Chapter 1

"What's wrong, Sophia? Haven't you been waiting for Vincent all these years? Now that he's finally back, shouldn't you be planning the wedding? What happened?"

I wanted to tell my grandfather everything. But the moment I opened my mouth, the tears came. Uncontrollable.

He was right. Everyone in the city knew I was in love with Don Vincent White.

From eighteen to twenty-three. Five years.

Three years ago, he took an urgent S-class mission. Before he left, he promised me one thing.

"Wait for me. When I come back, we get married."

Those words. That was all I needed. So I waited.

Three years of waiting.

During that time, I heard every rumor imaginable. People said Vincent was dead. Said he'd run off. Said he was never coming back.

I ignored all of it. I just counted the days until he returned and made me his wife.

Now, everyone in the city knows there are two people they can't cross.

The first is me, Sophia Black. They say I'm ruthless in business. Invincible. That I have only one weakness.

That weakness is Vincent.

And the second person? Don Vincent White himself. The youngest, most ambitious, most dangerous Don in the city.

I understood my grandfather's confusion. Even I hadn't seen this coming. Vincent's three-year mission. All a lie.

I didn't say a word about what I'd heard. But my grandfather must have sensed something. He was quiet for a long moment, then spoke softly.

"If you've truly made up your mind, your grandfather will support you. Come home. I promise you, your future will not be filled with sorrow."

"I'll send a car for you the day after tomorrow. Take care of whatever you need to handle first."

The line went dead. I still held the phone to my ear, frozen.

The conversation I'd overheard kept playing in my head. Vincent and his underboss, Marco Blue.

"You're really going to marry Miss Black? What about Vivian and the boy? Luca is over two years old now. He's your own son. This won't stay hidden forever."

"Back when Vivian was pregnant, you made up every excuse to delay the wedding. But if Miss Black ever finds out—"

Vincent's sharp glare cut Marco off.

"Sophia must never know. My wife will only ever be Sophia. Tell Vivian to watch her mouth and keep that child in line."

Luca. Two years old. His child.

While I spent three years waiting for him to come back and marry me, he already had someone else. A child over two years old.

So what did that make me? The placeholder? The fool?

The thought drove a thousand needles into my heart. The pain spread through my body. I couldn't breathe.

My knees gave way. I collapsed onto the cold floor.