Chapter 1

My head was spinning. They pushed me into a storage room in the hospital basement. A makeshift cell.

"Put her here."

I knew that voice.

Elena Falcone. My husband's sister.

She moved closer. A cold blade touched my cheek. That's when I saw the scalpel in her hand.

"Don't blame Vittorio, Alessia," she said, looking down at me. "The baby in Ornella's belly is my dead brother Marco's only child. He's the only one who deserves to be the heir."

"I never... I never wanted to compete with her..." I whispered.

She clamped her hand over my mouth before I could finish.

"Your pathetic acting makes me sick! Did you forget pushing Ornella down the stairs last month? A pregnant widow who just lost her husband?"

My eyes shot open. "I didn't..."

"She almost lost the baby!" Elena’s voice was a shriek. "If the maid hadn't found her, Marco's only bloodline would have ended because of a snake like you!"

A tearing pain ripped through my belly. I couldn't breathe.

Elena sneered. She dragged the flat of the blade across my cheek. The metal was ice against my skin.

"Family rules are absolute. First to deliver the heir, wins. So you and your little bastard? You just lost."

I clutched my belly. A new wave of contractions was fighting the drug.

The pain was so bad, my vision was going dark.

"Get a doctor. I'm having the baby, for real..."

"Having the baby?" Elena laughed like it was the funniest joke she'd ever heard. "Stop the act. Ornella already explained your whole game to my brother. She said you'd pull a stunt like this today."

Elena turned and nodded to two big guards outside.

"Watch her. If she screams, tape her mouth shut."

The door slammed shut.

A single, dim emergency light lit the basement.

I lay on the floor. The blood had already soaked through my dress.

Vittorio took my phone when we got to the hospital. He said he wanted me to focus on the delivery, that he'd keep it safe for me.

Now I knew why. He was afraid I'd call for help.

I curled into a ball, trying to breathe through the pain. All I could see was Vittorio’s face when he ordered them to lock me up. The disgust in his eyes.

Like I was the enemy, not his wife, not the woman about to give him a child.

He believed every lie Ornella told. Every crime she pinned on me.

Elena, too.

I remembered seven months ago. His brother, the original Don Marco, was killed in a hit by a rival family.

At the funeral, while everyone was lost in grief, Ornella threw up in front of everyone.

She was pregnant.

That child became the family's last hope.

I tried to comfort the old, grieving Don. "Don't worry," I told him. "My and Vittorio's child will grow up to be a pride of the family, too. They'll be here for you."

The old man just looked at me. He said nothing.

I get it now. From that moment on, my child was already written off.

Time dragged on.

The drugs started wearing off. The contractions came back.

Each one was worse than the last, like someone was twisting my insides with a pair of pliers.

I could feel the baby was about to come out.

I dug my nails into my palm to stay awake, then crawled to the door, leaving a trail of blood, and started pounding on it.

"Please!" I yelled. "I need a doctor!"

Nothing.

"Please!" I slammed the door with all my strength. "My baby is coming..."

My voice was raw when a guard finally answered, bored.

"Save your breath. Ornella's about to pop. You can see a doctor after she's done."

"But the baby will die..."

"Then that's what you deserve. An eye for an eye."

I collapsed, my body freezing cold.

So that's what this was. In their eyes, my baby's death was payment for my sins.

Just when I was about to give up, I heard Elena's voice in the hall. She was on the phone, not far from the door. She wanted me to hear.

"Vittorio, how are things on your end?" Elena’s voice was bright.

Vittorio’s voice came through, tired but steady. "Ornella's contractions just started. The doctor says everything's fine. What about your end? Is she behaving?"

"Behaving? She's screaming the place down. Putting on a real show."

Elena scoffed. "You're getting soft, Vittorio. A woman like this? You can't show mercy. Or did you forget her stealing the oxytocin? Trying to force her labor early? If Ornella hadn't caught her, we'd be burying Marco's heir."

Oxytocin? I didn't steal anything!

How could Vittorio think that?

Vittorio was silent for a second. Then his voice turned to ice. "I haven't forgotten. And I haven't forgotten the doctor telling me how close Ornella came to losing the baby after that fall. Marco's only child... I won't let anything happen to it."

"Exactly," Elena said. "So don't you worry. I'm watching her. She can't pull any tricks. Is the dose the doctor gave her strong enough? She won't actually pop early, will she?"

"Don't worry," Vittorio's voice was final. "The doctor swore it only delays labor. He said it won't harm her or the child. A little pain will teach her a lesson. A lesson about trying to pull a fast one. After Ornella delivers the true heir, she can have her baby."

"Good. You focus on Ornella. I've got this."

The call ended.

The world went dead silent again.