Chapter 1

Nick went still and stared at me as if I were a stranger.

“Julia, you're the Donna, not some little girl. Don't say things like that. It makes our family look bad. People will laugh at us if word gets out.”

Just then, Mia clutched her stomach and gasped in pain.

My voice was cold. “It's just a stomachache. Stop making a scene.”

Stomach cramps were also a symptom of ricin poisoning, but I knew Mia had a history of stomach problems.

Besides, she hadn't even been at the port during the fight. How could she have been poisoned?

Nick hurried over and put his arm around her.

“Still not feeling well?”

Mia shook her head and looked at me.

“I'm fine, Nick! I wasn't poisoned that badly. There was only one dose of antiserum, and if Julia needs it, she can have it back.”

Nick's voice was gentle. “Mia, don't put yourself through that.”

His arm tightened around her.

Only when he looked at me did he frown. “What are you glaring at her for? She already offered to give it back.”

He motioned for his men and Bruno to lift me.

“Julia's been badly poisoned. I won't get any rest if she's in the main bedroom. Put her in a guest room for now.

“Once she's better, she can move back.”

As soon as one of his men pulled back my blanket, Mia took two steps away.

“Don, I feel faint just looking at her.”

Nick frowned. “Mia can't stand the sight of blood. Hurry it up.”

Bruno spoke up. “Don, I've searched everywhere, but there are no stretchers here at the port.

“The Donna can barely walk. We'll have to carry her.”

Nick's voice was cold. “There are shipping crates in the storeroom. Put her in one and take her to the guest room.”

His secretary, Dario Bellini, found a crate.

I was burning up with fever. In a haze, I felt them stuff me inside.

Through the haze, I heard one of his men speak. “Don, the crate won't fit in the passenger elevator.”

Nick replied coldly, “Then use the freight elevator. Hurry up. Don't worry about jostling Julia around.”

They did as they were told and carried me back out of the passenger elevator.

They stuffed me, the Donna, into a freight elevator like a corpse waiting to be dumped after a battle.

Back at the estate, Bruno sat beside my bed and used a scalpel to remove the dead tissue around my wound.

Before he began, I told him, “No anesthesia.”

The dead tissue was spreading, and Bruno's hand trembled as he held the scalpel.

“Donna, the poison has already spread through your system. The fever is just the beginning.

“The antiserum works fastest, but it's not our only option. I'll prepare an experimental antidote and administer it every three days to gradually neutralize the toxin.”

Barely conscious, I asked, “How much time do I have left?”

“Twenty-four hours.”

Before leaving, Bruno gave me medicine for the fever and told his assistant, Luca Moretti, to stay with me. Then he rushed off to prepare the antidote.

My wound had been treated, and my fever had gone down.

I made up my mind and took off my wedding ring.

On our wedding day, Nick had slipped this ring onto my finger in front of his mother.

He'd said he never could have become Don without me and my family.

Inside the band were Nick's initials and our wedding date.

The sweeter the memory had once been, the more it hurt to look at the ring now.

I asked Luca to bring me a jewelry box, then placed the ring inside.

That night, after hearing my fever had broken, Nick came to see me. He smelled like Mia's perfume.

When he noticed the jewelry box on the nightstand, he froze. “Why did you take it off?”

I pushed the jewelry box toward him. My fingers were still trembling, but my voice was steady.

“Nick, I want a divorce.”