Chapter 3

As a Mafia Don, Aurelio owned his own hospital.

That was where my father was being treated.

I'd already made up my mind. Once I left Aurelio, I'd take my father out of this city, out of Italy.

Over the years, I'd worked hard and quietly saved up a substantial amount of money. Not even Aurelio knew about it.

It was enough to pay for my father's treatment and support us both.

I wasn't a woman who could only wait around for Aurelio's affection anymore. Now I had power of my own.

But when I got to the hospital, I ran into Dr. George Bennett, my father's attending physician.

George was dripping with sweat. "Why did Don Moretti order your father taken off his ventilator?

"And not just that machine. They didn't even leave him a single tank of oxygen."

My mind went blank, and I ran for my father's room.

My father lay there unconscious, his lips turning purple.

"If this keeps up, your father won't last half an hour," George said grimly, catching up to me.

I turned and ran.

Aurelio's private doctor worked on the top floor of the hospital, the 18th.

If I could find him, I could get a ventilator for my father.

But the elevators were mobbed, and every one of them was up on a higher floor with no sign of coming down.

I had no choice but to take the stairs, running up one flight at a time.

I was soaked in sweat, gasping for air, my calves burning.

But I didn't dare stop for a second. Even if I had to crawl, I had to find Aurelio as fast as I could.

Every second I wasted put my father in more danger.

It took me seven minutes to reach the 18th floor, but Aurelio's personal bodyguard, Frank Russo, stopped me at the stairwell door.

He pointed a gun at my head and said coldly, "Don Moretti is with Ms. Shaw while she's being treated. Nobody disturbs them."

I glared at him. "Frank, don't pretend you don't know me. I need to see Aurelio. It's important."

Frank let out a contemptuous laugh. "Everybody knows Don Moretti doesn't give a damn about you anymore. Who do you think you are?"

The others standing at the top of the stairs laughed along.

I knew every one of their faces.

At my wedding to Aurelio, these same people had smiled and fawned and wished us a lifetime of happiness.

Now they were telling me to get lost.

In that moment, I understood how wrong I'd been to put my entire life in one man's hands.

But time was running out, and my father was waiting for me.

I bowed my head and pretended to be defeated. While they were distracted by their own laughter, I drove my foot into Frank's groin, shoved him aside, and charged through.

They swarmed me. I punched, kicked, even bit them, but they still pinned me to the floor.

A light laugh rang out. "Aurelio, I just got a little scared and my chest felt tight. You didn't have to bring every ventilator up to the 18th floor."

It was Marilyn.

I looked up, disheveled, my hair plastered to my face with sweat. I'd taken more punches than I could count, but none of them hurt as much as that one sentence.

So the ventilator keeping my father alive had been taken away because Marilyn's chest felt a little tight.

"You deserve everything," Aurelio said, his voice low.

Tears ran down my face. It made me sick that I'd ever loved a man like this.

When Aurelio turned and saw me, he frowned right away.

"How did you follow me up here?"

"Please, give my father his ventilator back." I didn't have time for regret or anger. All I could do was beg.

But Marilyn's voice was the only answer I got. She played the victim again.

"Aurelio, just looking at Adele makes my chest feel tight. I'm so scared."

At that, Aurelio's face darkened, and he ordered his men, "Don't let Adele set foot on the 18th floor again."

Several of them dragged me toward the stairwell to throw me out. I didn't care anymore. I screamed.

"Marilyn, I'm sorry! I apologize! I won't say another word.

"Please, give my father his ventilator. I'm begging you!"

But the stairwell door slammed shut, and the lock clicked.

No matter how hard I pushed, it wouldn't budge.

I screamed until my throat was raw, but nobody on the other side answered.

When I got back to my father's room, George looked at me, regret and apology written across his face.

My heart slowly sank. "Is my father okay?"

George shook his head. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Silvestri. Your father is gone."

Everything blurred. My legs shook, and my whole body went weak. I forced myself over to my father's bed.

I held his thin hand. All the warmth it used to have was gone.

My tears fell one by one onto his face, but he would never wipe my tears away again the way he did when I was little.

I didn't have any family left in this world.

Knowing that tore through me, and my stomach kept heaving.

Everything went black, and I passed out.

When I opened my eyes again, I was lying in a hospital bed with an IV in my hand.

Aurelio was sitting by my bed, his eyes bloodshot.

When he saw I was awake, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, but his voice was ice cold.

"So now you're using your health to manipulate me, Adele. Do it again, and I'll kick your father out of the hospital for good."

I didn't defend myself. I just stared blankly at the ceiling.

He didn't know my father was already dead. There was nothing left in this world he could threaten me with.

Seeing me so hollow, Aurelio frowned like he wanted to say something.

But Marilyn called his name from the doorway. He hesitated, then left anyway.

I pulled out my phone and texted the number I'd kept hidden. "I accept your offer. I'll be your family's heir."

That afternoon, a mysterious fire broke out in my hospital room.

By the time Aurelio got there, all that was left was a charred body.