Chapter 1

My body was found three days after I disappeared, in the alley behind a produce market controlled by the Romano Family.

It was not yet dawn. A stray dog nosing through the trash caught an unfamiliar scent and began barking wildly. The market guard on night patrol followed the noise. Behind several black garbage bags, he saw a hand protruding from beneath a stained tarp.

When he lifted it, he found the body of a young woman whose face was gone.

The NYPD sealed the alley within the hour. Because the corpse had been dumped on Romano territory, and because the method resembled an earlier killing linked to the rival Calderone Family, Don ordered his Head of Security to cooperate with the police. She was to identify the victim and determine whether the murder was a declaration of war.

The woman he assigned was my mother, Veronica Romano.

She arrived looking irritated. Ethan hurried beside her, apologizing before she even reached the tape.

"Sorry, Boss. I know you took today off for your daughter's family induction ceremony. But the Don thinks this may involve both families. You're the only person on the security team who can sort it out quickly."

Mom's expression softened slightly. She did not explain that the ceremony belonged not to her daughter, but to the niece she treated as one.

She pulled on gloves and crouched beside my body. She had investigated kidnappings, executions, and internal purges without flinching, yet even she went pale when she saw what had been done to me.

Acid had destroyed my features. Marks on my wrists and ankles showed where I had struggled against restraints. Bruises covered the skin that remained visible.

"He never intended to let her leave alive," Mom said. Her brow tightened as she studied my hands. "He wanted more than death. He wanted her awake, frightened, and losing hope one piece at a time."

Anger hardened her face.

"What kind of animal does this to a girl this young?"

I stood beside her and stared down at what remained of me.

The last hours of my life returned in flashes. The restraints cutting into my wrists. Logan's breath. Celeste's voice somewhere beyond the light. Then the liquid striking my face and pain so immense that my mind had nowhere to escape.

Even as a ghost, I trembled.

Yet hearing Mom defend me brought a ridiculous flicker of comfort. She had not spoken for me like that in years.

She simply did not know that I was the girl she was defending.

A forensic examiner approached with his preliminary notes.

"Cause of death appears to be massive internal bleeding. Her abdomen took repeated blunt-force trauma. The liver ruptured." His mouth tightened. "Strong acid destroyed the face. A corrosive compound was repeatedly applied to the fingertips. There was no identification, and we don't have a dental match. DNA may be our only option."

Mom went still for a moment, fitting the details together.

"A body found near the Calderone docks a few months ago was treated the same way. Acid to the face. Damage to the fingerprints." She rose and turned to Ethan. "Get me the complete file. Find any connection between the victims, and check every Calderone associate who entered our territory this week."

"Understood."

She began directing the search. Vehicle records. Traffic cameras. Delivery schedules. Every route leading into and away from the market.

I watched her work with the same admiration I had carried since childhood.

After Dad died, Mom had entered the most dangerous division of the Romano organization. She rose from junior investigator to Head of Security by solving betrayals, recovering kidnapped relatives, and stopping an attempt on the Don's life. As a child, I rarely saw her at home. I saw her in news footage instead, standing straight and fearless while other people praised her for finding the truth.

Even after death, I could not stop being proud of her.

I only wondered whether the people she protected had ever included me.

The alley was not the primary crime scene. Hours of searching produced little. That afternoon, however, the team found a smashed birthday cake beside a trash can several blocks away.

Rain had softened the box. The frosting had spoiled in the heat, though traces of white icing and strawberries remained.

"It may have belonged to the victim," Ethan said as he sealed it in an evidence bag. "Or a shop nearby may have thrown it out. We'll test it."

Mom stared at the ruined cake. Her lips pressed together.

After a long hesitation, she took out her phone and opened a contact with no name, photograph, or special label.

My number.

The call rang until it reached voicemail. She left no message. The brief uncertainty in her eyes hardened into annoyance.

"God knows where she's run off to now," she muttered, slipping the phone away. "She couldn't even show up for Celeste's induction. Now she thinks she's too grown to answer me."

I stood in the damp alley while Mom turned back to the investigation of my death.

Only then did I understand that she had forgotten my birthday entirely.

Otherwise, how could she have left with Celeste in front of me that morning? How could she have gone through the whole day without saying two simple words?

Happy birthday.