Chapter 1

I’ve carried ten babies for mob boss Silas, and every single one vanished the second they turned one.

I’ve cried myself sick over each missing child, stuck in endless cycles of crippling grief and clinical anxiety.

Silas always wraps me in his arms, fake pity swimming in his eyes.

Silas: We’ll make another baby, Elara. I’ll never stop loving you.

I ate up every lie, desperate to hold onto his false kindness, and got pregnant with my tenth child.

On the baby’s first birthday, I round the corner of his private lounge and freeze solid. I watch him hand my infant daughter over to his teenage mistress Chloe, while his crew hoot and joke around him.

Crew Guy 1: Lucky bastard, got a fertile wife pumping out kids for your side pieces.

Crew Guy 2: Dude gets a new girlfriend, a brand-new baby delivered free of labor pain. Who wouldn’t love that setup?

Silas flicks a lighter against his cigarette, voice bored and careless.

Silas: Nah, let Elara handle it. She’s popped out ten already, what’s one more? No point ruining a young girl’s body when my wife’s used to it.

The room erupts in crude laughter. I stand there six months pregnant, ice flooding every vein in my body.

Chloe holds my baby tight, her face twisting with clear disappointment.

Chloe: Why’s it just a girl? I wanted a son to secure my spot with you, Silas.

She digs her fingernails hard into the baby’s arm to make her scream, then claps a palm over the tiny mouth to muffle the cries.

Chloe: Shut up, don’t make noise.

My palms split open from how hard I dig my nails into my skin, my whole body shaking violently.

Silas tucks Chloe against his chest, voice dripping sick soft fondness.

Silas: Don’t stress over newborn hassle. Let Elara raise her for a year first, so you don’t get worn out. Every wrinkle on you breaks my heart.

One of his underlings shifts awkwardly, speaking up.

Underling: Boss, isn’t it messed up she loses baby after baby nonstop? What if she breaks completely?

Silas shrugs like it’s nothing.

Silas: She’s built to carry kids. If she falls apart for a little while, I’ll knock her up again later as compensation.

The men keep throwing out gross demands, asking Silas to lend me out to give them children for their wives. He grins and agrees to every sleazy request.

My vision blurs, legs going weak. I cup my swollen belly and bolt out of the mansion before I collapse on the spot.

I lock myself in our master bedroom the second I get home, clamping a hand over my mouth to muffle broken sobs.

All those years of unbearable mourning weren’t accidents. My own husband stole every baby I birthed and handed them off to his rotating lovers.

Chloe’s the latest girl he’s obsessed with, and my tenth daughter’s just her new toy.

I slam my fists hard against my stomach, desperate to end this pregnancy before I bring another child into Silas’s cruel game. Every memory I share with him curdles into disgust.

Silas stumbles home late that night, red-rimmed eyes feigning sorrow instantly. He drops to his knees in front of me.

Silas: Elara, I’m so sorry. The nanny took our baby out this morning and she’s gone missing.

I don’t scream or break down like he expects. I just stare blankly ahead.

Silas: I’ve ordered every patrol unit in the city to search. Trust me, we’ll find her.

This is the tenth identical lie he’s fed me.

A phone rings on his pocket before he can push closer to touch me. Chloe’s high whine bleeds through the speaker loud enough for me to hear every word.

Chloe: Silas, girls are such a hassle. I want the baby Elara’s carrying right now…

Silas hurries out to take the call somewhere private.

I grab my phone immediately, book an official identity erasure appointment five days out. Then I dial the number belonging to Julian—Silas’s childless godfather, the most feared don in the country. He’s made no secret of wanting an heir to carry on his name, and he’s been waiting for a chance to take what’s his from Silas.

Elara (firm, steady): I’ll agree to marry you, on one condition. Any baby I bear has to be your sole legal heir.

Julian agrees without hesitation.

Silas walks back into the room minutes later, pulling me into a suffocating hug.

Silas: Good girl, no tantrums tonight. That’s my perfect wife.

I don’t react at all, hollow cold behind my eyes. I’ll play docile until I vanish, then remarry the man Silas fears more than anyone.