Everyone in New York knows Victor Roccanti is a bloodthirsty killer who never touches women. Julian was terrified his adopted sister Mia would suffer if she married him. so he forced me to impersonate her. “Just act like a slut. He’ll be disgusted enough to call off the engagement. Then I’ll come get you.” One reckless night. I walked out of the Roccanti estate barely able to stand. Julian rushed over to check my body. My collarbone and chest were covered in hickeys.He lost it, screaming: “I told you to act! Who said you could actually fuck him?” “You that desperate for dick? Even the goddamn Grim Reaper?” I calmly fixed my collar. “You’re wrong, Julian.” “Victor… he was gentle.” … Julian stared at the hickey on my neck. His hand shot out and grabbed my throat, squeezing like he wanted to crush my windpipe. “Gentle? That monster’s buried three fiancées and he wrecked you like this—you call that gentle?” “I sent you there to ruin the alliance, not to actually spread your legs for him!” “You’re mine. How dare you let him touch you?” My head tilted back from his grip, face turning red. But I didn’t fight back. I just looked down, watching his rage. “Julian… you promised me money…” Julian let go like I’d burned him. My legs gave out and I stumbled into the shelf behind me. He pulled out a handkerchief. Wiped his fingers clean, then threw it in the trash can nearby. Flames swallowed it instantly. Three years ago, my father’s embezzlement was exposed. He took a bullet for me and swore to protect me for life. Now he has personally pushed me into another man’s bed. He is even stingy with my brother’s medical bills to keep him alive. He stared at me, eyes full of pain: “If Mia weren’t terrified of Victor’s violent temper and refusing to marry him, I would never have sent you…” Seeing my numb expression, the guilt in his eyes instantly turned to anger. He pulled out his wallet, yanked out dozens of crumpled hundred-dollar bills, and threw them viciously in my face. He ripped the cash from his pocket and threw it at me. Hundred-dollar bills mixed with checks scattered on the floor, rolling into the dusty corners. “Take your money and go clean yourself up. ” “Victor’s paranoid as hell. ” “If he finds out you impersonated Mia, you and that half-dead brother of yours will be at the bottom of the Hudson feeding the fish!”” He turned to leave. I held onto the cabinet and slowly crouched down, fingers searching the cold floor. One. Two. I picked up each scattered bill. Blew off the dust and carefully tucked them away. Julian stopped at the door and looked back at me. The contempt in his eyes deepened. “Born cheap. Even when it’s money from selling yourself, you think it smells sweet.” It does smell sweet. This money keeps my brother Leo alive. I just looked at him calmly. “Julian. Where’s the Plan B?” Julian stopped, turned back to look at me. Something complicated and painful flashed in his eyes. Like he remembered the socialite who once dazzled New York. Then my humiliation seemed to hurt him, turning into deeper disgust. “What? Scared you’ll get pregnant with Victor’s kid? ” “Relax. The private doctor said after your miscarriage hemorrhage, your uterus is ruined. ” “You can never get pregnant.” “Stop worrying about things that won’t happen!” The door slammed shut. Cold air rushed in. I gripped the money tightly. This money, plus what I’d saved before, was just enough for Leo’s medication for one month. I walked to the table. Poured a cup of cold water and swallowed the cheap painkillers from my pocket. Bitterness spread in my throat. I didn’t care what Julian thought of me. As long as Leo could live, even if it meant being Victor’s mistress forever, I’d do it.
Next morning before dawn, the maid dragged me out of bed. “Miss Vance, Boss says you need to dress up. There’s a gala tonight at the Plaza, you’re going as Miss Mia.” The maid’s grip was rough, hurting my arm. I forced myself up despite the soreness. Let them paint makeup on my face. Mia was Julian’s adopted sister, his precious darling. She was too delicate for these exhausting galas. Julian always made me go as her stand-in. We looked similar enough anyway. Just wear a veil, stay quiet, and nobody would notice. In the car, Julian kept his eyes closed. Didn’t even glance at me. Only when we reached the hotel ballroom did he finally speak. “Victor will be there tonight. Behave yourself.” “If he sees through this, you can start planning your father’s funeral.” My father. He’d been dead in prison for two weeks. Julian knew, but still used him to threaten me. I couldn’t expose the truth. Leo still needed money for treatment. I lowered my head. “Yes.” At the gala, champagne flowed. I sat beside Julian, eyes down, peeling grapes on my plate. A burning gaze stayed fixed on me. I didn’t need to look up to know who it was. Victor sat at the head table in a black suit, dark hair slicked back. The Don of New York’s largest crime family. The man every mobster in this room answered to. Even radiating violence, his face was devastatingly handsome. He played with his wine glass. But his eyes never stopped roaming over me. He raised his glass toward Julian, but his gaze licked across my collarbone as he smiled. “You’re a lucky man. Your sister may be fragile, but that body…” “I’d recognize it anywhere. Unforgettable.” Julian’s face went pale, but he could only force a smile and drain his glass. Under the table, he dug his fingers into my thigh. The pain made my hand shake. The grape I’d peeled rolled onto the floor. “Useless piece of shit.” Julian cursed under his breath. After three rounds of drinks, Victor stood to leave. As he passed our table, he paused. A lighter slipped from his pocket, landing right at my feet. Heavy platinum Zippo. Everyone around was talking, nobody noticed. I bent down instinctively to pick it up. The metal was warm, silky smooth against my fingers. Long and thick, with just enough heft. Victor didn’t walk away. Instead, he used one finger to tilt my chin up, forcing me to meet his eyes. Right in front of Julian. His thumb brushed over my bottom lip, slow and deliberate. “Such skilled hands.” His voice dropped to a rasp. “You know exactly how to handle things.” He leaned closer, breath hot against my ear. “Keep it. Take it home and… practice with it.” “Get yourself familiar with the shape. The weight. How it feels.” His eyes gleamed with dark amusement. “I want you well-trained.” Julian’s wine glass shattered in his grip, liquid spilling everywhere. I didn’t dare look up, just pressed my lips together. This lighter is worth a fortune, enough to cover three years of Leo’s treatments. In the car going back, I carefully hid the lighter in my sleeve. “Hand it over.” Julian’s voice suddenly cut through. I froze, didn’t dare disobey, and gave him the lighter. Julian held the lighter. Examined it by the car’s interior light, then let out a cold laugh. “Custom Zippo? Victor’s feeling generous.” He glanced at me dismissively. “Think this is some kind of love token? It’s just how he plays with women.” “Something like this, only someone as cheap and desperate as you would treasure it.” He casually flicked his wrist. The lighter arced through the air, out the window, falling into a gutter on the side of the road. “No… that was…” I cried out, trying to stop him, but Julian pulled me into his arms. “Shut up! It’s just a piece of junk, contaminating my car.” I didn’t care about dignity, threw myself at the window staring at that puddle of filth. Cold spread through me from my feet upward. That wasn’t just a lighter. That was Leo’s medicine. Leo’s last breath, the lifeline he was desperately clinging to at death’s door! Julian watched my agony and seemed pleased. “Remember this. You’re just a substitute.” “Victor wants Mia Moretti, not you, Clara Vance.”
We got back to the estate late at night. Before I even walked in, I heard suppressed coughing from inside. It was Leo. My heart tightened and I rushed through the door. Only one dim lamp lit the room. Leo was skeletal, curled up on the bed, his cheeks burning red. “Sis… I feel awful…” He called out in a daze. I touched his forehead. Burning hot. The medicine we bought before was gone. The doctor said if we didn’t get the serum in time, he wouldn’t make it through winter. I searched my entire body. Aside from the cash Julian threw at me last night, I had nothing. That money couldn’t even buy a single dose. I gritted my teeth and ran to the main house. Mia’s room was bright with lights. I knelt in the hallway, kowtowing toward the room. “Julian, please have mercy. Leo can’t hold on much longer…” “You promised before, as long as I did what you said and went to see Victor, you’d keep Leo safe.” “Please give me one dose of serum to save his life!” “As long as Leo lives, I’ll do whatever you want, I swear!” Laughter came from inside. After a long time, the door finally opened. Julian walked out with Mia in his arms. Mia wore thick furs, her face glowing, looking nothing like someone sick. “Clara Vance, what are you freaking out about now?” I crawled forward and grabbed Julian’s clothes. “Julian, my brother is dying. He needs serum to survive.” “Please, for all the times I stood in for Mia, save him!” Julian frowned. “The storage still has a few vials,” he said. Mia suddenly interrupted him, covering her chest and letting out a soft, fragile cough. “Jules, the doctor said I need regular medication too.” Julian immediately tensed and supported her. “Your health comes first. Those vials are for you.” He turned back to me, his tone cold. “Leo’s condition is a bottomless pit. Even with treatment, it’s just pouring money down the drain.” I stared at him in disbelief. Mia treated it as routine care. For Leo, it was life support. “Julian, Mia just needs maintenance. My brother needs this to survive…” Julian absently stroked Mia’s hair, not even looking at me. “How can your brother compare to Mia?” “Don’t even think about it—if Mia needs any vial in this house, she gets them first.” Mia leaned into his arms and gave me a smug smile. “Clara, it’s not that I won’t help.” “I’ll have them save the leftover doses for you. If there’s anything still worth using.” Humiliation. Pure humiliation. I stood up from the ground and wiped my tears. “No need.” If the estate wouldn’t give me a way to live, someone else would.
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