Chapter 2

The thick bundle of cash landed on the marble with a heavy, humiliating slap.

For a moment, the elegant music seemed to disappear beneath the weight of the silence. Even the soft clatter of glasses came to an abrupt stop as every person in the banquet hall turned toward me. Wealthy socialites, powerful mafia families, influential politicians, and their wives all stared as though I had suddenly become the evening’s entertainment.

Then the murmurs began.

“Isn’t that Don Luke’s former wife?”

“I heard she completely lost her mind after her baby died.”

“How embarrassing. She must have followed him here to beg for money.”

I remained motionless, digging my nails into my palms until the pain gave me something to focus on.

Daniella, meanwhile, performed her role perfectly. She immediately moved behind Luke, one hand protectively covering her pregnant stomach while she looked at me with frightened eyes.

“Luke, please,” she pleaded loudly enough for everyone nearby to hear. “She’s frightening me. I think she’s been following us. What if she becomes jealous and tries to hurt me or the baby?”

Luke instantly wrapped an arm around her, glaring at me as though I were some dangerous animal he needed to protect her from.

Then Daniella deliberately stepped forward.

She opened her diamond-studded clutch, fumbled with it for a moment, and allowed it to slip from her hand.

“Oh, my bag,” she murmured innocently.

She bent down to retrieve it, but as she shifted her weight, the sharp heel of her stiletto came down directly on the scattered bills. Worse, the heel caught the delicate hem of my custom emerald gown and pressed it against the floor.

She leaned toward me, her expensive perfume filling the space between us.

“You’ll always be beneath my feet,” she whispered, making sure only I could hear her.

The venom in her voice dragged me straight back into the past.

I remembered the nights when Daniella used to sit crying on the edge of her bed in our mansion, convincing me that she was nothing more than a helpless orphan who had nowhere else to go. I would sit beside her, stroke her hair, wipe away her tears, and remind her that she was part of my family.

I had even bought her first designer dress.

“You’re like a real sister to me, Baela,” she had cried against my shoulder only months before everything collapsed. “I owe you everything. I could never repay what you’ve done for me. I would rather die than ever hurt you.”

I had believed every word.

I never noticed the calculating look hidden behind her tears. I never realized that while she was pretending to see me as a sister, she was already watching my husband.

I had been blind to the way she would wait until I went to bed before undoing her blouse and slipping into Luke’s private study.

And I had been just as blind when it came to Luke.

To everyone else, he was a merciless mafia Don who ruled through fear. But with me, he had always acted differently. He had been affectionate, protective, and gentle enough to make me believe I was the one person capable of reaching the man beneath his ruthless reputation.

I thought I was special.

Until the night I carried tea to his study.

The heavy wooden door was slightly open. I was about to knock when I heard the voice of his underboss from inside.

“Boss, you’re starting to look too attached to her. The men are beginning to notice.”

Luke laughed.

The sound was nothing like the warm laugh I knew. It was cold, empty, and completely without affection.

“Attached?” he scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous. Her father owed the Syndicate five million dollars. He had nothing left to offer, so he handed over his daughter instead. She was collateral from the beginning.”

My hands began trembling around the teacup.

“She actually believes this is a real marriage,” the underboss said with an amused chuckle.

“Let her believe whatever keeps her obedient,” Luke replied without emotion. “She’s nothing more than a pretty vessel for producing a legitimate heir. Once she gives me the child, I’ll get rid of her. The debt will finally be settled.”

I stood frozen in the hallway, feeling my entire world collapse around me.

Every kiss.

Every embrace.

Every promise he had whispered into my ear.

All of it had been part of a transaction.

I had never been his beloved wife. I had been a woman traded to settle a criminal debt, an incubator intended to provide him with an heir. And Daniella, the girl I had welcomed into my home and treated as family, had been waiting for the moment she could take my place.

The memory dissolved, returning me to the glittering banquet hall.

Daniella straightened, clutching her purse while hiding a satisfied smile.

Luke pointed toward the entrance.

“You heard my wife. Pick up the money and leave before I have my men throw you out.”

My blood pounded in my ears.

Three years earlier, those words would have destroyed me. I would have cried, begged, and fled from the room with my dignity in pieces.

But I was no longer the frightened woman who had once been sold to him to settle a debt.

I looked down at the crumpled bills scattered across the floor, then slowly lifted my gaze toward Luke.

This time, I did not lower my eyes.

“Keep your money,” I said calmly. “I have no use for it. I have a husband who provides everything I need.”

Daniella made a mocking sound, but I refused to acknowledge her.

“I already told you that I’m not here because of you,” I continued, my voice cool and steady. “I’m waiting for my husband. Now, if you’ll excuse me.”

I turned away.

The emerald silk of my gown swept elegantly behind me as I walked across the ballroom, leaving every one of Luke’s bills scattered on the marble.

I could feel dozens of eyes following me, but I refused to let their judgment affect me. I kept my shoulders straight and my head held high.

I had almost reached the middle of the room when a powerful hand suddenly closed around my bare arm.

Luke.

He yanked me backward so violently that I stumbled before managing to regain my balance.

Whatever polished composure he had been pretending to maintain was gone. His jaw was clenched, a muscle twitching near his cheek, while fury burned in his dark eyes.

“You actually married someone else?” he demanded, his fingers tightening painfully around my arm. His voice dropped into a dangerous whisper. “What happened to the woman who used to kneel and cry for me? What happened to all those promises that I was the only man you would ever love?”

He was waiting for me to break.

He wanted to see the frightened, devastated woman he had left behind three years ago.

Instead, I studied the furious mafia boss in front of me and slowly tilted my head.

A faint, almost wicked smile appeared on my lips.

“Perhaps I lied,” I whispered, meeting his eyes without fear. “And perhaps I cheated, too… just like you did.”