After I slapped my Mafia husband’s mistress, he locked my entire family in an asylum. I never dared to fight him again after that. When Bianca had cramps, I made her tea. When Bianca went into labor, I stayed up all night at her bedside. I waited until her baby was a month old before I dared to ask him, quietly, to let my family go. Dante just smirked. “Ellie. You want to know how I really met Bianca?” “Your loving father and your loving brother put her in my bed themselves.” “She’s your half-sister, Ellie.” He watched the color drain from my face. Then he slid his phone across the table. “Your father and your brother were never in that asylum. They’ve been with Bianca. All three years.” On the screen, my father and my brother were huddled around Bianca and the baby, smiling. Smiling in a way I’d never seen. Not once. Not for me. My eyes burn. Something rips open in my chest. Dante kept going, like he was doing me a favor. “You’ve been a good girl these three years, Ellie. Keep it up. Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you.” “Though…” His smile turned strange. “Even if I offered, you wouldn’t take a thing. Would you?” I wiped my face. Lifted my chin. Smiled. “Fine, Dante. Then give me a hundred million dollars.” I don’t want any of them anymore. Not the husband. Not the father. Not the brother. — Dante froze. Just for a second. “Say that again.” I looked him dead in the eye. “You said you’d make it up to me. So pay me. A hundred million. Not a dollar less.” His eyes went cold. Then he let out a dry laugh and turned to the phone on the table. “Bianca. Looks like neither of us called it right.” The screen had switched to a video call. I didn’t even see when. Bianca was smiling. Watching me. Enjoying every second. “Ellie, sweetie. We had a bet. What you’d ask for once you found out.” “I said you’d refuse the money and trash Dante’s office. He bet you’d use it to trap him. No divorce. Ever.” “Dad thought you’d make Dante throw me out. Leo thought you’d hurt yourself again to guilt him into staying.” She turned the camera. My father was holding Bianca’s baby, glowing. The second he saw me, every trace of that smile died. “Elena. I can’t believe you. Asking Dante for money?” “Did this family ever let you go hungry? Ever? What are you now — some cheap gold-digger? No better than the whores on the street.” My brother stroked Bianca’s hair. Soft. Fond. Then he turned to the camera, and his face went blank. “Elena. I know you’re upset.” “If you need money, come to me. But you don’t ask Dante. Not for this.” “Bianca and Dante love each other. They don’t owe you anything.” “Is that so?” I cut him off. My eyes were burning. “He stole my husband. You stole my father. You stole my brother. You stole my whole life.” “You played me for three years. Turned me into her personal maid.” “And you’re telling me nobody owes me a damn thing?” Leo frowned. “Elena. Watch your mouth.” “We weren’t trying to hurt you. You’ve always been stubborn. If we’d told you the truth, you never would’ve accepted Bianca.” “She’s been struggling since the baby came. Postpartum. The bet was just a joke to cheer her up. Don’t take it personally.” I pulled the corner of my mouth up. “Fine. Then pay me.” “Fifty million from Dad. Thirty from you. I’ll keep playing house. Keep babysitting Bianca. Deal?” Leo went white with rage. “Elena. How long are you going to keep this up?” “It’s spare change,” I said, cold. “Don’t tell me the Moretti empire can’t cover a favor for the Rossis.” “Enough.” “You want money? Fine.” Dante shot me a look and pulled a document from the drawer. “Bianca gave me a son. No child of mine is going to be a bastard. Sign the papers. The hundred million hits your account tonight.” I looked at those thin pages. I didn’t hesitate. I grabbed the pen and signed.
Something shifted in Dante’s face. “You really care about money that much? You were never like this…” I swallowed the burn in my throat and forced out a careless smile. “If I don’t take the money, what else are you offering me?” He stared. Those dark eyes went bottomless. “Maybe you could beg me not to divorce you.” “Say the word, Ellie. I’ll rip this contract right now.” Beg him. I bit down on my lip until it bled. I remembered the months right after I first found out about him and Bianca. I begged him a hundred times. I slit my wrists once, just to make him come home. I bled all over the bathroom floor. And all he said was: “Don’t do that again. Bianca faints at the sight of blood.” “And then what?” I looked at him. Calm. Bitter. “Then you tell me this was another bet. Another way to laugh at me.” I let out a broken little laugh. My throat burned. “Dante. Stop testing me.” “Haven’t you played with me enough?” Something cold slid down my cheek. Three years of tears. Finally spilling. Dante lifted his hand. Wiped my face. His eyes flickered — but not with guilt. With irritation. Like a wife crying was one more thing he had to manage. He sighed. “Bianca gave me a son. She’s young. A little spoiled. You’re the older one. Cut her some slack.” “You’re still Mrs. Moretti. Marrying Bianca is just paperwork. Just to put my name on the birth certificate.” He paused. Softer. “You’ll still get the hundred million. Take it. Travel. Have fun. Once I clean things up here, we’ll get remarried.” “That works for you, right?” I lifted my face and smiled. Made a small sound of agreement. “Then book me a ticket to Switzerland. You promised me once. We were going to see Lake Como together.” He let out a breath he’d been holding. Pulled me in tight. “Okay.” “Go ahead. When this is done, I’ll meet you there.” “Wait for me, Ellie.” I rested my head against his shoulder. I didn’t say anything. Because I already knew. I wasn’t waiting. Once he was sure I’d caved, he spoke again. “Give me the keys to the house. You’ll need to move out for a while.” “Bianca’s moving in. You know she’s been fragile since the baby. Pack your things up clean. Don’t leave anything behind that upsets her.” “The place is getting old anyway. Don’t fight her over it.” He cleared his throat. Slid a new set of keys and a deed from the drawer. “I bought you a new place on the south side of the city. Move your stuff there.” I said nothing. But I remembered the day we bought that house. We designed every room together. Picked out the curtains, the artwork by the front door. We agreed on two nurseries — one pink, one blue. He called it our nest. He carved a plaque with his own hands and hung it on the front gate. Dante & Elle. Later, he spent his nights with Bianca in his office. And I lost our baby, alone, in that empty house. I smiled. I put the keys in his hand. “It’s fine.” “A new place is better.” From now on, everything I own is going to be new. Not just the house. — I left the Moretti tower and drove straight to the asylum. For three years, I’d pushed open that door a hundred times. Cried until I passed out over the “father” and “brother” who were just pretending to lie there catatonic in those beds. But nobody knew — in that place, I’d met someone else. I pushed open a different door. Sunlight poured through the window. A boy sat on the sill, staring at the sky. Sharp features. Cold, wild eyes. Blond streaks in his hair where the sun caught it. If any reporter had seen him, they’d have recognized him instantly. The youngest son of the Vane Syndicate — the family that ran shipping and arms across half the world. The kid the tabloids said had been locked away for a breakdown. I spoke softly. “I have the money now. I’m taking you home.” Dante has no idea. I’m not going to Switzerland. I’m going to Sicily.
When I got back to the house to pack, the maid gave me a strange look. Opened her mouth. Closed it. I frowned and walked into the living room. Then I saw why. My things were dumped across the floor like garbage. And Bianca was walking down the staircase in a white wedding gown. I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood. I couldn’t stop staring. She lifted the hem and gave me a sweet little smile. “Sis. Isn’t this the dress Dante designed for you? Back then?” “He said I could have it. Said you wouldn’t mind.” “He said you’re too out of shape now to fit into it. Said the dress got lucky, ending up with me.” She lifted the skirt and spun. “How does it look, sis? Do I wear it well?” The white silk shimmered under the chandelier. Bianca was glowing. Radiant. Cruel. Years ago, Dante stayed up three nights straight sketching that dress. The first time I put it on, he told me: “One of a kind, Ellie. For the only girl in the world.” His words. Still ringing. His heart. Long gone. Bianca didn’t get it. I was walking away from Dante himself. What did a dress mean now? I smiled. My fist slowly loosened. “Bianca. Nobody ever teach you? You want somebody’s stuff, you pay for it.” “That dress is worth thirty million. I want it wired to my account by tonight.” Her face snapped. “You bitch. You stole Dante from me. You stole my family for years. And now you want money?” She raised her hand and lunged. But the dress was too heavy. I stepped aside. Her own train tangled her legs. She hit the floor hard. My father and brother came flying down the stairs. “Bianca! What happened?” Leo whipped around. Furious. “Elena. Did you just put your hands on her?” I didn’t even get a word out. A palm cracked across my face. Half my face went numb, then burned. I stared at my father. I couldn’t believe it. His face was red. His voice was steel. “I know you’re angry. I know you never accepted Bianca. But she just had a baby. She’s still weak. And you *hit* her?” Bianca sniffled from the floor. “Dad, don’t be mad at her. It’s not her fault. She said the dress costs thirty million. Without the money, I don’t get to wear it. I don’t have that kind of cash. She didn’t mean to push me.” She lifted those big wet eyes. “It’s my fault, Dad. I don’t have the money. Dad, Leo — if we pay her, will she forgive me?” My father exploded. “Bianca, you’re too kind. Pay her? Not a chance. I should’ve known. She’s just like her mother. A greedy bitch. Always was.” Something inside me went cold. My hand went to my cheek. I couldn’t stop staring at him. Twenty years of playing the loving father. The mask was falling off, piece by piece. Leo caught his arm before he could swing again. “Dad. Stop.” For half a breath, I felt something stupid. Hope. Then he spoke. “Push her too hard, she’ll show up at Bianca’s wedding to cause a scene. She likes money? Give it to her. Throwing change to a beggar.” He pulled a black card out of his pocket and threw it at my feet. His voice was thick with disgust. “There’s over thirty million on that card. Enough?” “Take it and get out. Don’t show your face near Bianca again. Don’t ruin our lives.” I looked down at the black card. His personal card. The one I used to bring him coffee with. The last thread inside me — the one still tied to them — finally snapped. I bent down. Picked up the card. Smiled like it meant nothing. I looked at the mess of my belongings on the floor. I didn’t want any of it. “Since you’re paying so generously, Leo — deal. All this is yours.” I looked him dead in the eye. “You’ve got a new daughter and a new sister now. This old one won’t be in your way anymore.” “After today, I don’t know any of you.” I dug my passport out of the pile and turned to leave. “Wait —”
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