From Discarded Wife To The Don's Successor

or the photographers at the gala wh

ication stoppe

ital I had secretly stolen from my father to b

dn't apologize. Instead, he lured me to an em

al bed, my body broke

checking his watch, lo

the pregnancy I hadn't even told him about yet. "But

. He told me if I didn't give his mistres

I was just a boring, civilian housewife. A

idea who I

oans" I secured for him were ac

dn't talk to" was Horacio Horton, th

rrow. I let them belie

m, I reached for the phone and diale

d into the receive

Florence died

ad just returned t

pte

ce Hor

e for the photographers, forcing a smile as

ed against my thigh.

-million-dollar wire transfer from our corpo

as smiling at his secretary. It wasn't a p

eeping with her. He was financing my replacement with th

nd gripping my waist tight enough to leave

h fear, but with the violent, sudden death o

ollow sound that the pres

he treated like a prop, was the daughter of Horacio Horton. He didn't know th

about to find out he was just a

ing, thick with the stench of expensive perfu

ng water, and downed half of it. My hand went to my stomach. E

I saw

that cost more than her annual salary. My salary. She caug

was the match t

that. I waited until the speeches concluded, until Juliu

y downtown. The one Kenzie had been bragging about. She had b

owner, a nervous man na

! We weren't

he displa

. pa

collectio

rom a nearby pedestal. The weight of it felt go

e, or I start w

on. There they were. Three twisted shape

idn't cry. I just sw

ra

e shattered into a

ra

nd one e

ra

d turned

g after holding my b

aking. Not from adrenaline, but from clar

d was

nd sharp, pie

rang. It

, Florence," his voice was calm. T

" I screamed i

rehouse on the docks. The one we're

er home,

to calm down. Come meet us. W

eleton of steel and concrete by the water. A

ond-floor catwalk. Ava was sitting on

!" she

yelled, my voice echoing

n at me. "The investors called. You told them Kenzie was

anything! I built t

res. I make the deals." He pulled a small remote fro

ssed a

ground. Not nea

e had rigged

e backward. I hit the concrete har

tic and the rhythmic beep of m

sto

to my belly.

ood there.

lius said, checkin

My throat felt like

ius said dismissively. "The bla

g. A single tear leake

rence. She has leukemia. She needs a bone marrow transplant.

look at him. He wasn't gr

w," I whispered. "

be selfish. We can have anot

pped. The air

sh?" I

e room. Since you're alrea

e. He didn't even

t was the quiet sound of a lock clicking open. The lo

Florence died

for the phone on the bedside table. My f

led in a decade. A number that

g once

graveled. Old, po

," I

n, a shifting of weight. The

ore

ing home

e was no longer just a f

I said. "S

d the army,