Betrayed By Blood, Claimed By The Don

hile my twin sister Serena was treated like a

yndicate decryption record, pro

my parents and my childhood c

r over her failing grade, and told me my

stole my $38,000 hidden escape fund-blood money I had starve

er dragged me across the floor,

, and you should be honored

itted soldier my whole life, givi

ine was so eager to bleed me dry just t

in that dark room, broken a

d a recruitment offer from the most lethal Maf

ose to rule the

pte

fina

my twin sister pledging her mediocre skills to the Chicago Outfit,

your decryption score is verified, you belong t

he submit button. To press it wa

cate, a dominion built on blood, the kind of power that could end a life with a twitch of a finger, and a reputation for skinning traitors alive. He

my own bloodline bleed me dry unti

to my pocket, the chill of its metal case a

ck and heavy. My entire family was gathered around Serena, their attention fixed on her as if she were a newly lit

ed against the mahogany table, his gaze fixed on my sister, his devotion

"The Chicago Outfit is perfect for you, Serena," he boomed, tilting the champagne bottle over her glass. "The inner ci

ffed on his cigar, the smoke clouding the air

like she was the only child she had ever birthed-a look of such consuming a

. I was sitting at the far end of the table, half-submerged in

l front operation downtown," came his dismissal

rena. "Yeah, keep it close. We need you avai

ir disregard settle over me not like a wa

s always forced to play the wicked informant. I was the disposable pawn mea

wn to the last cent, without a single line of redundant code-a feat that had broken a decade-old Syndicate record. I possessed the inte

d the entire family-Vincenzo, Rosa, Salvatore, and Luca-had crowded ar

condescension as she told me my flawless score wa

elf lucky if the Commission even al

ackaged as Serena's brilliance. Every skill I had honed in secret was invisible to them, because acknowledging it would shatter the narrative they had buil

s. I maintained the role of the invisible soldier, burying my capabilities so

the only exception in my dark world, the boy whose promises of protection had been a recurring

uc

er. "Did you really give up your dream of joining

rrupting his perfect evening. "Territories don't matter, Serafina," he scoffe

froze for a second, then receded like a tide

t I had to these people

lass of the screen. With no further hesitation, I press

ingle, cur

eceived my pledge, and its m

a cold, private thing no one noticed. They thought I had nowhere to go. They had never been