Chapter 1

When Ernest Marino entered the room, I was in a daze as I stared at a clump of dark hair on my dresser.

It had fallen off my head while I was combing my hair. That was not the only thing. My skin was starting to turn an unhealthily pale shade, and my nails had become fragile and easily broken.

"Why are you in a daze again, Mia?" A warm hand pressed on my shoulder.

Ernest was in a dark suit that fitted him perfectly. The cufflinks on his sleeve were printed with the Marino family's crest. It was a silver snake entwined around a cross.

He was gentlemanly and courteous. The eyes hidden behind his glasses were full of adoration and tenderness.

Ernest was holding an exquisite enamel porcelain mug in his hand. The liquid in the mug was steaming with a pungent and bitter smell.

"Drink it while it's hot."

I stared at the dark, dense liquid in the mug. It was making me nauseous.

"Ernest, I haven't been feeling very well recently. I'm always feeling anxious, and my hair is falling. Can we go to another doctor?"

He paused momentarily before scooping up some of the herbal brew with a spoon. He blew on it gently and put it to my mouth.

"Mia, taking care of your body includes the process of detoxification. Once you've gone through a complete detox, our baby will come naturally. Be a good girl. Don't be stubborn about this."

He spoke softly as usual, but there was something in his tone that informed me this was not a negotiation.

This was the control the Don of the Marinos had over everyone. In his world, his word was the rule.

I opened up my mouth to swallow the pungent, bitter liquid robotically. I was not like any of them. I hated bloodshed.

It was the reason why I changed my identity five years ago to escape from the Corleones, a family that was filled with guns and death.

I kept my abilities a secret as all I wanted to do was to be an ordinary designer in Micosa.

That was until I met Ernest. He was different from my father and never forced me to learn or accept anything involving bloodshed.

Ernest saved me from a torturous life and gave me a grand wedding. Everyone in Minota knew that he loved and doted on me immensely.

I thought I had found my sun, but I had no idea that I had left hell and leapt into a deeper, darker abyss.

When I swallowed the last of the brew, Ernest's phone rang. He picked up the call and put it on speaker. The call was from his trusted Underboss, who was speaking in unfluent Gurmon, a language he thought I did not understand.

"Don Marino, the doctors have confirmed it. The Donna has come back with clean results on her immunoglobulin indicator. She is clear of it. We can conduct the organ transplant at any time."

Ernest smiled as he replied in exceptional Gurmon.

"Good. Anna can't wait any longer. Strengthen her safety and supervision for the next three days. She can't have any food that might trigger negative effects.

"After all, there is no better kidney than this in the entire Micosa."

Ernest hung up and turned to look at me tenderly as usual.

"What's wrong, Mia? Why are you looking so pale?"

I clenched the corner of my blanket as my fingers dug into my palms.

Clean results on the immunoglobulin indicator.

No better kidney than this.

Those phrases were like an ice-cold knife that sliced up the dream life I had been living in for the past six months.

Ernest never wanted a child. All he wanted was to use immunosuppressants on me to destroy my immune system so that my kidney could be successfully transplanted into that woman called Anna Bucca without her body rejecting it.

"Nothing."

I never told Ernest that I had been studying different languages since I was three. Understanding Gurmon was not difficult for me. I lowered my head to hide the shock in my eyes.

"The brew must have been too bitter for me."

Ernest laughed softly as he brushed my nose intimately with his finger.

"I know it's been hard on you. Once Anna's surgery is a success, I'll take you to the Aldiva Islands to make up for our honeymoon."

Once Anna's surgery succeeded?

Ernest did not even bother to hide the fact that his stepsister, Anna, was the only person whom he truly adored.