Chapter 1

I never dreamed that after seven years of marriage to Ettore Vitale, this would be how it ended.

That day, his mistress and I were both abducted by his sworn enemy.

"Don Vitale, your wife or your lover. You can only choose one!"

Viola Serra and I dangled from a crane at an abandoned dock, turbulent seawater churning beneath us. Veins bulged at Ettore's temples, his dark eyes burning with fury and hesitation.

"My people don't get left behind. I'm taking both of them!"

"Then, you'd better prepare two body bags!" The leader of the gang twirled his Browning pistol before pressing the muzzle against my temple, his voice vicious and mocking.

"Stop wasting my time. Three, two…"

"I choose Viola!"

Ettore's voice was cold as ice, but urgency bled through his words. My eyes went wide with terror, my mind going completely blank. Ettore looked at me, and for just a moment, guilt flickered in his gaze.

"Viola's fragile, and she's carrying my child. Nothing can happen to her." He paused, his jaw tight. "I'll send someone for you. I'll make this right when you get back."

The words hit me like a thunderbolt. My mouth opened, but nothing came out. Tears blurred my vision, but I started laughing anyway, wild and unhinged.

Ettore frowned, concern crossing his face as he glanced at me. The next second, he turned and walked away with Viola cradled in his arms.

I couldn't stop laughing, nearly crying myself dry before I finally calmed down. The irony wasn't lost on me. The man who once swore eternal vows to me could turn around and abandon me without a second thought for another woman.

Why her?

Ettore and I had been married for seven years. It was an arrangement, but we got along well. Our relationship was solid, or so I thought, until six months ago when Viola appeared.

She was pure and innocent, sweet and charming, stealing Ettore's attention effortlessly. Everything he used to give me, she took. I confronted him once and asked him why.

He looked me dead in the eye and told me it meant nothing, that she was just a distraction. I would always be his Donna.

But now, I was the one being thrown away.

The gang leader lifted my chin with the barrel of his gun, his voice dripping with mockery. "Signora Vitale, it seems you don't measure up to that woman in the great Don Vitale's eyes, si?"

I pressed my lips together and forced myself to stay calm. I needed to negotiate.

"I don't know what grudge you have with him, but killing me does you no good. Let me go, and I'll convince Ettore to give you that plot of land in the east district."

"He doesn't even care if you live or die. Why should I believe anything you say?" The words stabbed through me, tightening my chest until I could barely breathe.

"But you know what? You're right about one thing. Killing you really doesn't benefit me."

The gang leader pulled off his mask, revealing a handsome, sharp-featured face. He grinned wildly and untied my ropes himself.

"If Signora Vitale is willing, the Romano family would welcome you with open arms. Go home, think it over. That's how serious we are."

They left me there and vanished. The men Ettore sent arrived shortly after and brought me back. By the time I stumbled through the doors of the Vitale estate, I was still in a daze.

Ettore pulled me into his arms, relief flooding his eyes like he'd just recovered something precious. "Thank God you're safe."

I leaned against him numbly, a bitter smile twisting at my lips. Safe? Of course he was relieved. Everything worked out fine for him.

But the image of him choosing Viola over me kept tearing through my mind like a wild animal, ripping my heart to shreds and killing whatever hope I'd been clinging to all these years.

My head throbbed violently. I couldn't force out a single word. Then, everything went black, and I collapsed in his arms.