Chapter 1

The Caruso family's secret council chamber was brightly lit, its tiered gallery packed to the rafters with thousands of family members.

I was trapped in the judgment chair at the center of the room. Someone held my shoulders down while cold metal restraints locked around my wrists and ankles.

When I tried to struggle, a faint cramp pulled in my abdomen.

"Let me go…"

Pale-faced, I lifted my head and looked at the man standing on the platform.

"Damiano, please. I'm begging you. Don't do this."

Damiano Caruso stood under the glaring spotlights in a tailored black suit, his expression stark and unreadable.

Those eyes that had once looked at me with tenderness were now filled with iciness and doubt.

Around me, a team of researchers was busy calibrating the equipment. A silver helmet began to hum, casting an eerie blue glow onto the platform.

The silence in the gallery was deafening.

I knew that once they started the machine, every secret tucked away in my mind would be ripped out and put on display for the entire room.

"Damiano, I can't go through a memory extraction," I said, my voice shaking as I looked to my husband for help. "Please, just stop this."

Before he could answer, his mother, Teresa Bellandi, slammed her hand onto the table and shot to her feet.

"Oh, so now you're terrified? Where was that fear when Caterina went missing?"

Her eyes were red, and her voice shook with rage.

"For an entire year, we haven't known if my daughter is dead or alive! You were the last person seen with her on the surveillance footage. Everyone has begged you for answers, but you refused to say a single word.

"Bianca Moretti, where on earth are you hiding my daughter?"

Wrought with emotion, she lunged forward, grabbing me fiercely by the collar. "Do you have any idea what this year has been like for me? I wake up every single night, dreaming that Caterina is out there suffering. If you hadn't intentionally buried the leads, we would've tracked her down months ago!"

Tears rolled down my cheeks as I struggled for air due to her grip. "That's not true. I didn't hurt her…"

"Then, why won't you talk?" Emilio Caruso, who had spent the larger part of his life ruling the underworld, finally spoke, his face dark as fury blazed in his eyes.

"Bianca, this family has treated you with nothing but respect. Ever since you married in, Damiano has spoiled you, and everyone in this room knows it. And how do you repay us?

"Ever since Caterina disappeared, you'd rather let the entire family brand you a suspect than give up a single detail. If you won't talk, then we'll just take the answers ourselves."

As soon as he finished, the head of the research team stepped forward with a polite nod. "The extraction unit has been fully calibrated."

"No…" I put up a desperate struggle, the heavy iron chains rattling violently against the frame. "Don't turn it on! Damiano, please… I can't go through with this!"

The dull ache in my stomach was intensifying by the second. I forced myself to speak, my voice shaking. "I'm pregnant…"

The entire chamber went dead silent.

With bloodshot eyes, I looked desperately at Damiano. "The doctor told me I can't handle any physical shock right now. This machine will harm the baby. Damiano, this is our baby…"

At those words, murmurs rippled through the chamber.

However, Damiano merely let out a harsh, bitter chuckle. He approached me, his steps measured. Bending down, he caught my chin in a firm grip.

"Bianca, do you honestly think I'd believe a word you say? The medical team ran a full panel on you just last week. The charts showed you were in perfect health. You're so desperate to bury the truth that you're actually faking a pregnancy?"

My eyes widened in sheer terror.

I had only found out myself this morning from a pregnancy test kit. I had no idea that last week's routine checkup had actually been a setup to clear me for today's extraction.

"I'm not lying to you." I looked up at him, my heart breaking. "Damiano, I'm really pregnant."

For a split second, something in his eyes seemed to waver.

But before it could take root, Teresa clamped a hand onto his arm. "Damiano, have you forgotten? She's spent the last year spinning whatever lies it takes to cover her tracks!"

The flicker of hesitation in Damiano's eyes vanished instantly.

"Bianca, one way or another, I'm finding Caterina today. Since you refuse to tell me, I'll get the truth by force."