Chapter 1

Flora’s POV

My husband, Luca, the Don Ricci, and my best friend, Annie, both conveniently disappeared on the day I buried my mother. Then I fount out that Luca had cheated on with Annie, and Annie was never just a friend, she was also my father’s bastard daughter. As if the betrayal wasn’t enough, Luca dared to tell me to accept everything and just let them. So I called Luca’s uncle, Stefan. If I could help Luca become the Don, then I could just as easily make another man take his place as well.

Why today, of all days, did everything have to come crashing down?

I thought burying my mother—the last of my blood in this world—was already the worst pain I could endure. Then I found out about Luca and Annie. My loyal husband had gotten another woman pregnant—and that woman was my best friend. Or she used to be. Now, she was also my father’s illegitimate daughter, my half-sister.

My gaze dropped to the video Annie had sent. Luca stood there, smiling, as the doctor announced her pregnancy.

It felt like a hundred blades sinking into my chest.

The man I had loved since high school. The man who had once knelt in front of me and asked me to marry him. The man I believed would be my forever.

He betrayed me without even looking guilty. In the video, his smile was bright, almost too bright.

It looked like Luca truly loved Annie—and he was happy about the baby.

My strength drained out of me, my head throbbing like it might split open. I turned to my mother’s fresh grave, and for the first time in my life, I felt completely alone.

I used to think I was lucky—surrounded by friends, married young to a man I loved, and supported by a family that never let me fall.

Now I couldn’t tell what part of my life had ever been real.

My husband wasn’t. My friends weren’t either.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out, my fingers numb.

A message from Luca. “Sorry, babe, something urgent came up at the casino. Need to deal with it. I’ll visit your mother another day.”

My grip tightened around the phone.

Luca lied to me with worst excuses ever… And those excuses, I’d heard them so many times before—weren’t they all just covers for cheating with Annie?

I don’t remember how the rest of the day passed. I only know I sat in front of Mama’s grave long after everyone had left.

When the sky finally broke and the rain began to fall, the cemetery guard came by before leaving, gently telling me it was time to go home.

Home. Where was that anymore?

Still, I didn’t want to trouble an innocent person any further. So I stood, my body heavy, and walked back to my car. The driver took me home in silence, though I caught his eyes flicking toward me in the rearview mirror.

I must have looked terrible.

I felt worse.

When we arrived, I barely got the door open before I heard laughter drifting from the living room.

I froze. I hadn’t expected anyone to be here. Not when Luca was supposed to be… celebrating with Annie.

But when I stepped inside, there they were. Luca and Annie, sitting close together on the sofa, laughing like nothing in the world had ever been wrong.

Annie noticed me first. But instead of calling my name, she shifted closer to him, slipping into his arms. “I still feel uneasy about moving in here with you and Flora… What if she doesn’t want me here?”

Her voice was soft, almost timid—but her eyes slid toward me, sharp and deliberate.

Just days ago, she had been my best friend. The girl who would pout and drag me out shopping, who cried on my bed when she was hurting.

Now she looked like a stranger, no—something worse.

I didn’t want to watch Annie’s performance any longer, so I cleared my throat. The sound startled Luca.

He quickly put space between them and turned to me. “You’re back already?”

“The service ended early,” I said, walking toward them, each step steady despite the storm inside me.

Luca stood and guided me a few steps away from the sofa. “Hey, babe… I…”

He frowned, hesitation flashing across his face. “Look… two months days ago, when you were at the hospital with your mother… I was home. I’d been drinking. Annie was there…”

His voice dropped. “I thought she was you… and…”

“Long story short,” Luca said, his grip tightening around my wrist, “she’s pregnant. And I can’t let Ricci blood wander around like a stranger. You understand that, right, Flora? I’m the Don now. People are always watching. Bringing Annie here is the only way to protect my child.”

I couldn’t even recognize the man standing in front of me. “Luca. Today—of all days—you bring her into our home?” My voice trembled despite everything I did to steady it.

He pulled me closer. “Babe, listen. I don’t love her. It was a mistake. But there’s a baby now. I thought… it might even be good for us. After all, you can’t…”

His eyes flicked to my stomach.

Rage snapped through me.

“How dare you?” I yanked my arm back. “After everything we’ve been through, you stand here, bring another woman into our house, and call it a mistake?”

His expression hardened, patience thinning. “Flora, calm down. It’s not all bad. I’ve already spoken to Annie. She’ll give the baby to us after it’s born. You won’t have to go through pregnancy or labor. Isn’t that better? To the outside world, you’ll still be my only Donna—the only mother of my heir.”

The betrayal had been disgusting. This? This was something else entirely.

Did Luca really think I was that foolish? That desperate?

I shook his hand off and looked past him at Annie, who stood there with a faint, satisfied smile.

Now I understood why Annie had sent those videos and messages. She wanted to see me break.

But I wouldn’t give her that.

Even as every part of me screamed at them to get out, I kept my face calm, empty. “Or,” I said quietly, “I could leave. We get a divorce, and you two raise your child together.”

“Flora!” Luca snapped, like I was the one being unreasonable. “I’m trying to discuss something important. Can you stop being emotional and actually support me for once?”

“Support you?” A bitter laugh slipped out. “Where were you when I needed your support, Luca?”

My voice broke despite me. “In case you’ve forgotten… today I buried the only family I had left…And you weren’t there.”

Before Luca could respond, Annie rose from the sofa and stepped closer. “Actually, not the only family left, sis.”

Luca went still, clearly caught off guard as well.

Annie lowered her gaze, her voice soft. “I… I was afraid you wouldn’t accept me, so I lied. But the truth is… I’m your half-sister.”