Chapter 1

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.