Chapter 1

Vivienne’s POV

On the day I was supposed to give birth, I was kidnapped on my way to the private clinic owned by the Valcrest family.

At first, I thought one of Alex's enemies had taken me. My husband, Alex Valcrest, ruled one of the most powerful mafia syndicates in the country, and kidnapping his pregnant wife would be the perfect way to strike at him.

I was wrong.

They cut my son from my womb.

My screams bounced off the damp concrete walls of an abandoned warehouse as several men pinned me to a metal table. I fought until my nails broke and my throat went raw, but it made no difference. They forced me to watch as one of them pressed a pillow over my newborn son's face.

He was so small.

His little hands had barely unfurled.

He had not even opened his eyes.

By the time they laid his tiny, lifeless body in my arms, I thought I had finally gone mad.

Then Alex arrived with his men.

The warehouse exploded into chaos. Gunfire thundered through the building. Men shouted. Bodies hit the floor. I vaguely saw black-suited soldiers carrying assault rifles while Alex strode through the carnage like death itself.

He reached me within seconds.

His hands trembled as he gathered me against his chest. He kissed my forehead, my hair, my tears, and kept repeating that I would be all right, that we could have another child, that he would make everyone responsible pay.

I believed him.

Even as blood soaked my clothes and darkness swallowed me whole, I believed every word.

I did not know how long I remained unconscious.

When I finally woke, I found myself in a hospital room I knew all too well. The Valcrest family crest was engraved on the gold-plated lamps, and the familiar scent of antiseptic lingered in the air.

I kept my eyes closed.

Voices drifted in from the corridor.

"...What you did was insane, Alex."

I knew that voice.

Damon Moretti.

Alex's underboss and the man who had served at his side for over a decade.

"Kidnapping your own wife and killing your own son?" Damon continued in disbelief. "I've seen plenty of monsters in our world, but even I didn't think you would go this far."

My heart stopped.

This had to be a nightmare.

Some horrible hallucination brought on by blood loss and medication.

But Damon kept talking.

"When you stormed into that warehouse with your men, I almost thought you'd changed your mind."

I heard the soft clink of a glass.

Then came Alex's calm, emotionless voice.

"I was never going to hurt you, Damon. Isabella needed to believe I saved her with her own eyes."

I forgot how to breathe.

"Besides," he continued, "I promised Bianca that no one would ever replace her son as my heir. Isabella's baby couldn't be allowed to live."

Every muscle in my body turned to ice.

My husband had orchestrated everything.

He had kidnapped me.

He had murdered our son.

And he had done it for Bianca.

Bianca Romano.

The woman who had abandoned him three years ago.

Damon exhaled heavily.

"You already used the baby's blood to save her kid. Wasn't that enough? Why did you have Dr. Rinaldi make sure Isabella can never have another child?"

My hand slowly moved beneath the blanket and settled over my stomach.

No wonder the pain wouldn't stop.

No wonder I felt as though something had been taken from me besides my son.

"Bianca's boy carries my blood," Alex said flatly. "He was dying. The transfusion was his only chance."

I squeezed my eyes shut.

"And I have no reason for Isabella to bear more children when I already have Bianca."

The words sliced through me.

For a moment, I wanted to throw open the door and ask him to say it again.

I wanted to look into his eyes while he admitted he had destroyed our family.

But I could not move.

I lay there, frozen beneath the blankets, listening to the man I had loved become a complete stranger.

"I still think you've gone too far," Damon muttered. "You killed your own child and forced her to watch. What happens if she ever learns the truth?"

"She won't."

Alex's answer came immediately.

"You knew the plan from the beginning. Everything had to look real. Bianca only disappeared because she found out she was pregnant and panicked. She was always the woman I wanted."

Silence followed.

Then he laughed softly.

"And even if Isabella somehow discovers everything, what can she do? She's an orphan. She has no family, no connections, and nowhere to go. She has no one except me."

"Lower your voice," Damon warned. "You'll wake her."

"The sedatives will keep her unconscious for hours."

I heard footsteps.

"I should go see Bianca and my son."

My son.

That was what he called the child he had with another woman.

The footsteps faded.

The corridor became silent.

I slowly opened my eyes.

A strange calm settled over me.

I forced myself into a sitting position.

Agony ripped through my body.

My stitches burned.

Blood seeped through the bandages.

None of it compared to the pain in my chest.

I folded in on myself and clutched my empty stomach.

I could still see my baby's face.

I could still hear the faint, desperate cries that had lasted only a few seconds.

How could Alex do this to me?

I had loved him with everything I possessed.

Three years ago, when Bianca left him, he had destroyed half the furniture in his penthouse and nearly put a bullet through his own head.

I had been the one who stopped him.

I stayed beside him while he rebuilt his empire.

I became his wife.

I carried his child.

I trusted him with every piece of my heart.

And he had repaid me by using my son's death to save another woman's child and stealing my ability to ever become a mother again.

Alex was right about one thing.

I was an orphan.

But I was not powerless.

With shaking fingers, I reached into the drawer beside my bed and pulled out a phone I had hidden there months ago.

There was only one number saved.

I pressed call.

The line connected after a single ring.

A deep voice filled my ear.

"Well. This is unexpected."

I closed my eyes.

It had been three years since I had heard that voice.

"To what do I owe the honor, sweetheart?"

"I'll accept your offer."

Silence.

Then a low chuckle.

"Have you finally come to your senses?"

My fingers tightened around the phone.

"But I have one condition."

"I'm listening."

I looked at the dark window across the room.

I no longer recognized the woman reflected in the glass.

"Help me destroy Alex Valcrest and everything he has built."

A long pause followed.

Then the man laughed.

Slowly.

Dangerously.

"Now that's an invitation I can't refuse."

I swallowed hard.

"When can you come for me?"

"Whenever you ask."

I stared at the moonlight spilling across the floor.

"Seven days."

"I'll be there."

The call ended.

I lowered the phone.

Something inside me had died in that warehouse alongside my son.

In seven days, I would leave the Valcrest family forever.

And before I disappeared, I would make certain that every person who had stolen my child learned exactly what kind of monster a grieving mother could become.