All Chapters of Left To Die, Finally Free: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

At the Costa family's annual capo banquet, Marco Costa declared the family would extend protection to one woman only: Rosa Frost, his childhood sweetheart, newly divorced and newly returned to the family fold.One by one, the other women slipped away into the night with their money, their dignity, and fresh protectors already lined up.I, Viola Rossi, once his Donna, was severed from the Costa family entirely, with nowhere left to go.Twenty-one years prior, The System ripped me into this life with a brutal mandate: make one of four made men fall irrevocably in love with me, and I'd earn my way back to my real life with a healthy body.I failed. Every single one of them chose Rosa.The system's final mercy: die here, go home. I stood in a rotting Brooklyn dock warehouse, gun in hand, and closed my eyes. Right as darkness closed in, a raw, raging scream of my name tore through the silence, like the man shouting would burn the whole world apart to reach me....The Brooklyn dock wareh

Chapter 2

The East River hit like a block of solid ice, searing straight through my clothes to the bone. I didn't fight it. I let the current drag me down, my mind fixed on one thing: home. Would Mom bake her chocolate cake now?Then a hand locked around my wrist, yanking me back up to the surface. I hacked up river water, as a voice roared in my ear."Viola Rossi! Are you out of your fucking mind?!"I blinked the water from my eyes. Draven was on the shore beside me, face white as a sheet, coughing hard. But his eyes never left mine, sharp and furious."Rosa's suffered enough because of you," he snarled. "You think dying lets you weasel out of what you did?"I stared at him, quiet. "You've spent four years breaking me down. Isn't my death exactly what you wanted?"He froze. For a second. His eyes went red, his jaw tight."Rosa just got back," he rasped, voice breaking. "You owe her an apology. At the very least."Looking at the wet, red-rimmed anger in his eyes, a dull ache twisted i

Chapter 3

Datura was deadly poison, but Rosa loved it, so Vincent let it bloom into a whole damn sea across the Rossi estate grounds. Once, I'd begged him to tear it out, scared some maid or kid would take a bite by accident. Rosa had cried until she passed out over it. "Viola hates me this much, Vincent? She won't even let you grow me flowers?" He'd sneered at me. "Everyone knows it's poison. Who the hell's gonna eat it? Stop being this dramatic!"I never thought it'd be the key to my way out.The second the petal hit my tongue, my body screamed to gag it up. I forced it down. This time, I was finally going home.Vincent dropped the gift box and lunged, slamming his palm against my back, rough fingers prying my mouth open to dig it out. "Spit it out!" he roared, face purple with rage and panic. "Are you really that fucking suicidal?!"He and Draven both grabbed at my throat, screaming at me to cough it up."So Marco dumped you, and this is how you react?!" Vincent's eyes were red, voi

Chapter 4

White-hot agony lanced through my collarbone, the silver letter opener buried inches deep. Black spots swarmed my vision, my breath coming in ragged, broken gasps.Marco's hand froze on the handle, his red-hot rage snapping into stunned disbelief. He didn't even pull the blade out, just stared at the spreading bloodstain on my chest, unblinking.My strength gave out, and I crumpled into the pool of my own blood.It didn't matter. I was almost home.The room erupted into chaos.Marco dropped to his knees, shoving his palm against the wound to stem the bleeding, and roared at the button men by the door: "Get our family physician! Now! Move your fucking asses!"Vincent and Draven sprinted over. Vincent ripped off his custom Brioni jacket, crushing it against the wound, his face paper-white. He spat "You're out of your fucking mind" on a loop, but his hand shook so bad he could barely hold pressure.Draven crouched beside me, his fingertips brushing my ice-cold cheek, his eyes wild w

Chapter 5

The room fell dead silent. Rosa's tears spilled over right on cue, her lower lip trembling. "I… I never, Viola. How can you smear me like this?"Marco pulled her into his chest in an instant, his voice soft as silk. "Easy. We all know exactly who you are. None of this is your fault."Vincent and Draven crowded in right behind him, falling over themselves to coo reassurance at her. By the time they were done, Rosa was smiling again, bright and sweet, and when her gaze slid over to me, there was unmasked triumph in her eyes.I huffed out a bitter, breathless laugh, the movement sending a stab of pain through my ribs. "See that? A thousand words from me don't mean shit next to our leading lady's crocodile tears. What's the point in talking? None of you ever believed me anyway."Then Luca spoke, his voice low, but steady enough to cut through the hush. "I believe you, Viola. Come with me. Back to Chicago. No one's ever gonna hurt you again."The whole room froze.I just stared at him

Chapter 6

I drifted in the dark for what felt like an eternity.In my dream, my mom and dad stood at the foot of my hospital bed, their eyes red and swollen. "Viola, don't be scared. We'll do whatever it takes to make you better."That's why I'd said yes to The System, the second it found me. It froze time in my real world, the night I left. I'd done it. I'd finished the mission, hadn't I? So why was the house empty? Why couldn't I find them?"DAD! MOM!" I screamed, and my eyes flew open.The first face I saw was Vincent's. My chest seized, sharp and painful.He hesitated, then spoke, his voice low and rough. "You were dreaming about mom and dad again, huh? You remember what they told us? To stick together, to live. You keep trying to kill yourself, how are they ever gonna rest? Be good, Vi. Listen to me."White-hot rage exploded in my chest, burning through the sedative fog in my veins.I shrieked, my throat raw. "This is just a fucked up mission world! I want out! I want to go back to

Chapter 7

They dumped me like a dead waterfront catch on the concrete at Rosa's feet, my body limp from the daily downers she pumped into me.She stared down, unmasked triumph oozing from every word. "Look at you. This is what side characters get for chasing my leading men. Don't act shocked. I'm a player too, The System's handpicked leading lady. A nobody like you never stood a chance."It all clicked. In that second, I prayed she'd put a bullet in my skull right there. I was tired. Tired of this godforsaken mission. I just wanted to go home.She laughed, reading my mind like a book. "Wanna die? Too bad. System rules are clear: every year you stay alive post-failure, your real body stays comatose. And I get every scrap of your 21 years of mission progress to lock in my win."She leaned in, hissing in my ear, venom sharp as a switchblade. "Don't blame me. These four made men won't fall irrevocably in love with me. Not with you around. Swallow your data, and I'm home free."The days blurre

Chapter 8

Rosa forced a bright, honey-sweet smile onto her face, not a single crack in her perfect innocent mask. "Draven, you must have seen wrong." Her voice was soft, syrupy, the same tone she'd used for four years to wrap every made man in this room around her finger. "All the orderlies here are tall, broad women, handpicked for the job. It's easy to mistake them for men from a distance."Draven's jaw tightened, suspicion darkening his eyes, but when it came to Rosa, they'd always bent over backward to believe her. Every lie, every fake tear, every frame job.Rosa smiled again, sweet and unassuming. "I'll walk Viola back to her room myself, make sure she's settled. You all wait out here just a moment, won't you?"The second the heavy oak door slammed shut behind us, Rosa dismissed the two orderlies with a sharp flick of her wrist. She rounded on me, her sweet facade shattering to pieces, and grabbed my jaw in a bruising grip, her face twisted with vicious rage."Trying to call for help

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