Chapter 1

My husband, Lorenzo, was supposedly killed in a setup by a rival family. His dying wish was for me to take good care of the baby he had adopted.

His parents and my best friend, Rosalie, all cried as they begged me.

"Dinah, just sign the adoption papers.

"It was Lorenzo's last wish!"

I agreed. What I never expected was that the child had severe leukemia.

For the next twenty years,

I handled family business by day and avenged Lorenzo, then cared for the child at night. I kept going through it all, even when I was so exhausted I coughed blood.

Even the child Lorenzo and I had conceived was lost in an accidental miscarriage while I was drowning in work.

But on the day the child recovered and inherited the Don's position, someone shoved me from the eighth floor. My skull burst open on the ground.

The last thing I saw before I died was Lorenzo holding Rosalie in his arms.

"Useless thing. It took her twenty years to cure our child's illness. She kept our family of three apart all this time."

Rosalie was gentle and vicious at once. "Forget it. At least that idiot did cure the child."

"Let's go home and celebrate. Today is the day our family is finally reunited!"

Watching them leave with smiles on their faces, I died with resentment burning in my chest.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the day of Lorenzo's funeral.

...

"Lorenzo, how could you die and leave behind such a tiny child? How are Salvatore and I supposed to go on?"

The shrill wail of Lorenzo's mother, Bianca, and the crying of an infant slammed into my ears.

Before I could react, someone forced a baby into my arms.

"The baby was crying just now, but the second you held him, he stopped. You really are meant to be, Dinah!"

The family members around us clicked their tongues in wonder and instinctively gathered closer.

"Yes, maybe the child likes Dinah."

"What a shame the Don died so young. Otherwise, this would have been such a happy little family."

"In a way, this child is something Lorenzo left behind for Dinah."

A jolt went through me. I realized I truly had been reborn on the day of Lorenzo's burial.

The child in my arms cried weakly. His features faintly resembled Lorenzo's, and his body was so thin he almost weighed nothing.

Beside me, Rosalie's eyes were full of love, so obvious it was practically spilling out.

I sneered inwardly. In my past life, I had been trapped in the pain and despair of losing Lorenzo and had noticed nothing.

And the child had clearly been born with severe leukemia. He was nearly out of breath now, which was why he had stopped crying, yet they twisted the truth and called it fate between us.

Bianca's usually elegant, soft gray hair now hung in a mess over her shoulders as she stared at the baby with tears streaming down her face.

"The day before yesterday, Lorenzo told us he had found a baby who looked just like him. He said it was a bond sent by God..."

Lorenzo's father, Salvatore, wrapped an arm around her shoulders. His voice shook with barely contained sobs as he spoke to me.

"He was on his way back to find you. Who could have known he would run into an ambush halfway?"

"But since this is the child Lorenzo wanted to raise, he is the heir of the Moretti family!"

As he spoke, his gaze slowly hardened with resolve.

"Dinah, from now on, you will take care of this child. Otherwise, even in death, Lorenzo will never be at peace!"

The old couple clung to each other and wept over the infant. Everyone present looked pained.

Rosalie gripped my arm, her eyes red as if she had been moved to tears. "Dinah, accept him."

The family members who knew nothing joined in.

"That's right. The child looks like Lorenzo too.

"Maybe he really is your destiny."

"Old Don, please don't cry. I'm sure the Don wouldn't want to see you this heartbroken from below."

"With the Godmother here, taking care of this child won't be a problem."

I noticed that while everyone spoke, Rosalie kept stealing glances at the coffin.

Looking more closely, I suddenly saw several air holes in the side of the coffin. If I watched carefully, I could even make out tiny movements inside.

Sure enough, Lorenzo was not dead at all.

This funeral was a fraud he and Rosalie had conspired to stage so they could dump the child on me.

For eighteen years in my previous life, I had given everything for that child and for the Moretti family, only to die with my eyes open.

Meanwhile, their family of three stepped over my corpse and reunited.

I shoved the baby straight into Rosalie's arms.

Then I looked at everyone and spoke each word clearly.

"I will not claim this child."