Chapter 1

The call cut off abruptly.

I could feel his anxiety crackling through the static.

I pressed a hand to my abdomen. The pain there was nothing compared to the tearing inside me.

Hot liquid seeped through the fabric of my evening gown.

The agony was so intense it left me numb, sharp and clear.

Thirty minutes ago, I'd been ambushed during a Black Hand operation at the Ricci compound.

I needed Dante's private seal, the only way to get me access to the family's medical team.

Facing death, I shakily dialed the encrypted number only core family members knew.

"Dante… I'm trapped at the North Docks. Get me the seal. I need a doctor…"

"What is it now?" Dante's voice was a heavily impatient scoff, devoid of any real concern.

"What a coincidence. Sofia's sick, and now you're hurt, too?"

"Listen, Elena," he cut me off, his tone ice-cold. "Don't call again. Don't disturb Sofia's rest. I'll hold you responsible."

His indifferent words still echoed in my ears.

With what little strength I had left, I sent a text to my assistant. I closed my eyes, letting my consciousness drift into darkness.

In my daze, I saw flashes of the past.

When I first learned Dante had an adopted sister, I was bothered.

He'd held me, telling me Sofia was his savior. Without her, he wouldn't be alive today.

So he promised to look after her for life.

Back then, I was surprised this Mafia boss had such deep feelings.

But I didn't see it clearly then. That kind of devotion came at too high a price. I, the latecomer, was never truly on his list.

After we married, when I saw him giving his adopted sister millions of dollars a year for living expenses, I simply thought it was his way of repaying a debt. I was uneasy, but I never said a word.

Until he kept choosing her over me, time and time again.

First, it was to soothe her to sleep, and he wouldn't be intimate with me until after midnight.

Then, it was accompanying her for asthma treatment, flying to different countries to find the best doctors, leaving me alone in the sprawling estate.

Things like that happened too often. I thought I'd gotten used to it.

Until I miscarried. I called him, heartbroken, needing just a word of comfort. He simply turned his phone off.

The next day, I learned he'd been in Paris, celebrating Sofia's birthday at Notre Dame that night.

He said Sofia's twentieth birthday was a once-in-a-lifetime event, but we could have more children.

After that, I never became pregnant again.

We had a huge fight over it, but in the end, he came back with 999 roses to win me over.

He promised me then that he would never neglect me for Sofia again.

I believed him.

It wasn't until I was shot this time that I realized he would always prioritize someone else over me.

When my eyes fluttered open again, I saw Dante.

He looked at me with concern, sighing.

"I'm sorry, Elena. I was just worried sick. Sofia was feeling so ill, I didn't realize you were actually injured..."

"Forgive me, darling. Whatever compensation you want, I'll buy it for you."

"No, as the family's Donna, whatever you want is yours."

I looked at his handsome face. The usual decisive Don, when he focused on me, seemed to see me as his entire world.

But I knew it was an illusion.

Gritting my teeth against the stinging pain from the stitches, I sat up coldly.

"You still remember I'm your Donna?"

"If I could, I wish this marriage alliance had never happened!"

When he proposed and asked for our two families to ally, my father hadn't agreed.

He said he was ill, but the influence he left behind was enough for me to live comfortably.

I was the sole Principessa of the Moretti family, no need to sacrifice myself for family interests.

It was Dante's persistent pursuit that won me over.

He even shielded me with his body during an assassination attempt.

In that moment, I was deeply moved. Even knowing there was another woman in his life, I finally agreed to his proposal.

I thought that if there was anything serious between him and his adopted sister, he wouldn't be with me.

But everything changed after his adopted sister returned from studying abroad.

Seeing my silence, Dante softened his tone.

"Rest up, okay? Everything I promised you won't change."

But when I returned to the estate…

Pushing open the living room door, I found Dante and Sofia standing in our room.

Around Sofia's fair neck hung a massive blue diamond.

It was the "Eye of Medusa," a Moretti family heirloom passed down for three generations, the only thing my mother left me before she died.

My fists clenched hard.

"Dante, this diamond is so beautiful," Sofia's fingertips greedily traced the cold blue. She looked up, a little worried. "But this is Elena's. What if she sees it…"

"It's fine, darling. It's natural for a young girl to like pretty things. Wear it for fun if you like it. Elena won't be mad." Dante's tone was matter-of-fact as he smiled and patted her head.

Sofia threw herself into his arms, touched. "You're the best, Dante!"

I stood in the shadows, watching the two unrelated "siblings" embrace in the sunlit room.

Tears blurred my vision. I felt an unprecedented numbness inside.

I had given everything for this marriage alliance, only to have him use my family heirloom as a plaything to appease his adopted sister.

Normally, I would have stormed in and made a scene.

But now, I quietly retreated back into the dark hallway.

Since I was always the outsider between them, I would leave.