Chapter 2

"Just wanted to see?" I whispered. My blood was boiling.

I grabbed a fistful of her perfectly styled blonde curls. "Then let's see how well you swim today!"

"Ahhh!" Bianca shrieked.

I dragged her out the door by her hair, showing zero mercy. My target was the pool downstairs.

"Let me go! You crazy bitch!" Bianca thrashed wildly, clawing at the hallway walls. "I'll drown! Uncle Matteo, save me!"

Her friend Stella screamed and scrambled into the closet, terrified.

"Mandy, that's enough!" Matteo lunged forward. He dug his fingers hard into my shoulders from behind.

"Let go of me!" I screamed, sinking my nails deep into the back of his hands.

Matteo yanked me backward with brutal force.

The back of my head slammed into the marble molding of the hallway.

The sharp edge split my scalp open. A wave of intense dizziness and darkness washed over me. Warm blood trickled down the side of my face.

I slumped to the floor, holding my head. My vision blurred.

My husband didn't even spare me a glance.

He shielded his sobbing niece in his arms, glaring at me with pure disgust.

"Are you insane? She's ten years old!" Matteo snapped, standing over me. "It was an accident! She knows she messed up! You didn't watch your own kid, so don't take it out on a child!"

Looking at his hypocritical face, I suddenly felt sick to my stomach.

Right. This was who he was.

A cold-blooded coward. He would throw away his own flesh and blood for the sake of the Family.

I had learned this the hard way in my last life. They were the real Family. My three-month-old son and I meant absolutely nothing.

With shaking hands, I pulled out my phone. I dialed my father's number.

I needed my men. I was going to destroy every single one of these murderers.

"What are you doing?" Matteo's eyes darkened.

"I'm making your entire family pay for murder!"

Smack.

Matteo kicked the phone out of my hand. It smashed against the wall, the screen shattering into pieces.

"This is Vaughn Family business!" He grabbed me by the collar and hissed. "You don't bring outside heat into this! Nico is dead, we can make another one. But Bianca is the future heir of this family! I won't let you ruin her!"

My heart turned to ash. The absurdity of it all was suffocating.

On his scale, this ten-year-old sociopath weighed far more than our newborn son.

I swatted his hands away. Using the wall for support, I stumbled to my feet and dragged my bleeding body downstairs.

Just as I reached the landing, a heavy woman dripping in expensive jewels rushed up. She violently shoved my shoulder.

My sister-in-law, Isla.

She pulled Bianca into a tight hug, cooing and shrieking over her precious baby.

Then, she whipped her head around and glared at me.

"You crazy bitch! How dare you lay a hand on my daughter!"

I was trembling with rage. "Why don't you ask your daughter what she just did?"

"So what?" Isla sneered dismissively, a vicious glint in her eyes. "Your son is dead. Get over it. You can't blame her for that!"

I hated them all so much. But right now, my mind was only on the dead baby.

Who was he? And why was he in our estate?

"Isla, you're a mother. If it was your child who died today, would you still say that?"

Isla's eyes narrowed. She pointed a fat finger at me. "You shameless whore! Your son dies so you curse mine? Honestly, your brat deserved it! Good riddance!"

I grabbed my shattered phone off the floor and headed straight downstairs.

The matriarch hurried after me. Hearing Isla's words, she didn't stop her. Instead, she grabbed Isla's sleeve.

"Quick! Stop her! She tried to call her father! We can't let her run her mouth and ruin the Family's reputation!"

Isla's face paled. Her glare turned venomous. "You called for backup? You want to humiliate the Vaughns in front of the Five Families?"

Matteo, pale with rage, snatched the cracked phone from my hand.

He pressed the power button. The screen lit up. The color drained from his face.

Through the cracked glass, an SOS text was clearly visible. It had already been delivered to the personal guards my father had assigned to me.

"You actually called your people!"

Matteo closed the distance between us and raised his hand without a second thought.

A heavy slap landed hard across my face.

"You vicious bitch!" Matteo gritted his teeth, his eyes full of hate. "You'd humiliate this entire Family just to get even!"

I held my burning cheek and slowly turned my head. I looked at the ugly faces of the three generations standing before me.

I let out a dark, hopeless laugh.

Without a single word, I wiped the blood from my lip and kept walking downstairs.

The guests out front were still drinking and laughing. Nobody had noticed the tragedy in the backyard pool.

I had to know who the dead baby was.

I already had a sickening suspicion, but I couldn't bring myself to believe it.