Lahat ng Kabanata ng Triplet Heirs; The Romano daughters : Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 10

~ELENA~The hospital room smells like antiseptic when I wake again.For a terrifying second, my arms feel empty. Then I hear it.Three tiny breaths. Soft. Uneven. Alive.I turn my head slowly and see them….three bassinets lined up beside my bed, each holding a piece of my heart.They look unreal. Identical little faces, pink and wrinkled, eyes still learning how to exist in the world.A laugh slips out of my throat, half-sob, half-disbelief. “I really did that,” I whisper.“You really did,” Nico murmurs.He’s sitting beside me, eyes red, hair a mess, looking like he hasn’t slept since the beginning of time. Vincenzo stands near the window, arms crossed, pretending to be calm and failing badly. Riccardo is hovering over the bassinets like a bodyguard, checking each baby’s chest rise and fall every few seconds.He's looking at the babies with so much care, love and attention that you can barely believe he's the same person that killed his father and Alessandro.

~ELENA~I know something is wrong the moment they come back into my room after taking Fiorella and Marcella to the nursery.Not because they say anything.But because the house feels… heavier.Vincenzo closes the door behind them carefully, like the walls might be listening. Nico doesn’t joke. Riccardo doesn’t come straight to Camilla like he's supposed to.They just stand there.Three powerful men who usually fill every room they enter ….suddenly quiet, tense, coiled.My stomach tightens.“What happened?” I ask.Vincenzo looks at me like he’s deciding whether to lie.He doesn’t.“The Mafia council called us. They are calling for a meeting.”“They called too fast,” Nico says.“They were patient longer than I expected,” Vincenzo replies. “Which means they’ve decided something.”The word Council lands like a gunshot in my chest.I straighten slowly, Camilla still sleeping against me. My body is sore, my arms weak, but fear gives me strength I didn’t know I had.

~ELENA~“Get the babies now!”Something in my tone snaps them into motion. Valentina reaches for one baby. Gianna scoops up another. I clutch the third to my chest, heart racing.Vincenzo appears instantly. “What is it?”“I don’t know,” I whisper. “But something’s wrong.”He studies my face for a long moment, then nods sharply.“Lockdown,” he orders into his phone.The house seals quietly—no alarms, no chaos. Just subtle shifts. Doors lock. Guards reposition.Five minutes later, a voice crackles over comms.“Movement detected near the west perimeter. Long-range surveillance.”I sag slightly, my instincts screaming I knew it.They weren’t inside.They were watching.Testing. Waiting.That night, I sit in the nursery long after everyone else sleeps, rocking my daughters one by one. The moonlight paints silver lines across the walls.I press my lips to a tiny forehead and whisper the truth I can no longer deny.“They’re coming.”*****The attack doesn’t come loudly.I

~TWENTY TWO YEARS LATER~ ~MARCELLA~I weave my way onto the dance floor with Stephanie, my best friend, finding the beat as I sway my hips and lose myself in the groove, erupting loud cheering noises from the hungry crowd whose hungry eyes are ravaging all over my body.I'm putting on a very short wine dress that exposes all my cleavages and legs.I dance, I jump, I spin, I rock my best friend, I shake my ass and make seductive moves. I love the heat of the eyes on me as I am twerking my bouncy butt. I have been frequenting the club almost every day that I send the right signals as I dance and soon, grooving men get closer and start spraying some cash on me.“Marcella,” my best friend shouts over the music, grabbing my wrist to stop me from spinning into another group of dancers. “Why do you have so much energy? Did you drink something or smoke before coming out?”I grin at her, breathless. “I spent most of my childhood being locked up. Now, I'm finally free.

~MARCELLA~The footsteps stop behind me.Too close.I don’t turn immediately. I know that trick. I let men announce themselves, let them fill the silence with ego before I decide what they’re worth.But this silence feels… wrong.“Hey,” the second guy says, voice low, familiar. Too familiar. “You just walked off.”I exhale slowly. “I said I needed air.”He laughs, stepping closer. I feel the heat of him now, smell sweat and liquor. “Yeah. I figured you’d come back in a minute. You didn’t seem done.”I turn then, leaning my shoulder back against the wall, arms folded loosely. Calm. Measured.“I’m done,” I say. “Go enjoy the club.”He doesn’t move.Instead, his hand comes out, resting against the wall beside my head, blocking me in. Casual. Like he’s done this before.“Relax,” he says. “You were all over me in there.”My pulse shifts. Not fear. Not yet. Awareness.“That was dancing,” I reply coolly. “This is you standing too close.”His smile tightens. “Don’t act