Chapter 2

Alessia

Father and Mother sat on one of the couches, wearing forlorn expressions on their faces. His arm was draped around her shoulders as she sobbed into a wad of tissue.

From an outsider’s perspective, this was just a normal grieving family.

From my perspective, however, this was all a performance.

Nonna’s death meant nothing to them. If anything, they were glad.

In silence, I moved to sit on the couch in the farthest corner of the room. Father’s phone began to ring, and he lifted it to his ear.

“What?”

There was a moment of silence before he rose abruptly, ended the call, and tossed the phone onto the couch.

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Mother sniffed, standing up.

“Bad news. Why now, of all times?” Father exclaimed, crossing his arms and tapping his foot in agitation. “It’s the lawyer. The call came from the hospital. He was in an accident on the way here, and he’s undergoing emergency surgery.”

“He doesn’t have a replacement to come read Nonna’s will?” Stefano, that weasel, asked carelessly.

Noemi snorted and stood up. “He’s the only one who has access to the damn will.”

Her black piercings and neon-pink wig contrasted sharply with the strong, toned body hidden beneath her black clothes. But of course, this was Noemi—the most volatile member of the Conti household. Her ugly temper, combined with her career as a professional fighter, only made things worse.

Father paced back and forth. “I don’t have time to waste waiting for some incompetent lawyer!”

It was baffling. A man’s life was at risk, yet this was all they could say about it.

“Now where is Giulia?” Mother suddenly demanded. “We were all supposed to be gathered here!”

She turned her accusing gaze on me. “Shouldn’t you know where she is?”

“I’m here!”

The sharp clack of heels announced Giulia’s arrival. “I’m right here, Mama. Papa.”

“Good,” Father snapped, extending his hand. “Where are the documents I told you to get?”

“Right here!” she replied brightly, shooting me a nauseating smirk as she reached into her handbag. “By the way, Mama, isn’t the lawyer supposed to be here by now? Why the delay?”

She handed Father the papers.

“He’s in the hospital,” Noemi replied. “How bloody inconvenient. How am I supposed to know if Nonna left me an extra trust fund?”

“I was already daydreaming about renting an entire strip club for a week-long party,” Stefano chuckled. “Just to celebrate my additional riches.”

“Too bad,” Giulia said, lifting a stiff brow. “I never liked that man anyway. Once he reads the will, we’ll fire him. If he doesn’t like it, he can go meet his employer in the grave.”

They laughed, but my heart only ached.

Father and Mother weren’t even listening anymore. They were already reviewing the documents intensely.

“Alessia?” Father suddenly called.

I stood and moved closer. “Yes, Papa?”

His eyes were cold and eager, as if he had been waiting for this moment for a long time.

“Here. Take these,” he said, handing me a folder. “Since the will can’t be read today, we’ll move straight to the next order of affairs.”

I took the papers slowly. “What are these—”

Family Annulment Document.

The words slammed into me so hard that I stumbled back.

“What is this?”

“Can’t you read?” Noemi snapped impatiently.

“We want you out of the family, Alessia,” Father said coldly. “You were never a Contu. It was your grandmother’s idea to adopt you when you were nothing but a pathetic three-year-old. We were instructed to treat you like family while she lived. Now she’s gone.”

Mother crossed her arms. “So you go as well.”

My mouth opened and closed.

The papers trembled in my hands as I searched their faces for help, for a hint that this was some cruel joke.

There was none.

“But… this is my family,” I whispered. “You’re all the family I have.”

“We’re not,” Mother said firmly. “I only have three children. You are not one of them. Sign it and leave.”

“This can’t be true,” I choked. “You can’t do this to me.”

I had lost my marriage.

Now I was losing my family.

They had never treated me the way Nonna did. They blamed me for everything and painted me as the bully even when I was always the victim. Still, they were the only family I had ever known.

“You’re nothing but some tramp Nonna picked up along the way!”

I dropped to my knees and clung to Father’s legs.

“Please!” I sobbed. “Please… this is all I know!”

He kicked me away. “Enough with the crocodile tears, girl! I don’t want to see you or your belongings downstairs by the time I come back!”

He turned and headed up the stairs.

My hands fell to the marble floor, still clutching the papers. I looked up at Mother through tear-filled eyes, but she only stared me down coldly before walking off after Father.

“How pathetic,” Giulia spat.

“If you don’t take your shitty, trashy belongings with you, I’ll have fun setting them on fire,” Noemi sneered.

“And by the way,” Giulia added, settling onto the couch and examining her nails, “you won’t be able to access your trust fund. Father made sure of it. Why should you get the same treatment we real Conti children get?”

My pain, devastation, and agony slowly simmered into rage.

They were cutting me off financially. How did they expect me to survive? I had no real source of income. The little money I earned came from writing weather forecast articles.

I could never get a proper meteorology job because Matteo Rinaldi’s family had forbidden me from working while married into Rinaldi Family. Now, I was helpless, penniless—and furious.

Oh, the rage.

It fueled me. It gave me the strength to rise from the floor and head toward my old bedroom.

In the hallway, I realized Stefano had followed me.

“What do you want?” I snapped shakily.

A hard slap landed on my backside, making me gasp. He squeezed the flesh crudely, leering into my face. His breath reeked of weed and expensive liquor.

“I could help you out of this pathetic situation, Alessia,” he sneered. “If you just give me what I want. That soft, round ass. The holes between them. Just once.”

Enraged, I swung my hand and slapped him across the face.

“You’re my f***ing brother!” I shouted. “We’re family—how dare you!”

He cursed loudly and clutched his face, clearly shocked. This wasn’t the first time he had harassed me—but it was the first time I had fought back.

“Did you just f***ing hit me?”

Before I could respond, my hair was yanked violently from behind. I was twisted around to face Noemi’s furious expression.

“Noemi—!”

Crack!

Her fist slammed into my cheek, sending me crashing into the wall. The breath was knocked from my lungs as searing pain exploded across my face.

“You dare hit my brother?” she screamed. “I’ll f*** you up!”

She charged at me again, but Stefano grabbed her.

“Not worth it,” he muttered. “You know it’s illegal to hit a non-fighter. If she reports this, your career could be over.”

“I dare her to try!” Noemi screamed as Stefano dragged her away from the hallway.

Clutching my rapidly swelling cheek, I stumbled into my bedroom and locked the door behind me.

Reaching under my bed, I pulled out a box and unlocked it, checking the contents.

Everything was still there.

The camera. The USB drives.

Footage of every abuse I had suffered at the hands of my so-called family. Stefano had tried to force himself on me many times, and several of those attempted assaults were recorded.

My “parents” had also been embezzling company funds even while Nonna was alive. It was terrifying to imagine what they would do now that she was gone.

I was enraged that they were throwing me out with nothing. They believed they would get away with everything they had done.

They were wrong.

One leak, and their entire lives would shatter.

It was a vow I made to myself.

It only took a few minutes to pack everything important into boxes and load them into my old Wrangler—the precious white Jeep Nonna had gifted me on my eighteenth birthday four years ago.

After locking the trunk, I slid into the driver’s seat and sped out of the garage without looking back.

A few minutes onto the highway, I decided to take the next turn leading to Matteo Rinaldi’s house so I could pick up the rest of my belongings.

I eased my foot off the accelerator and pressed the brakes.

The car didn’t slow down.

My heart dropped.

I pressed harder, panic flooding my veins. A truck was approaching fast, and I needed to turn immediately.

The brakes were unresponsive.

The truck blared its horn, terrifyingly close. I panicked and swerved, careening off the road and straight into a tree.

There was a loud crash.

Metal screamed. Glass shattered.

All I could hear was ringing.

My hands shook as they instinctively cradled my belly.

Then—

Nothing.