honor his brother's last wishes, devoted himself to caring for the pregnant Angelina.

Throughout my pregnancy, he treated me with indifference, rarely showing me any kindness.

But I had seen it in his eyes. He was looking forward to the baby.

I had always thought that once the baby was born, everything would get better.

I never expected him to believe Angelina so easily, to suspect me of infidelity and question the bloodline of the child in my womb.

Now that he had personally killed my baby, my heart had died with him.

Stephan controlled the entire underground network of North America and even Europe.

Darren had angered him. The Falcone family would face annihilation.