Chapter 1

I stood outside the VIP ward of a private hospital.

The voices inside carried through the door, feeling like sharp needles driving straight into my chest.

"Vincenzo, my fever's down. You should go. Ella must be worried."

Sofia Camorra's voice carried a deliberate note of sympathy.

That little play-hard-to-get tactic was so obvious that anyone with half a brain could see right through it.

"Worried about what?"

Vincenzo Costa's voice was full of tenderness. He used to only speak to me like that.

"If she hadn't thrown that water on you, would you have spiked to 102 degrees Fahrenheit? You're carrying the heir of the Costa and Camorra families. I'm not leaving your side."

My fists clenched so tight my nails dug into my palm until it went numb.

It had been eight years.

Eight years ago, I was digging through trash in the slums for leftover bread. Dirt clung to my skin.

Meanwhile, he was the golden heir of the Costa family, dressed in tailored suits and surrounded by admirers.

No one believed in us. Even the beggars laughed at me, saying I was delusional and that he would toss me aside once he was bored.

The Costa family made it clear they would never allow a slum orphan to taint their bloodline.

However, Vincenzo refused to give up. To make his father, Don Edmondo Costa, allow our relationship, he knelt outside the iron gates of Costa Estate for three days and nights.

Edmondo was furious. He ordered 99 lashes across Vincenzo's back. Each strike tore skin and drew blood. However, Vincenzo never once said he would leave me.

In the end, Edmondo relented. But his approval came with a cruel condition.

But now, Vincenzo's eyes held only Sofia, the Principessa of the Camorra family.

The woman who was meant to seal an alliance had somehow become the treasure he cradled in his hands.

It hadn't always been this way.

When Sofia first approached Vincenzo with an offer of alliance from the Camorra family, she handed him a red rose. He threw it straight into the trash.

He grabbed my hand and said, "Ella, you're the only one I want. That Camorra family's Principessa? I can't even stand looking at her."

Everything changed the day Edmondo laid down his condition.

He made it clear that Vincenzo had to get Sofia pregnant with an heir who carried both families' blood. Only then would he feel comfortable letting him marry a slum orphan like me.

Vincenzo's eyes were red when he told me, "Ella, just bear with it for a while. Once she has the baby, I'll take you away. I don't care about family power or businesses. I only want you."

I believed him.

Every time he came back from Sofia's villa, he showered three times, scrubbing his skin until it turned raw.

He told me, "Whenever I sleep with her, I think about you. Otherwise, I couldn't last a second. I don't want you smelling another woman on me."

I felt sorry for Vincenzo. I told myself to endure it. Once he finished what he had to do, we would go back to how we were.

But when did everything start to change?

At some point, he stopped showering so obsessively. Sometimes, he carried Sofia's perfume on him.

He started showing up to Sofia's dates half an hour early and stopped updating me on where he was.

One day, fighting back the bitterness in my chest, I passed by her villa and heard sounds from inside that made my stomach turn.

Through the crack in the door, I saw him drenched in sweat. His gaze was filled with undisguised possessiveness.

That should have been the moment I woke up. Vincenzo wasn't acting anymore. He had betrayed us for real.

The voices inside the ward continued.

Sofia let out a soft laugh. Her tone turned even more innocent. "Ella has it hard too. No woman wants to share the man she loves. I don't blame her for hurting me."

Vincenzo's voice turned cold. "It's my fault for spoiling her. This time, I have to teach her a lesson so she knows what she should and shouldn't do."

Clothes rustled. Wet, lingering kisses followed.

Then, Vincenzo murmured in a low and indulgent voice, "Get some rest. The doctor said you can be discharged tonight. I'll stay with you."

Sofia said nothing.

But I felt it. Her gaze slid through the crack in the door and landed on me, full of open triumph.

Vincenzo seemed to sense someone outside.

I heard his approaching footsteps. He yanked the door open.

When he saw me, surprise flickered across his expression. He had no idea how long I'd been standing there.

However, soon, his tone turned guarded. "Why are you here? Sofia almost miscarried because of you. Did you come to cause another scene?"