Chapter 1

Greed was in my nature.

To pay off loan sharks, I sold my body.

Yet somehow, I married Leo, the most virtuous Mafia godfather in Chicago.

I disguised myself as a cold, proud ballet dancer, feigning purity.

I kept this hidden for five years.

Until his first love, Chloe, returned and exposed everything.

She played videos of me trading my body for money.

Tears shimmering in her eyes, she said: "If she hadn't threatened me with violence, I should have been your wife."

"How can you allow such a filthy, despicable whore to be your partner?"

Leo was utterly revolted by me.

He broke both my legs and cast me into the red-light district, leaving me there for anyone who wished to mock and humiliate me.

"Had I known you were so contemptible—willing to spread your legs for anyone—I would never have spared you a single glance."

I was reborn, and I vowed never to pretend again.

...

“The Godfather is noble and pure. With this filthy body of mine, I would never dare aspire to such a lofty match.”

"Your Grace is far too pure. I wouldn't dare taint you with my filthy body."

The words hung in the freezing air.

Dead silence swallowed the luxurious penthouse.

The massive OLED screen dominated the entire living room wall.

It looped the grainy, explicit footage on maximum volume.

Skin slapped against skin.

Muffled moans echoed from the expensive surround-sound speakers.

Tangled limbs thrashed in a cheap, dirty motel room.

It was the exact video that got me killed in my past life.

I stood right in the center of the handmade Persian rug.

I refused to cry.

I refused to drop to my knees and beg for my life.

I looked down at my feet.

The satin ribbons of my pointe shoes dug violently into my bruised ankles.

For five years, I forced my bleeding feet into these torture devices.

For five years, I played the elegant, untouchable swan for him.

I reached down and ripped the pink ribbons apart.

I kicked the expensive ballet shoes away.

They hit the wall with a dull thud.

My bare feet slapped against the freezing marble floor.

A rush of pure relief shot up my spine.

Chloe stood inches from Leo.

She wore a pristine white designer dress.

She covered her mouth with a perfectly manicured, trembling hand.

"Leo, please don't be too angry," Chloe whispered.

Her voice dripped with fake, nauseating sympathy.

"She must have had her reasons for doing such shameful things. Maybe she desperately needed the cash."

I let out a harsh, barking laugh.

I smirked right at her perfectly contoured face.

"Save the tears, Chloe. You're giving yourself wrinkles."

I pointed a finger straight at the giant screen.

"That's me up there. Every dirty, greedy second of it."

I tore off the pure swan disguise.

I owned my filth.

Leo's jaw clenched tight enough to crack his teeth.

His knuckles turned completely white around his crystal whiskey glass.

He stared at me.

His gaze held pure, unadulterated disgust.

He took a deliberate step back.

He acted like my very presence infected the air around him.

"You disgust me," Leo spat.

His voice dropped to a lethal, venomous whisper.

"You dragged the Moretti family name straight through the gutter."

He pulled a silk handkerchief from his pocket.

He aggressively wiped the hand that had touched my waist earlier tonight.

He tossed the handkerchief into the fireplace.

I reached into my designer clutch.

My fingers closed around a thick stack of papers.

I pulled out the divorce agreement.

I grabbed a heavy fountain pen from my bag.

I clicked the cap off.

I signed my name on the dotted line.

The ink bled into the crisp paper.

I marched over to his million-dollar custom mahogany desk.

I slammed the papers down.

The loud smack echoed like a gunshot in the massive room.

Leo flinched.

His eyes widened in absolute shock.

He stared at the bold letters at the top of the page.

The shock instantly morphed into explosive, violent rage.

He swept his arm violently across the desk.

The crystal whiskey glass shattered against the wall.

Amber liquid dripped down the expensive wallpaper.

"What the hell is this?" he roared.

I stared at the broken glass on the floor.

A phantom pain violently shattered my kneecaps.

My breath hitched in my throat.

I remembered the steel baseball bat swinging down.

I remembered the sickening crunch of my bones snapping in half.

I remembered the filthy, rat-infested alley in the red-light district.

I remembered the smell of my own blood and urine as I died in the gutter.

He did that to me.

My blood ran ice cold.

I locked eyes with him.

I offered him nothing but pure, unfiltered hatred.

"I'm leaving with nothing, Leo. We're done."

I pulled the platinum wedding band off my finger.

I tossed it onto the divorce papers.

It landed with a sharp clink.

Leo sneered.

His upper lip curled in ultimate disdain.

He stepped toward me.

He towered over my frame, trying to use his size to intimidate me.

"You are nothing without me," Leo snarled.

He pointed a shaking finger at my face.

"I gave you everything! The clothes on your back, the roof over your head!"

He let out a cruel, mocking laugh.

"You won't last three days out there on the streets."

He grabbed my chin.

I slapped his hand away.

"You'll come crawling back on your hands and knees. You'll beg for my scraps like the bitch you are."

I didn't blink.

I turned my back on him.

I walked toward the heavy double doors.

My bare feet left damp prints on the pristine marble floor.

"Walk out that door and you're dead to me, Aria!" Leo screamed.

His voice cracked with fury.

I pushed the heavy doors open.

I stepped out of the penthouse.

I didn't look back.

The elevator ride down felt like a lifetime.

My heart pounded against my ribs.

The adrenaline pumped violently through my veins.

I walked out of the high-rise building's lobby.

The Chicago rainstorm hit me instantly.

The freezing downpour soaked my silk dress in seconds.

The fabric clung to my shivering skin.

Thunder rattled my teeth.

Lightning illuminated the dark, empty street.

A black, bulletproof Maybach idled right at the curb.

The rain bounced off its heavily armored roof.

The tinted passenger window rolled down smoothly.

Which I didn't know, a man sat in the shadows of the backseat.

And he was locked into me.