All Chapters of The Don’s "Discarded Daughter" Plays To Win: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

It’s been eight years since Scarlett came to live with us.She was ten. Her family was wiped out in a turf war. She was the only one left. For complicated reasons, my mother, Isadora, took her in. Sent her to my school.Mom wanted her to study business at Columbia with me.But Scarlett whined it was boring. Said all she needed was Parsons.And now, she didn’t even get into Parsons.So, of course, she’s crying.“Dad... Mom... Am I a complete failure?”Tears stream down her perfectly made-up face. Good thing she used waterproof mascara, or it’d be a real mess.“Scarlett, sweetheart, no. Bellini women don’t need a school to prove their worth. If they won't let you in, we'll just buy the damn school.” My mother, Isadora, pulls her into a hug.Scarlett sobs into her shoulder, but I see the tiny smirk. “I know. Art is my real calling. With a face like this, it would be a crime not to be a star!”I almost laugh out loud. Who told her a face is all it takes?My mother doesn’t even blink at the

Chapter 2

The doorbell rings.Scarlett shoves our mother aside and runs to the door. When she sees who it is, her voice drips with honey.“Nico! You’re finally here! I’ve been waiting forever.”“Big day for both of you. I had to come congratulate you.”At that, Scarlett’s lip quivers. She grabs Nico’s arm, ready to pour her heart out.“Nico, I really messed up. Parsons rejected me.”“You know my brain isn’t made for all that complicated stuff. The portfolio was so hard, so I…”She looks up at him, her eyes big and wet. “You don’t think less of me, do you?”Nico gives her a soft smile and kisses her forehead. “Of course not. My darling Scarlett is always the best.”She beams, shooting me triumphant little glances over his shoulder.“So, Nico, what did you get me?”“A necklace. Cartier. Haute joaillerie. One of a kind.” Nico pulls a velvet box from his pocket.“Wow, it’s beautiful! Thank you, Nico!”The Volkovs run New York’s diamond smuggling. As the heir, this is nothing for Nico.We’ve known ea

Chapter 3

An engagement set in stone since I was ten. To say I felt nothing would be a lie.But I forgot. The year I turned ten was also the year Scarlett came into our lives.I’ve been engaged to Nico for eight years. Scarlett has been wrapped around him for eight years.It’s not jealousy. Not really.It’s just… when someone touches what’s yours… It feels tainted. Dirty.I lose track of time, scrolling through the files for the “Zero-Sum Gauntlet.”Scarlett swans in, like a peacock in full display.“Aurora, you can still focus on that? Nico just promised to take me to Europe with him. Mom and Dad said yes!”I don’t even give her a look.She huffs, annoyed that I’m not green with envy. Her voice turns sharp.“Aurora Bellini, who the hell do you think you are? How dare you ignore me? So what if you’re their real daughter? They love me more! I’m sweeter, I know how to please them. I’m the real Miss Bellini!”I look up slowly. A ghost of a smile on my lips.“You done? Then get out. You’re wasting m

Chapter 4

I came to the Hamptons for some peace and quiet. I didn't expect to find her here.Not just her. A whole crew of rich kids she runs with.It’s like they were waiting for me.Scarlett is the center of attention, draped in the latest haute couture. The second she sees me, she jumps up and links her arm in mine.“Aurora, what are you doing here? Did you hear Nico was coming to see me and follow him?”I haven’t even asked what she’s doing here, and she’s already framing me.I shake her off, disgusted. “Get your hands off me. You’re filthy.”She pouts. “Aurora, how can you say that? I was just trying to be nice.”The crowd around her starts murmuring.“Miss Aurora, she may be adopted, but she’s still your sister. You can’t talk to her like that.”“Who knows who the real stray is? With that attitude, she’s nothing like Mrs. Isadora.”“Exactly. Scarlett is so sweet and lovely. I think she’s the real Bellini princess.”“Scarlett, just ignore her. She’s just jealous. The better you do, the angr

Chapter 5

My father Rocco’s voice is ice.Scarlett scrambles to answer, her face a mask of fake concern.“Dad, she wasn’t careful… the stairs are slippery, and her heels…”SMACK.A backhand from my mother, Isadora. It sends Scarlett flying. She slams into a marble pillar.The room goes dead silent.The same people who were just defending Scarlett are now afraid to breathe.Nico is the first to react. He runs to Scarlett, shielding her with his body. He roars at my parents.“Are you crazy?! Aurora was the one who hurt her! Why did you hit her?!”I’m sitting on the floor, sticky and aching, but I can’t help but laugh.Unbelievable. Even now, he’s still lying for her.“Shut up, Volkov.” My father doesn’t even look at him. He just snaps his fingers. “Throw him out.”Two guards grab Nico. He struggles and screams, but they drag him out like a sack of garbage.My father stands. His suit jacket falls open, revealing the gun at his waist.He doesn’t say another word.He just snaps his fingers again.Cli

Chapter 6

Two days later, my head is still spinning from the concussion when the front door is kicked open.“Aurora Bellini! Get out here!”Nico’s roar echoes through the house, followed by the heavy footsteps of Volkov family guards.I walk slowly down the stairs, the silk of my robe whispering against the marble.“Let her go, or the marriage is off. The Volkov family won’t recognize it,” Nico snarls, pointing a finger at my face. “I haven’t eaten or slept. I’ve been calling in every favor to get her out! She’s been in that cell for two days! She’s your sister!”I stare at his face. So familiar, yet so strange. I suddenly find him ridiculous.Eight years of engagement, for this.I pull the ring off my finger. Eight years. And I throw it right in his face.The diamond cuts his cheek. A line of blood appears.“Ah!” He clutches his face, staring at me in disbelief.“The deal is off,” I say calmly. “You're nothing to me now.”“You… Are you insane?! This is an alliance between two families—”“Shut u

Chapter 7

Three days. No word. Then Nico sends a message.I’m sprawled on a leather sofa in Lorenzo’s penthouse suite, listening to my assistant’s report.“Nico Volkov mortgaged three of his family’s casinos. Took out a high-interest loan from the Russians. Miss Scarlett also maxed out his black card yesterday on a closet full of designer bags.”My eyebrow raises.“He mortgaged casinos? Is he insane?”“He says… he’s going to win it all back in the game.” My assistant hesitates. “He bought a ticket to the ‘Zero-Sum Gauntlet.’”I laugh.How pathetic.A reject on the verge of being disowned, and he thinks he can challenge me on Wall Street?On the big screen, a new player’s funds are wired in.Nico Volkov.Eighty million dollars.I raise my glass with a smirk.“He’s adorably stupid.”Footsteps behind me. Lorenzo walks over with two glasses of whiskey. He sits, his large hand wrapping around my waist, his thumb stroking slow circles through the thin silk of my dress. It sends a shiver down my spine.

Chapter 8

“Three, two, one… market open!”The opening bell of the NASDAQ rings out. A tsunami of red and green numbers floods the screens.I’m in the VIP box with Lorenzo, looking down on the chaos below.Looking down at him.Nico. His suit is wrinkled, his eyes are bloodshot. He’s staring at his terminal like a man possessed.He took the money from the three casinos, leveraged it ten-to-one, and dumped it all into the pharmaceutical stock from my “secret” file.Every last penny.For the first five minutes, the stock price skyrockets. The green arrow shoots for the moon.Nico leaps out of his chair, grabbing Scarlett in a delirious hug, laughing like a madman.“I won! I won! Scarlett, we’re going to be rich!”Scarlett screams and hugs him back, her manicured fingers digging into his back.“Nico, I knew you were the best! Look at that number! When we get our money, I’m going to buy the Bellini estate and make that bitch Aurora beg on her knees!”They’re clinging to each other like two rabid dogs

Chapter 9

The gun barrel pushes past Nico’s teeth, pressing against the roof of his mouth.The Russian leader twists it slowly, like a toy.“Five hundred million,” he says in a thick accent. “We take it in cash, or we take it in flesh. Starting with your fingers.”Nico is shaking so hard his teeth rattle against the steel. A choked whimper escapes his throat.Sweat drips from his chin onto the carpet.I see it clearly. In that one second, all his pride, all his so-called love, shatters into dust.“Don’t… don’t kill me…” he finally chokes out.The gun barrel pulls back half an inch.Nico lunges for it like a drowning man. He grabs Scarlett’s hair and smashes her face against the corner of the trading desk.A sickening thud.Scarlett screams, blood pouring from her nose.“It was her!” Nico shrieks, pointing at the bloody mess that is Scarlett’s face. “That bitch stole the intel and tricked me! It had nothing to do with me! Take her! Settle the debt with her! Don’t kill me! Her face is still worth

Chapter 10

The ruby on the ring glints like blood in the light.My father, Don Rocco, holds it in his hand. He stands before me, his eyes more serious than I have ever seen them.It’s been a week since the “Zero-Sum Gauntlet” ended.I walked away with three billion dollars, absorbed the assets of three rival gangs, and broke the bank.The same old men who once whispered that I was “just a decoy” now lower their voices when they say my name.Today, the grand hall of the Bellini estate is filled with every major player in the New York underworld.“Today,” my father’s voice booms through the speakers, “I pass everything the Bellini family owns to my own flesh and blood. My greatest pride.”My mother stands beside him, her eyes shining with pride and fierce protectiveness.He takes my right hand. He slides the Don’s ring, the symbol of absolute power, onto my forefinger. Inch by inch.The cold metal feels like a brand against my skin.“From this day forward, Aurora is the sole head of the Bellini fa

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