Chapter 1

On the day my husband's dying first love gave birth, his father, the Don of the Lupo family, posted ten armed men outside my door.

They were on high alert, terrified I might storm the delivery room and disrupt the birth of the first heir to the Lupo family.

But I never even touched the door, not even when the newborn's cries echoed down the hall.

Luca's mother, the family's Donna, let out a long sigh of relief, her hand tightly gripping the woman's on the hospital bed.

"Bianca, we're here. That barren woman, Stella, won't lay a finger on you or my grandson."

Luca leaned over, gently wiping the cold sweat from Bianca's brow, his eyes filled with tenderness.

"Don't worry, Father's had his men lock down the entire private hospital. If she dares to cause a scene, I'll have her struck from the family records myself."

Only after confirming I wouldn't show up to make trouble did he finally relax.

He didn't understand. In his eyes, he was just honoring a debt, giving a dying woman a child to carry on her name, helping his first love fulfill her final wish.

Why couldn't I just be graceful about it? Why couldn't I see the bigger picture?

A satisfied smile touched Luca's lips as he gazed at the swaddled infant.

He was even thinking that if I would just swallow my pride, admit I was wrong, and show Bianca a little kindness, he would forgive my previous coldness completely.

He'd make it up to me, even offering me the hollow title of the child's mother, allowing me to keep my position as the Underboss's wife.

But what he didn't know was that I had already signed the divorce papers my lawyer had drawn up.

In a week, I would cut all ties with the Lupo family, take the twins growing inside me and walk away. We would never see each other again, not in this life or the next.

...

The day Luca carefully escorted Bianca through the main gate of the estate, I was upstairs in the bathroom, biting the back of my hand to stifle a wave of violent nausea.

I had discovered I was pregnant with his twins right after I returned from my trip.

I splashed cold water on my face and pressed a hand to my still-flat stomach, willing the nausea away as I opened the heavy main doors of the house.

I was met by the sound of cheerful, relaxed laughter.

"He has Luca's features, a spitting image. Bianca, you have given the Lupo family a great gift!"

The Donna was cooing at the swaddled baby boy, her eyes full of adoration, as Luca emerged from the kitchen with a bowl of a special herbal soup.

"Bianca, you've been through a lot. I had this brewed overnight. You need to get your strength back."

He sat by the bed, feeding her spoon by spoon, his gaze gentle enough to melt ice.

To anyone watching, they were the perfect picture of a devoted, well matched couple.

Luca's father, the Don of the family, was amusing the baby with a gold pocket watch. The infant gurgled with laughter, and the Don himself couldn't stop smiling.

"This one's a charmer. Good thing he wasn't born to that Stella, the one who only knows her way around a scalpel. A woman as cold as an operating table is no fun."

My fingers tightened on the doorknob, my knuckles turning white.

I remembered the first time I met them, as the family's exclusive surgeon.

The old Don had clapped me on the shoulder and told his senior men that a wife who could pull bullets and stitch wounds was the Lupo family's greatest asset.

Now, he said I was cold and no fun.

I had only been away from the family for ten months, attending a medical conference overseas.

I did it to better serve the family, to improve my skills in keeping them healthy and treating their wounds.

But when I returned, there was no longer a place for me in this home.

I forced a smile that held no warmth.

The thing was, in the three years Luca and I had been married, this wasn't my first pregnancy.

But two years ago, during a raid by a rival family, I took a severe injury to my abdomen while pushing Luca out of the way.

I didn't just lose our unborn child; the damage left me with what the doctors called a near-zero chance of conceiving again.

Back then, I cried night after night. It was Luca who held me, kissing the top of my head and swearing that I was the only wife he would ever have.

He said he'd rather the Lupo line die out than ever touch another woman.

But now, he had personally ground that vow to dust.

For a so-called debt of honor, he had crossed every line.

I remember ten months ago, on the day I was about to board the plane for Europe, he held me in his arms on the private airstrip, refusing to let go.

His hot breath was on my ear, his eyes filled with reluctance.

During our time apart, we video-chatted every day, constantly updating each other. I even made time to fly back once a month, just to see him for a few hours.

Everyone in our circle said the Lupo family's Underboss was a madman, but that he saved all his tenderness for his doctor wife. They'd been married three years and were still like newlyweds.

When I finished my project early and rushed back, not even giving myself time to adjust to the jet lag.

Not long after I landed, I was hit by a sudden wave of dizziness.

My surgeon's instincts kicked in, and I ran a blood test on myself. To my astonishment, not only was I pregnant, but I was carrying twins.

I was ecstatic, desperate to share the good news with Luca. I wanted to tell him that I was willing to put my career on hold to focus on the pregnancy.

But when I happily returned to the estate, the guards blocked me at the gates. They coldly refused to let me in, simply because Bianca was about to give birth.

Bianca's sickly sweet voice pulled me back to reality. "Stella? When did you get back? You didn't even say a word!"

Everyone's gaze immediately fell on me. When the Donna beside them saw the document in my hand, my resignation as the family doctor, her face turned ugly.

"I never should have let Luca marry you. Resigning? You think Luca owes you a living? Does the Lupo family support freeloaders?"

The old Don snorted.

"You can't even produce an heir to carry on the family's legacy. What's the use of keeping you? If I'd known you couldn't give the Lupo family its next leader, I would have never let you set foot in this estate."

"Bianca just gave birth, she's weak. The baby is fragile. This is when we need all hands on deck. The least you could do is help Luca, take care of things. Instead, you're here sulking. Do you have any sense of wifely duty?"

Their words were so absurd I wanted to laugh.

"And what about Luca? Getting another woman pregnant while I was away. Is that how a husband is supposed to act?"

"Stella, that's enough! I did all of this for you!" Luca took a large step forward, his brow furrowed, his eyes like ice.

"You can't have children, so I had Bianca do it for you. I'm handing you an heir, and you can't appreciate the gesture?"

"This was supposed to be a win-win. Bianca gets her dying wish, and you get to keep your position as the Underboss's wife without the burden of pregnancy. I really don't understand what you're so upset about."

"That ambush two years ago, if Bianca hadn't pushed me, that bullet would have hit my head, not my shoulder."

"Her father died for the family when she was a child, and now she's been diagnosed with a terminal illness. She won't last more than a few months. When she's gone, there won't be a single person left in this world to remember her."

"You're both women. Can't you have a little empathy? Why are you so set against her? Or do you really see me as the kind of man who can't keep it in his pants?"

Bianca took the cue, grabbing his sleeve. Her eyes reddened perfectly, making her look as though I had wronged her terribly.

"Stella, please, don't say any more. It's all my fault. I promise I'll disappear after the baby is born. I won't come between you. But please don't fight with Luca because of me…"

Their united front painted me as the villain, and the last of the warmth in my heart turned to ice.

So, in their eyes, I was nothing more than damaged goods, unable to continue their legacy. I wasn't a wife, not a member of this family, just a useless tool unable to hold onto power.

The irony was, I was carrying the family's two most legitimate heirs in my womb.

But in that moment, I didn't want to say another word.

Luca spoke again, his voice low, laced with an undeniable warning.

"Stella, my patience has its limits. If you dare to give Bianca any more trouble, don't blame me for forgetting we're husband and wife."

"If you want to remain the Underboss's wife, you will keep your mouth shut. At the baptism next week, I will announce to all the families that you are this child's mother."

Next week? I shot a cold glance at the sleeping infant in the cradle.

By then, I'd be long gone, vanished from his life without a trace.