Chapter 1

The whole underworld thinks I conned eight Dons out of their money.

And tonight, they all get to watch me get thrown out of the Bellamy Family.

I am standing in the middle of Vivienne Bellamy's welcome-home party.

She is the real daughter.

I'm the fake one.

Dante Bellamy, the man I've called Dad for twenty years, stands in front of hundreds of guests.

Then he reads the statement.

I'm no longer part of the Bellamy Family.

I don't get to carry the Bellamy name anymore.

Just like that.

Vivienne has tears in her eyes as she holds onto Celeste's arm.

Celeste Bellamy.

The woman I've called Mom for twenty years.

She's looking at me like she can't stand the sight of me.

Vivienne looks straight at me.

"My sister has completely humiliated the Bellamy Family."

"The eight Dons are all demanding their money back now."

"How is she going to pay them?"

Everyone in the party looks at me.

Nobody even bothers to hide their disgust.

Then Celeste picks up her wine and throws it in my face.

"You shameless little bitch!"

"Go apologize to the eight Dons right now!"

"Don't make the Bellamy Family deal with your mess!"

Cold wine runs down my face.

I look at her.

Something cracks open in my chest.

She used to sit beside my bed all night when I had a fever.

She used to be my mother.

For twenty years.

And now?

One glass of wine.

That's what those twenty years are worth.

I wipe my face.

"Fine."

"Consider it paid in full — twenty years, for one glass of wine."

There are eight debt notices on the table. One from each Mafia Family.

I pick up the top one.

It's from the Quinn Family.

I tear it in half.

Right in front of everyone.

Then I take out my phone.

The eight Dons all sit in one group chat.

I send them a voice message.

"You've got some nerve."

"You actually sent me a debt notice?"

The room goes dead silent.

A few seconds later, Vivienne laughs.

She looks at me like I'm pathetic.

"You've already been kicked out of the Bellamy Family."

"Who are you trying to fool?"

"Do you even know who the eight Dons are?"

"And who the hell are you?"

"You're really desperate, huh?"

Dante slams his hand on the table.

"Get her out."

"She's not a Bellamy anymore."

"From now on, whatever she owes out there is none of our business."

I look at him.

I thought I'd be fine.

Apparently, twenty years doesn't disappear just because someone says, "You're out."

Don't cry, I tell myself.

I reach up and unclasp the diamond necklace, then throw it on the ground.

My earrings come off next.

Then my bracelet.

Then my hairpiece.

One by one.

I let everything go.

Finally, I take off the Bellamy ring.

I stare at it in my hand.

I still remember my eighteenth birthday.

Dante put this ring on my finger himself.

He told me I was the daughter he was most proud of.

Now he looks at me like I'm something he needs to scrub off.

I throw the ring at his feet.

"Here."

"It's yours."

I look him straight in the eye.

"We're even now."

Dante freezes.

For a second, I see something change in his face.

Maybe regret.

Maybe hesitation.

Who knows?

Celeste's eyes are on my hair too — undone now, without the piece.

She looks shaken for a second.

Then Vivienne suddenly leans into her arms.

"Mom…"

"Is she still mad at me?"

"Is she mad because I came back and took my place?"

Celeste hugs her tighter.

Then she looks at me again.

Completely cold.

"You had Vivienne's place for twenty years."

"And you're still acting like the victim?"

My hands curl into fists.

Funny — everything they once gave me, they're now using to cut me down.

Vivienne sees that I still haven't completely broken down.

She has someone turn on the big screen in the middle of the room.

"Let everyone see where this fake daughter is going after she leaves the Bellamy Family."

The huge screen lights up.

It's a run-down building outside the city.

A broken sign hangs over the front.

Hayes Recycling Center.

In the middle of a muddy yard, a man and a woman in old work clothes are digging through cardboard and scrap metal.

The woman takes the only pair of work gloves and puts them on the man's hands.

Her own hands are red from the cold.

People start laughing.

"So that's where she's going?"

"No wonder she loves money so much. Look at the family she came from."

I stare at the screen.

Those two people are my biological parents.

Vivienne puts on a look of fake sympathy.

"Those are your real parents, Scarlett."

"They scrape together a living picking through trash and selling whatever’s worth a few bucks."

"After you leave the Bellamy Family, how are they supposed to help you pay the eight Dons?"

Celeste looks disgusted.

"A child carrying the blood of people like that…"

"Even after twenty years in the Bellamy Family, you still can't change what's bred into her."

That hurts. Badly.

Those two people didn't do anything to anyone.

They're being humiliated just because they gave birth to me.

I look at Celeste.

"You used to tell me something."

"You said money doesn't decide a person's worth."

Her face stiffens.

"That was before I knew your real parents were like this."

My voice gets louder.

"What did they do?"

"They work for what they have."

"They've never stolen a thing."

"Never cheated anyone."

"Never hurt a soul."

"And they don't owe anybody anything."

Silence falls over the room again.

Dante points at the door.

"Get out!"

"If you think they're so great, then go live with them!"

"Go run that crappy recycling center with them!"

My eyes burn, but I refuse to cry.

I walk to the door, then stop for just a second, waiting.

I'm waiting for someone to call me back.

But no one does.

Behind me, Vivienne starts crying.

Celeste starts comforting her.

That's it.

Whatever part of me still wanted this family is finally dead.

I walk outside.

It's pouring.

One of the guards picks up a black umbrella.

He starts to hand it to me.

Then Dante speaks.

"That belongs to the Bellamy Family."

The guard stops.

I let my hand fall.

Then I walk into the rain alone.

My dress is soaked in seconds.

I don't look back.

[The Eight Dons' POV]

Far away, inside a private training facility with almost no outside signal, eight young Dons are crowded around one phone.

The signal finally comes back.

My voice message pops up in the group chat.

"You've got some nerve."

"You actually sent me a debt notice?"

The message plays for barely a second — and the whole room goes tense.