Chapter 1

“About that offer you once asked... about making me your wife. Does that offer still stand?”

Right after I opened my eyes in this life, I called Luca’s uncle. I didn't play games. From the other side of the call, Vincenzo paused, a small break showing through his strict control.

“Do you truly plan to leave Luca? Elena, think it through. His blood is my blood. I am his uncle.”

I understood the rules inside the Outfit. I knew how heavy that title carried. Yet the cold ground and the scent of my child’s blood stayed clear in my mind, and I did not hesitate. I answered yes and arranged the date for tomorrow.

The call had barely ended when Luca pushed the door open and rushed inside.

“Elena, the wedding is canceled,” he said harshly. “Tomorrow, I will marry the woman I really love.”

I blinked. According to the earlier timeline, tomorrow should have been our wedding day, the day he officially received his brother’s land and placed Sophia under his "protection."

Wait. Had he traveled back, too?

"Deal."

I did not waste effort arguing. I grabbed the prenuptial agreement, the one tied to the family alliance, and tore it apart directly before his eyes.

Luca froze. He did not expect me to give in so quickly. Then a proud, mocking smile appeared on his mouth.

“What are you trying to do, Elena? Playing hard to get? The whole family knows you’re obsessed with me. No strings attached, we’re just… finished?”

The woman I once was would have crawled across broken glass for him. But now, after seeing my child die just for a piece of bread, the only feeling left when I looked at him was cold disgust.

I did not give him another look. I walked out through the door and headed directly toward Vincenzo’s territory.

When Vincenzo appeared before me, his expression cold, distant, and overwhelmingly handsome, I nearly lost control. In my past life, after my death, this man, the true Don who controlled the family from Sicily, returned to New York overnight to take care of my funeral.

While Luca was busy celebrating in some neon-lit club, unwilling to accept that I was already gone, Vincenzo was grieving. He devoted the rest of his life to tearing the world apart for revenge, and eventually, he died trapped in his own sorrow.

Not this time. I wouldn’t allow him to repeat that fate.

Vincenzo moved without delay. He arranged the wedding for the following day at the same Plaza Hotel Luca had booked. He secured the only high-fashion custom gown of its kind in the world and announced to the entire underworld that the Don was getting married.

At the same time, Luca stayed occupied as well. He bought a high-security villa to serve as a love nest for him and Sophia. His brother hadn't even been in the ground forty-eight hours before he moved her inside.

I blocked Luca’s number. To retaliate, he had his men throw my belongings onto the street, but he kept my cat locked inside the apartment.

I had no option except to return for her.

The door of the apartment opened wide, and Sophia walked out, her hips moving as she wore a face with a bitter expression.

"So, you’re Luca’s ex? You’re as thin as a toothpick, honey. No surprise he left you.”

She pushed out her chest, looked me up and down, then purposely knocked her shoulder against mine while walking past. Luca came right after her, his eyes fixed on her body like glue that wouldn’t come loose.

I didn’t have time to watch their cheap drama. I moved to pick up my cat, but Luca suddenly noticed the shine on my ring finger. He rushed forward and grabbed my arm angrily.

"Elena! What the hell is that?!"

What did it look like? An engagement ring.

He reacted as if a slap had just landed on his face. His expression changed from shock to a crooked, ugly look of anger. In his arrogant little world, the woman who had stayed with him through every struggle should have been left broken and alone, not instantly turning to someone stronger and greater the moment he threw her away.