Marvella

I was trapped under a massive oak bookcase, my leg shattered, dust filling my lungs. My husband, Dante, the Underboss of the Chicago Outfit, finally found me. But just as he lifted the heavy beam to free me, his earpiece crackled. It was news about Sofia, his childhood friend and the woman he truly loved. "She scratched her arm on the car door, Boss. She's hyperventilating. She won't board the jet without you." Dante froze. He looked at me, bleeding on the floor, secretly ten weeks pregnant with his child. Then he looked at the door. "It's just a broken leg, Elena," he said coldly, slowly lowering the crushing weight back onto me. "You are a doctor. You know it's not fatal. Sofia needs me." He ran to comfort a woman with a papercut, leaving his wife and unborn child to be buried alive in the rubble. I miscarried alone in the dark, tracing the number of a divorce lawyer on the floorboards in my own blood. Three days later, while he was peeling grapes for Sofia in a VIP hospital suite, I packed my medical degree and a single gym bag. I didn't go to a hotel. I boarded a military cargo plane to a war zone in South Sudan. By the time the Ice Prince realized his castle was empty, I was already thousands of miles away, and I wasn't coming back.

My fiancé, Jameson Blair, married my twin sister today. For five years, I was a placeholder, a substitute for the woman he truly wanted, and I pretended not to know. Today, she came back with a story of terminal cancer and a dying wish to marry him. It was a perfect lie, and he chose to believe it, shattering my world with three simple words: "She's Haleigh." They left me on the sidewalk, an outcast from my own blood. My brothers, who once promised to protect me, celebrated the woman who broke me. They moved my things to a guest room, making space for their prodigal sister. That night, Haleigh gave me a "welcome home" gift—a box with a brown recluse spider inside. As the venom coursed through me, my family rushed to her side, calling my agony "a little spider bite." They left me convulsing on the floor. Later, they whipped me for a crime I didn't commit, hung me off a cliff, and left me for dead. My body is a roadmap of their love. Each scar, each broken bone, is a testament to their betrayal. They believed her lies, but their real crime was never truly seeing me. As I clung to that cliff, bleeding and broken, a single thought consumed me: Isabella Douglas died here tonight. Now, Isabella Hale would be born from the ashes.

The last thing I remember is my fiancé, Cayden, toasting to our future. The first thing I hear when I wake up in a hospital is him telling the city's most feared Don to pretend to be my fiancé instead. A doctor says I have severe neurological damage. Amnesia. Then, my best friend, Vivian—the girl I considered a sister—walks in. Her hand is linked through Cayden's arm, her head resting on his shoulder. They look like a perfect, loving couple. I hear Cayden's frantic voice in the hallway, not even bothering to whisper. "Please, Liam," he begs the Don, Liam Hewitt. "Just do me this one favor. I need a break from all her marriage talk." Then his voice turns slick with temptation. "As her 'fiancé,' you can finally get her to sign the demolition agreement for the Owen manor. She'll do anything you ask." My heart turns to a pile of cold, dead ash. The man I loved and the woman I trusted didn't just betray me. They tried to erase me. When they all step back into my room, I steady myself. I look past Cayden, past Vivian, and fix my eyes on the most dangerous man in the city. A faint smile touches my lips. "Only you feel familiar," I say to Liam Hewitt, my voice a soft, broken thing. "Fiancé," I say, the word tasting like poison and opportunity. "I'm sorry, I seem to have forgotten your name. Take me home."

For eight years, I, Chloe Davis, lived in the shadows, pouring my soul into Liam Stone's music, ghostwriting his hits, and supporting his every dream. I was his secret girlfriend, enduring hidden holidays and hushed dinners, all for the promise that one day, he' d reveal me as the woman he loved. Tonight was supposed to be that night. But as Liam stood on the glittering stage of the Starlight Music Awards, clutching the "Best New Artist" trophy, his eyes scanned the crowd not for me, but for stunning, famous Scarlett Blake. "My inspiration, my muse," he declared, beaming at her. Then, the crushing blow: "Scarlett, darling, once I solidify my A-list status, I' m yours forever." My world went silent. The eight years of sacrifice, my unseen labor, my unwavering devotion-all erased by a public declaration meant for another woman. He celebrated with champagne and victory, completely oblivious to the hollow ache in my chest, the numb limb that was finally acknowledged as dead. He called my quietness a flaw in his perfect evening. He thought a diamond necklace could fix it. He thought his casual affair, texting Scarlett the night of his triumph, would go unnoticed. He still believed there was an "us." I didn't cry. I didn't scream. I just packed. I was no longer the girl who loved him more than herself. That 18-year-old was gone. The 28-year-old Chloe, the one who just sold her entire song catalog, was done being a stepping stone. This was over. He didn't know it yet, but his secret weapon had just become his biggest threat.

My father, a titan of the tech industry, once saw me as his most valuable asset, meticulously grooming three of his brightest proteges-Mark, Jake, and Chris-not just for his company, but for me. I believed their ambition was for our shared future, a future orchestrated by my father, but a brutal truth shattered that illusion. In the cold silence of my car, after overhearing Mark' s cruel words, I discovered he saw me as nothing more than a spoiled princess, a necessary means to my inheritance, a prize to be endured for power. The realization left me numb, transformed from a hopeful romantic into a woman consumed by a chilling clarity: love was for the foolish. I died listening to Mark's laughter; the new Ava, resolute and cold, emerged from the ashes, ready to forge her own fortress, even if it meant a marriage devoid of affection, a strategic alliance with the formidable Liam Sterling, heir to a rival empire.

My summer internship was everything: a path to my dream career in marketing, years of hard work finally paying off. Then my parents dropped a bombshell. My estranged rockstar uncle was gravely ill, and I, his favorite niece, had been chosen to be his full-time caregiver. They spun a tale of liver problems, but a glowing blue text only I could see whispered a darker truth: "They' re not worried about his health, they' re worried about his royalties. Rick' s music just got licensed for a huge movie. They want to make sure they' re in his will." My refusal was met with a cold, hard slap across the face, and the devastating news: "It' s done, Chloe. There' s no internship to go back to." They' d sabotaged my future, then casually explained: "We' ve already made the arrangements." The email from my dream firm confirmed it: "rescind our internship offer…wish you the best in your recovery." Recovery? What were they talking about? They took my ID, my money, my car keys. Then I overheard my mother' s chilling words: "Rick' s viral load is extremely high… a little contact… a shared utensil… a simple solution. Once she' s sick too, she' ll have no choice but to be quiet." My own mother was planning to infect me with HIV. I bolted, running into the night, only to find my father' s mistress and instigate a chaotic scene, creating my escape. But they weren' t done. A viral video appeared, featuring my tearful parents. "Our daughter, Chloe, is very sick," my father stated, "She contracted HIV through a promiscuous lifestyle… she developed a severe gambling addiction. She stole all of our savings…" Hatred flooded the comments. My name, reputation, and future were completely destroyed. Who would believe me over my grieving, concerned parents? I was utterly alone, but one thought burned through my despair: they wouldn' t get away with this.

For ten years, I lived in the shadow of Sarah Jenkins, the nation' s biggest pop star, her secret husband, believing her promise that one day we' d reveal our love to the world. Then, on the biggest night of her career, accepting her Artist of the Year award, she dropped to one knee on live television. My heart soared-this was it. But her eyes skipped over me in the audience, landing instead on David Chen, her manager, as she pulled out the custom-designed engagement ring I had made for us, for our future. "David Chen," she shouted, "Will you marry me?" And he smirked, sliding my "forever ring" onto his finger, sealing their public embrace as confetti rained down. Watching my life' s symbol of hope twisted into a grotesque proposal for another man, followed by her sickeningly sweet lie that it was "just a stunt" while David's clothes filled our closet, snapped something inside me. The hollow ache filled with ice-cold fury-this wasn' t a stunt; it was a brazen, calculated betrayal, and I was just the inconvenient collateral damage. Picking up the phone, my voice steady despite the seismic shift in my world, I uttered the words that would finally set me free: "I want a divorce."

The smell of gumbo usually promised comfort, a life I' d carefully built around Ethan. For five years, I' d sacrificed my culinary dreams, even Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, to be the quiet wife he wanted, especially on our anniversary. But instead of flowers, he walked in with a packed bag, claiming a "client emergency," his eyes fixed anywhere but mine. Hours later, the cooling gumbo was a monument to my foolishness when I saw it: Sabrina Chavez, his high school sweetheart, flaunting him-and the designer bag he' d bought her-in a Napa Valley vineyard, captioned "#soulmates." His frantic call, whispered excuses about Sabrina "needing a friend," only solidified my resolve. "There won' t be a next year," I told him, the words quiet but clear. He came home, expecting tears, but found me calmly eating leftovers, offering a cheap bracelet instead of an explanation. My indifference unnerved him far more than any fight, but he still couldn't grasp the silent fury beneath my calm. Why did his freedom mean I had to shrink myself? Why was I the one always sacrificing? I walked into work the next morning and quit. It was time to remember the woman I' d buried. Paris was calling, and I wasn't just leaving him; I was finally choosing me.

I was still reeling from another explosive fight with my musician husband, Jay. His dreams felt endless, ours forgotten. "Another gig, Jay? What about us? The bills?" Those cutting words, our last real conversation, echoed after he slammed the door. The next morning, a call from the Highway Patrol shattered my world: Jay was dead. A fiery car crash. Gone. The grief was a suffocating blanket, crushing me under the weight of guilt for our final argument. Months blurred into a silent apartment, his side of the bed cold, his guitar frozen in time, as I dissolved into a shadow. Then, six months later, at a small music festival, I heard it – one of Jay' s unfinished songs. My heart pounded as I pushed through the crowd, only to see him on stage, alive, disguised with dark hair and a beard, but unmistakably my Jay. Beside him, visibly pregnant, was Chloe, his late friend Mark' s widow. He hadn't died; he' d faked his own death, abandoned me, for her. "Let her believe I'm gone. It's better this way," he' d whispered. How could this unspeakable betrayal be real? From that moment, the suffocating grief transformed into a cold, hard fury. He let me mourn a lie, watched me fall apart. It was time for the truth to be revealed, and for him to face every consequence.

The white light faded, leaving me in a Louisiana swamp, mud squelching under my boots. My head throbbed, a familiar echo of the screams and blood from the last game. The System' s voice, tinny and cold, declared my status: "Active. Choice: Continue or Perish." Another round, another nightmare. Our objective? Find "coverings" for Mother Hemlock, a decrepit phantom haunting a sprawling, dilapidated manor. A biker, Jax, tried to defy her. In an instant, she ripped his clothes right off him, leaving him exposed, screaming, before absorbing him and casting him from a high window to become a "patch" for her. Panic set in as we scrambled for scraps, but Mother Hemlock's demands escalated. Others offered the wrong things – metal, useless trinkets – and simply vanished, their screams replaced by the rustle of her growing, tattered robes. Our dwindling supplies meant our turn was coming, and we'd seen what happened when you had nothing left to give. What was this impossible "covering" she truly craved? Through an old telescope, I stared at the horrifying truth: the moon itself wasn' t real. It was a giant, grotesque quilt of stitched material, and her macabre collection was adding to the actual sky. But a haunting Creole lullaby whispered a cryptic clue: "patchwork moon... in the water deep." With resources gone and Mother Hemlock' s final collection imminent, I clung to that chilling song. The sky was high, yes, but what about its reflection? Racing against time, I plunged into the murky bayou, praying the distorted "moon" shimmering on the water's surface held the real answer, the last hope to escape this horrifying, stitched fate.

My life as a carpenter was hard, but simple, built on providing for my wife, Kate, and our son, Ethan, who worked tirelessly delivering food to help our "struggling" family. Kate always said we were barely scraping by, and I believed her. One phone call changed everything: a cop on the line, "Mr. Peterson? There's been an accident involving your son, Ethan." My world shattered. Ethan, my brilliant, hardworking son, was dead-a hit-and-run victim. But as I reeled, Kate was cold, distant, her phone leading me to an Instagram post where she beamed at a lavish gala. She was celebrating with Liam Carter and his entitled son, Josh, next to a new sports car, their "bright future." My son was gone, and my wife was living a shocking, joyful lie. The truth emerged from hushed words: Kate had a massive secret fortune, bankrolling Josh, while Ethan, unaware of her deceit, worked himself to death. My son died trying to help us, and his inheritance effectively funded his killer. The betrayal was a burning poison, consuming my grief. The final, brutal revelation came in a hospital corridor: Josh, Kate's spoiled protégé, had hit Ethan with the very car she'd bought him, all as I received my own death sentence-late-stage mesothelioma. As police arrested Josh for vehicular homicide, I knew my life was over, but Kate's twisted game had just begun.

Ethan Miller, a quiet craftsman, was a phantom in his own mansion. His wife, Olivia, and daughter, Chloe, orbited Julian Vance, Olivia's charismatic college sweetheart, leaving Ethan feeling unseen and unloved, merely furniture. The call came: Chloe fell at school. Rushing there, he watched Olivia and Julian sweep past him, directly to his injured child, ignoring him completely. The rejection was instant. Chloe flinched from his touch, whimpering, "I want Julian!" Olivia publicly shamed Ethan for the accident, while Julian' s smug glances reinforced his inadequacy. Ethan was an outsider, even in his daughter's pain. Later revelations: Chloe' s "accidents" were deliberate, encouraged by Julian, confirming Ethan' s deepest fears. Was this betrayal his inescapable fate? His own daughter, groomed to reject him; his wife, a stranger to his agony. What profound flaw in him justified such calculated cruelty, his unwavering devotion constantly meaning nothing? Then came the final, crushing blows: his beloved mother' s sudden death, followed by his birthday pie – a sacred link to her love – carelessly devoured by Julian and dismissed by Olivia. Shattered, Ethan declared, "I'm done, Olivia. I want a divorce." He vowed to escape and find genuine love and a family that truly saw him.

We were ten minutes away from getting our marriage license, for the eleventh time. Just as we neared the office, her phone buzzed with a call from Liam, her 'sick' ex, instantly draining her face of color and her devotion from me. She abandoned me again, speeding off to his side for what felt like the hundredth time, leaving me alone in the car. Hours later, while I drowned my sorrows in whiskey, she called not to check on me, but to furiously worry about her image after I posted a raw, heartbroken selfie. Her voice wasn't concerned; it was furious, demanding I consider 'her reputation' and 'Liam's friends' rather than my pain. This was a recurring nightmare, a pattern of abandonment and emotional manipulation that had plagued our seven-year relationship. Each time, her loyalty to Liam, a man who always seemed to experience a 'critical episode' whenever Chloe and I neared a milestone, overshadowed any commitment to me. How could she continuously choose him, a man she claimed was 'just a friend,' over the life we were supposed to be building? Was I truly so selfish for wanting her to choose us for once? Her casual dismissal of my pain, declaring 'Liam needs me more, you' re healthy, you can wait,' echoed in my mind like a cruel mantra. But this time, something broke inside me, and the weariness transformed into a stone-cold resolve. The very next day, a life-changing opportunity landed on my desk: a lead architect position in Austin, Texas. It wasn't just a job; it was my one-way ticket out, a chance to finally choose myself and escape the endless cycle of heartbreak. I took it.

I woke up in a sterile hospital room, groggy from what my fiancé, Ethan, insisted was a routine appendectomy. He sat by my bed, holding my hand, his expression a careful mask of concern. For ten years, I'd poured my life into him, believing we were everything to each other. Then, hushed voices drifted from the hallway. "You drugged her and took her kidney for Olivia?" I heard Ethan's best friend whisper, furious. "Are you insane?" Ethan's ice-cold reply shattered my world: "Olivia needed it. Amy's strong, she'll be fine. She wants to marry me, right? This will be my gift." My breath caught. My kidney? A physical blow. The appendectomy was a lie, a cover for the unthinkable: my organ stolen for his obsession, Olivia Vance. And the baby? Olivia had orchestrated my miscarriage with "supplements"—Ethan knew. Ten years of my life—my career, my inheritance, even nursing him back from paralysis after Olivia pushed him—all sacrificed for this calculated betrayal. He saw me as a malleable possession, his "safety net," believing I'd simply "understand." Even the nurses confirmed it: he'd been lavishing attention on Olivia in the VIP wing while I was just "poor Ms. Hayes." My heart splintered into a million pieces. I meant nothing. Less than nothing. The organ ripped from me wasn't just flesh; it was the last piece of my foolish love, discarded. How could the man I loved, the man I sacrificed everything for, be so casually cruel? Could love be so utterly devalued? The agony in my soul was far worse than any physical pain. Enough. My trembling hand reached for my phone, scrolling past old contacts, past pity. My finger stopped on one name: Marcus Thorne. He'd always offered quiet respect, a lifeline I never knew I needed. My voice, gaining a sliver of steel, cut through the tears. “Marcus, I need your help. Will you marry me? Today, if possible. Not Ethan. You.”

Ethan was Silicon Valley's golden boy, and I was his perfectly coiffed, publicly adored wife. He filled our gardens with rare orchids, a testament to his proclaimed devotion. Magazines called us “relationship goals,” the epitome of a power couple. But my secret app, “Relationship Insight,” painted a colder picture. For five years, Ethan's emotional score for me never wavered: a paltry, comfortable 60 out of 100. Just… comfortable. The facade shattered with an unexpected announcement. Ethan, citing a fabricated company crisis, declared a “strategic partnership” with his ex-girlfriend, Chloe. Chloe would move into our mansion, taking over my roles. My app now glaringly displayed Ethan's connection score for Chloe: a shocking, undeniable 90. He framed it as obligation, but I saw the end of my carefully curated reign. I played the supportive wife, inwardly calculating. The humiliations became daily occurrences. Chloe seamlessly usurped my philanthropic foundation, then our household duties. Ethan openly prioritized her, leaving me to face public scrutiny and pity. His mother, seizing her chance, bluntly questioned my lack of an heir. At dinner, knowing my severe almond allergy, Ethan theatrically shielded Chloe from nuts, ignoring my very real danger. My app briefly registered a 65 for him: not love, just a flicker of guilt. But the true betrayal, the one that broke me, came from overheard whispers. I listened as Ethan coldly confirmed to Chloe he'd deliberately sabotaged my fertility. His “fertility boosters” were designed to prevent conception, to stop me from having a child that might “complicate things” before Chloe returned. The man who feigned concern for my “delicate constitution” had systematically violated my body, my future. The app pulsed, showing his score for me at 90 again, this time for "Extreme fear. Guilt of exposure." His fear meant nothing. My decision was now carved in stone. I would not be managed. I would manage this. My way.

I’d just returned to LA after 18 months off-grid, ready for a well-deserved break from humanitarian law. My younger brother, Leo, a rising actor, needed a favor: appear on a cheesy reality show. I envisioned a relaxing week at a ranch, a simple family obligation. I was entirely mistaken. I quickly discovered Leo wasn't just having career trouble; he was "Hollywood’s Prettiest Prop," drowning in online hate. His self-worth was shattered by relentless "talentless" accusations. Then I met Chad, the actor who publicly claimed Leo "stole" his role, and his sneering sister Brittany. They wasted no time insulting my brother, questioning our family's very "gene pool" for the cameras. Every show interaction fueled their narrative: Leo as the fraud, me as the "entitled" sister. I faced public ridicule for daring to push back. Then came the real threat: Marcus Thorne, a powerful executive, publicly hinted at activating a "morals clause" against Leo. My brother's agent confirmed the studio was ready to discard him due to "negative publicity." Leo, utterly defeated, begged me, "Maybe I should just… apologize." Apologize? For exposing a rigged system? For defending my brother against an organized smear campaign orchestrated by industry sharks? My kind, vulnerable brother was about to be sacrificed for entertainment ratings and Hollywood politics. This wasn’t just Leo’s career; it was about justice in an industry built on lies. Watching his fear, I knew one thing. No. "No apologies," I firmly told him. "Not now. Not ever for this." I fired up his dormant Twitch channel. It was time to fight back, not with their manufactured drama, but with cold, hard facts. I was about to detonate a nuclear bomb on Hollywood. They didn't just pick a fight with Leo. They picked a fight with a Hayes.

As an architect, Ethan Miller thought dispatching Julian Vance, his heiress wife Tori's latest amusement, overseas would finally bring him peace. Instead, Tori’s savage retaliation struck: a chilling video call revealing auditors in his innocent parents' Brooklyn home, a ruthless digital clock ticking down to their utter financial ruin. Forced to reveal Julian's fake location, Ethan raced against time, frantic and desperate, to save his family's livelihood, witnessing his retired firefighter father suffer a stress-induced heart attack, a direct consequence of Tori's casual cruelty. The woman he'd once loved, who'd put on grand spectacles of affection, revealed her true self: a possessive monster who saw everyone, including him, as mere "entertainment." But as his father recovered, a forgotten prenup emerged with an iron-clad escape clause, prompting Ethan to meticulously gather evidence against Tori, plotting his ghost-like disappearance from her toxic empire, ready to reclaim his life and protect his family, no matter the cost.

I watched my husband sign the papers that would end our marriage while he was busy texting the woman he actually loved. He didn't even glance at the header. He just scribbled the sharp, jagged signature that had signed death warrants for half of New York, tossed the file onto the passenger seat, and tapped his screen again. "Done," he said, his voice devoid of emotion. That was Dante Moretti. The Underboss. A man who could smell a lie from a mile away but couldn't see that his wife had just handed him an annulment decree disguised beneath a stack of mundane logistics reports. For three years, I scrubbed his blood out of his shirts. I saved his family's alliance when his ex, Sofia, ran off with a civilian. In return, he treated me like furniture. He left me in the rain to save Sofia from a broken nail. He left me alone on my birthday to drink champagne on a yacht with her. He even handed me a glass of whiskey—her favorite drink—forgetting that I despised the taste. I was merely a placeholder. A ghost in my own home. So, I stopped waiting. I burned our wedding portrait in the fireplace, left my platinum ring in the ashes, and boarded a one-way flight to San Francisco. I thought I was finally free. I thought I had escaped the cage. But I underestimated Dante. When he finally opened that file weeks later and realized he had signed away his wife without looking, the Reaper didn't accept defeat. He burned down the world to find me, obsessed with reclaiming the woman he had already thrown away.

On our fifth anniversary, my husband slid a black velvet box across the table. Inside wasn't a diamond ring, but a fountain pen. "Sign the separation papers, Aurora," Ethan said. "Ilene is spiraling again. She needs to see we are over." I was the wife of the Mafia Underboss, yet I was being discarded for the Family Ward. Before I could answer, Ilene stormed into the restaurant. She shrieked that I was still wearing his ring and threw a bowl of boiling lobster bisque directly at my chest. As my skin blistered and peeled, Ethan didn't rush to me. He hugged her. "It's okay," he soothed the woman who had just assaulted me. "I've got you." The betrayal didn't stop there. When Ilene pushed me down the stairs days later, Ethan erased the security footage to protect her from the police. When I was kidnapped by his enemies, I called his emergency line—the one meant for life-or-death situations. He declined the call. He was too busy holding Ilene's hand to save his wife. That was the moment the chain broke. As the kidnapper's van sped onto the highway, I didn't wait for a rescue that would never come. I opened the door and jumped into the dark. Everyone thought Aurora Bruce died on that pavement. Two years later, Ethan stood outside a gallery in Paris, looking at the woman he had destroyed, finally realizing he had protected the wrong one.

I was three days away from marrying the Underboss of the Fazio crime family when I unlocked his burner phone. The screen glowed toxic bright in the dark next to my sleeping fiancé. A message from a contact saved as 'Little Trouble' read: "She is just a statue, Dante. Come back to bed." Attached was a photo of a woman lying in the sheets of his private office, wearing his shirt. My heart didn't break; it simply stopped. For eight years, I believed Dante was the hero who pulled me from a burning opera house. I played the perfect, loyal Mafia Princess for him. But heroes don't give their mistresses rare pink diamonds while giving their fiancées cubic zirconia replicas. He didn't just cheat. He humiliated me. He defended his mistress over his own soldiers in public. He even abandoned me on the side of the road on my birthday because she faked a pregnancy emergency. He thought I was weak. He thought I would accept the fake ring and the disrespect because I was just a political pawn. He was wrong. I didn't cry. Tears are for women who have options. I had a strategy. I walked into the bathroom and dialed a number I hadn't dared to call in a decade. "Speak," a voice like gravel growled on the other end. Lorenzo Moretti. The Capo of the rival family. The man my father called the Devil. "The wedding is off," I whispered, staring at my reflection. "I want an alliance with you, Enzo. And I want the Fazio family burned to the ground."

I was the Chicago Outfit's princess, and Luca and Matteo were my sworn protectors. We had mixed our blood at ten years old, promising that nothing would ever touch me. But that oath turned to ash the night Sofia Ricci aimed a Roman candle at my chest. The firework slammed into my shoulder, igniting my silk dress instantly. As I rolled on the concrete, screaming while the flames ate into my skin, I waited for my boys to save me. They didn't. Instead, I watched through the smoke as they rushed to Sofia. They wrapped their jackets—the ones meant to shield me—around the girl who had just set me on fire, comforting her because the "kickback" had scared her. They let me burn to keep her warm. When I woke up in the hospital with permanent scars, they brought me a letter of apology from her and defended her "accident." They even cut their palms to pay her debt, ignoring the fact that I was the one in bandages. That was the moment Elena Vitiello died. I didn't scream. I didn't beg. I simply packed my bags and defected to the one place they couldn't follow: the arms of Dante Moretti, the lethal Capo of New York. By the time they realized their mistake and came crawling back to beg in the rain, I was already wearing another man's ring. "You want forgiveness?" I asked, looking down at them. "Burn for it."

I stood outside my husband's study, the perfect mafia wife, only to hear him mocking me as an "ice sculpture" while he entertained his mistress, Aria. But the betrayal went deeper than infidelity. A week later, my saddle snapped mid-jump, leaving me with a shattered leg. Lying in the hospital bed, I overheard the conversation that killed the last of my love. My husband, Alessandro, knew Aria had sabotaged my gear. He knew she could have killed me. Yet, he told his men to let it go. He called my near-death experience a "lesson" because I had bruised his mistress's ego. He humiliated me publicly, freezing my accounts to buy family heirlooms for her. He stood by while she threatened to leak our private tapes to the press. He destroyed my dignity to play the hero for a woman he thought was a helpless orphan. He had no idea she was a fraud. He didn't know I had installed micro-cameras throughout the estate while he was busy pampering her. He didn't know I had hours of footage showing his "innocent" Aria sleeping with his guards, his rivals, and even his staff, laughing about how easy he was to manipulate. At the annual charity gala, in front of the entire crime family, Alessandro demanded I apologize to her. I didn't beg. I didn't cry. I simply connected my drive to the main projector and pressed play.

For four years, I traced the bullet scar on Chace’s chest, believing it was proof he would bleed to keep me safe. On our anniversary, he told me to wear white because "tonight changes everything." I walked into the gala thinking I was getting a ring. Instead, I stood frozen in the center of the ballroom, drowning in silk, watching him slide his mother's sapphire onto another woman's finger. Karyn Warren. The daughter of a rival family. When I begged him with my eyes to claim me, to save me from the public humiliation, he didn't flinch. He just leaned toward his Underboss, his voice amplified by the silence. "Karyn is for power. Ember is for pleasure. Don't confuse the assets." My heart didn't just break; it incinerated. He expected me to stay as his mistress, threatening to dig up my dead mother’s grave if I refused to play the obedient pet. He thought I was trapped. He thought I had nowhere to go because of my father’s massive gambling debts. He was wrong. With shaking hands, I pulled out my phone and texted the one name I was never supposed to use. Keith Mosley. The Don. The monster under Chace's bed. *I am invoking the Blood Oath. My father’s debt. I am ready to pay it.* His reply came three seconds later, buzzing against my palm like a warning. *The price is marriage. You belong to me. Yes or No?* I looked up at Chace, who was laughing with his new fiancée, thinking he owned me. I looked down and typed three letters. *Yes.*

I was staring at the two pink lines on the plastic stick, trembling with the terrifying joy of carrying the heir to the New York underworld’s most ruthless faction. Then the intercom buzzed, and a voice splintered my world. "The little art student actually thinks I'm going to marry her? It was just a game to pass the time while you were in Europe, Estella." I froze. My boyfriend, Holden, was in the next room, laughing with the daughter of his rival. He explained that I was just a "clean civilian image" he needed to secure a business deal. Now that the deal was signed, he was dumping the "stray" to marry the "Queen." I tried to run, but freedom only lasted forty-eight hours. Holden didn't just break my heart; he turned my terror into content. He kidnapped me, tied me to a chair at the edge of a cliff, and forced me to choose between my life and his new fiancée's. Then, he pushed me off the edge. As gravity snatched me, I heard him laughing. I landed on a stunt airbag. It was just a "social experiment." A sick prank for his amusement. "Don't be so dramatic, Kenia," he called down. "It's just a game." He thought I was broken. He thought I was just a prop in his life. But he forgot that I knew his secrets. I dragged my injured body to a payphone and dialed the one number Holden told me to fear—the rival Don, Gael Simpson. "It's Kenia," I whispered, clutching the receiver like a lifeline. "I'm calling in the debt."

For seven years, I served as the eyes for Dante Vitiello, the blind Capo of New York. I pulled him back from the edge of madness, tending to his wounds and warming his bed when everyone else had given up on him. But the moment his vision returned, the years of devotion turned to ash. In a single phone call, he decided to marry Sofia Moretti for territory, dismissing me as just "the maid's daughter" and a "comfort" he intended to keep as a mistress. He forced me to watch him court her. At a gala, when a chaotic accident caused a tower of champagne glasses to shatter, Dante threw his body over Sofia to protect her. He left me standing there, bleeding from the glass shards, while he carried her away like she was porcelain. He didn't even look back at the woman who had saved his life. I realized then that I had worshipped a broken god. I had given him my dignity, only for him to treat me like a disposable bandage now that he was whole. He arrogantly believed I would stay in the penthouse, grateful for his scraps. So, while he was out celebrating his engagement, I met with his mother. I signed the severance agreement for fifty million dollars. I packed my bags, wiped my phone, and boarded a one-way flight to Australia. By the time Dante came home to an empty bed, realized his mistake, and began tearing the city apart to find me, I was already a ghost.

On our ninth anniversary, my husband Dominick didn't toast to us. Instead, he rested his hand on his mistress's pregnant belly in front of the entire crime family. I was just a debt payment to him, a ghost in a forty-thousand-dollar gown. But the humiliation didn't end in the ballroom. When his mistress, Chastity, started hemorrhaging later that night, he didn't call an ambulance. He dragged me to the family clinic. He knew I had a serious heart condition. He knew a transfusion of that magnitude could trigger a fatal cardiac event. "She is carrying my son," he said, his eyes devoid of any humanity. "You will give her whatever she needs." I begged him. I bargained for my freedom. He lied and agreed, just to get the needle in my arm. As my dark red blood flowed through the tube to save the woman destroying my life, my chest tightened. The monitors began to scream. My heart was failing. "Mr. Reyes! She's crashing!" the doctor shouted. Dominick didn't even turn around. He walked out of the room to hold Chastity's hand, leaving me to die on the table. I survived, but Annis Myers died in that clinic. He thought I would return to the penthouse and continue being his obedient, silent wife. He thought he owned the blood in my veins. He was wrong. I went back to the penthouse one last time. I struck a match. I let the room burn. By the time Dominick realized I wasn't in the ashes, I was already on a plane to London. I had left my wedding ring in an envelope, along with the medical records that proved his cruelty. He wanted a war? I would give him one.

I died on a Tuesday. It wasn't a quick death. It was slow, cold, and meticulously planned by the man who called himself my father. I was twenty years old. He needed my kidney to save my sister. The spare part for the golden child. I remember the blinding lights of the operating theater, the sterile smell of betrayal, and the phantom pain of a surgeon's scalpel carving into my flesh while my screams echoed unheard. I remember looking through the observation glass and seeing him-my father, Giovanni Vitiello, the Don of the Chicago Outfit-watching me die with the same detached expression he used when signing a death warrant. He chose her. He always chose her. And then, I woke up. Not in heaven. Not in hell. But in my own bed, a year before my scheduled execution. My body was whole, unscarred. The timeline had reset, a glitch in the cruel matrix of my existence, giving me a second chance I never asked for. This time, when my father handed me a one-way ticket to London-an exile disguised as a severance package-I didn't cry. I didn't beg. My heart, once a bleeding wound, was now a block of ice. He didn't know he was talking to a ghost. He didn't know I had already lived through his ultimate betrayal. He also didn't know that six months ago, during the city's brutal territory wars, I was the one who saved his most valuable asset. In a secret safe house, I stitched up the wounds of a blinded soldier, a man whose life hung by a thread. He never saw my face. He only knew my voice, the scent of vanilla, and the steady touch of my hands. He called me Sette. Seven. For the seven stitches I put in his shoulder. That man was Dante Moretti. The Ruthless Capo. The man my sister, Isabella, is now set to marry. She stole my story. She claimed my actions, my voice, my scent. And Dante, the man who could spot a lie from a mile away, believed the beautiful deception because he wanted it to be true. He wanted the golden girl to be his savior, not the invisible sister who was only ever good for her spare parts. So I took the ticket. In my past life, I fought them, and they silenced me on an operating table. This time, I will let them have their perfect, gilded lie. I will go to London. I will disappear. I will let Seraphina Vitiello die on that plane. But I will not be a victim. This time, I will not be the lamb led to slaughter. This time, from the shadows of my exile, I will be the one holding the match. And I will wait, with the patience of the dead, to watch their entire world burn. Because a ghost has nothing to lose, and a queen of ashes has an empire to gain.