Chapter 1

The tiny arm on the morgue table had already turned an unnatural blue-gray.

Annie had been dead for two hours.

Marco Vitale, the butler, finally reached the hospital with Luca's signed authorization.

It contained only one line.

I authorize the Romano Family's private medical team to take over Annie Romano's treatment.

Signed:

Luca Romano

Marco handed the authorization to the attending physician with his head bowed, his voice strained.

"Don Luca has signed it.

"Mrs. Romano, under Family protocol, you may now bring in the private medical team and use the private hospital suite."

When I didn't respond, Marco swallowed hard and forced himself to continue.

"No one can call in the medical team without Don Luca's signature.

"Anyone who does so will be charged with overstepping their authority and have the violation recorded in the disciplinary ledger."

His voice grew quieter with every word.

"Mrs. Romano... those are the rules."

My phone chimed. I checked the notification.

It was Luca.

"It's just a fever. You've been spoiling Annie. How is she ever going to be strong enough to carry the Romano name if you keep pampering her?"

I didn't react.

I walked quietly over to the attending physician and took the official death certificate.

The authorization had finally arrived.

It was simply too late.

My phone chimed again with an Instagram notification. My fingers trembled as I opened it.

"Emma got her first collector-grade diamond necklace! Luca paid three million dollars for it at auction. I told him it was too expensive, but he insisted on getting it for her."

The post was from Olivia Bellini, the widow of Luca's late best friend. In the Instagram Story, Olivia wore a glamorous evening gown and held her daughter, Emma Bellini, in her arms. A dazzling diamond necklace glittered around the girl's neck.

"Luca spoils Emma rotten. He buys her anything she wants.

"All she had to do was say she liked the necklace, and he insisted on buying it for her."

I closed Instagram and opened my messages with Luca.

My first message read, "Annie's fever won't come down. The doctor suspects sepsis. Please sign the medical authorization immediately."

Then Marco finally reached the hospital with Luca's signed authorization.

Eight full hours had passed.

My call log showed call after call to Luca. I'd tried so many times that I'd lost count.

I sent people back to the estate four separate times to find out what was happening. Each group returned with the same answer: Luca was dealing with something too important to interrupt.

In the end, Marco knelt outside Luca's study, pleading for him to sign the authorization. Luca never even responded.

No one dared to call in the private medical team without his approval.

The attending physician did everything in his power to keep Annie alive. My daughter fought with everything she had.

Again and again, her condition became critical. Each time, the doctors asked me the same question.

"Mrs. Romano, is the authorization here yet? The moment we see his signature, we can bring in the whole team. Everything is ready."

But all I could do was stand there shivering, looking toward the door again and again.

"Not yet..."

For years, I had to follow the Family's rules whenever I needed to use Family resources.

The monthly allowance they gave me barely covered our basic household needs, leaving nothing to spare.

Calling in the private medical team required Luca's signature.

Hiring a tutor required his approval.

Buying a gown, attending a banquet, using the Family accounts. Every single thing needed Luca's permission.

Once, Annie got caught in the rain and had a mild fever that night.

I worried it might turn into pneumonia, so I filed an emergency request for the private medical team.

Less than ten minutes later, Luca's video call came through.

On the screen, Annie was curled up under her blanket, her face flushed from the fever.

Luca barely glanced at her.

"Her temperature's barely a hundred. You really thought that was worth calling in the Family's medical team?

"Sophia, is this how you're raising her?

"She's learned to fake being sick just to get a little attention?"

I froze where I stood.

I opened my mouth to explain that Annie was truly sick, but he ended the call before I could say a word.

The next day, Marco returned looking grim.

"Mrs. Romano, Don Luca asked me to inform you... for misuse of the Family's medical request system, Miss Annie's access to the medical team has been suspended for fifteen days..."

I couldn't understand what Annie and I had done wrong. She was still sick and trembling with fever.

I gripped Annie's hand.

After that day, Annie never cried when she had a fever again.

Whenever she felt sick, she would touch her forehead and ask in a tiny voice,

"Mommy... I'm not that sick, right?

"If we ask for a doctor... will Daddy get mad again?"

Marco once confided in me.

"Mrs. Romano, my mother told me the old Don had abolished these rules.

"But... Don Luca brought them back."

Rules were rules, Luca always said.

They made no exceptions.

Not even for his wife.

Not even for Annie, his only biological daughter.

Emma was the only exception.

All Emma had to do was say she wanted something or shed a tear, and Luca would have Marco open the vault, transfer whatever money was needed, or hire the best tutors for her.

Those supposedly unbreakable rules disappeared whenever Emma wanted something.

Luca used the Family's rules to shackle his own wife and daughter.

Yet he opened every door for another woman and her child.

Those shackles had grown too heavy.

That signature had arrived eight hours too late.

It had cost Annie her life.

I closed my eyes. When I opened them again, I was calm.

I picked up my phone and called David.

"Draft the divorce papers."