Chapter 1

To climb my way into the upper ranks of the Nostra family, I had built a past out of lies. It was all just to stay inside a world obsessed with bloodlines and loyalty.

The day everything came crashing down, the study reeked of expensive cigars.

Don Lorenzo Nostra eyed me like I was a defective product.

I pressed a razor to my wrist. The veins pulsed faintly under my skin. "Throw me out, and I'll die right here."

He took a slow drag of his cigar and blew a ring of smoke across the room.

"Bene. If you're that desperate to be my wife, I'll give you what you want," he said. "Just don't regret it."

I had earned my title with blood, and it became the running joke of the Nostra family.

After that, his humiliation continued to escalate. He brought different women back to the house. The worst was when he forced me to kneel on the cold marble floor outside his bedroom.

"You'll do anything for status, won't you?" he mocked from behind the door. "Then watch. This is how you please your Don."

That night, the pain in my knees was nothing compared to the chill in my chest. Every sound from that room cut me like a knife.

When he was done, he stepped out and tossed a used rubber at my face. It was sticky and revolting. "You'll endure anything for a title."

He looked at me like I was trash. "Go buy more. Adesso."

I didn't cry or argue. I just left obediently. I even thoughtfully picked out different types for them.

Enduring him was the only way I could survive in his world.

A month later, Lorenzo walked in with a civilian woman named Maria Romano, announcing that she was his new secretary. He ordered me to pick an evening gown for her.

"Sofia," he said, leaving no room for debate. "Bring Madre's sapphire necklace. Give it to Maria."

My stomach sank.

That necklace was Amelia Nostra's treasured heirloom. It was a symbol of power in the family. Other women had coveted it before, but he had never allowed anyone to touch it.

Now, he wanted to hand it to Maria.

Sensing my hesitation, Maria said, "Don Nostra, is your housekeeper always this disobedient? You gave her an order, but she didn't even move."

Her eyes glinted with challenge. She knew exactly who I was.

Lorenzo's face darkened. He slapped me hard enough to make me stagger.

"Are you disobeying me?" he snapped. "Look at yourself, how are you any different from a housekeeper? Move! Do you think you can afford to delay Maria and meet the Consigliere?"

Maria gasped, covering her mouth. "Oh, you're the wife? I'm sorry, I thought you were the housekeeper. Your clothes… I didn't recognize you."

I glanced down. House clothes and an apron. She wasn't wrong.

"Really, Don Nostra? Making your wife run errands for me?" she said. "I'm just a secretary. Look, her face is all swollen. She'll be angry at you."

Lorenzo laughed. "Her? Angry? A woman who lied her way in and threatened to kill herself to stay doesn't get to feel anger."

He gripped my jaw and squeezed until my eyes stung. "Isn't that right, Sofia?"

But this time, he was wrong.

I pulled out the divorce papers I had kept hidden for years and steadily declared, "Don Nostra, we're done."

Five years were up. I had finally fulfilled the promise I had made to the dead.