Chapter 2

Elara's POV

I woke up in the medical ward three days later.

Sunlight cut through the blinds. The room smelled like hospital.

Dr. Enzo stood at the foot of my bed, clutching a thick stack of test results, his face ashen.

"Mrs. Mancuso..." he struggled to speak. "Your liver and stomach are shutting down. The long-term drug injections and... the punishment chamber conditions have accelerated the damage. Two months, at most."

Two months.

I stared calmly at the ceiling. No tears came. This broken body had been warning me for months, but I'd held on with pathetic hope. Now that hope was gone.

"Don't tell him," I said quietly.

Enzo's eyes reddened. "But if the Don knew..."

"He'd just think it's another one of my tricks."

Voices came from outside. Enzo stepped aside as the door opened.

Yvette walked in carrying a bowl of oatmeal, two bodyguards behind her.

"Elara, you're finally awake." Yvette set the bowl on the nightstand. "Stefano's busy with family business. He told me to look after you."

I didn't look at her, my gaze still fixed on the ceiling.

Yvette waved the bodyguards and Enzo out. When the door closed, her caring mask dropped instantly.

"You're like a fucking cockroach." She pulled up a chair, stirring the oatmeal absently. "Know what Stefano told me last night? He said he'd love nothing more than to kill you right now, but that blood oath means he has to wait for your signature."

I didn't react.

Her eyes flashed with irritation. "Oh, and I forgot to mention—I faked everything. The transfers from your accounts, the shell casings, even getting shot for him. Paid the shooter to make it look real."

I glanced at her calmly. I'd suspected as much.

She straightened up, smug. "But so what? He believes ME. All I do is shed one tear and he thinks you're pure evil. You gave him everything, and he still treats you like shit."

If this were before, I would have lunged at her, screamed the truth at Stefano.

Now I just felt empty.

"What are you smiling about?" My calm stare unnerved her.

"I'm laughing at what a pathetic idiot you are. As long as I don't sign that paper, you'll always be his dirty little secret."

"How DARE you!" Yvette's face flushed with rage. "If you don't sign that confession, there'll be a hundredth time, a hundred and first... until you DIE in that basement!"

She grabbed the scalding oatmeal and dumped it on my hand.

"SHIT!" I cried out.

"Yvette, what happened?!" Stefano burst in.

Yvette dropped the empty bowl, her voice turning pitiful. "Stefano... I was trying to feed her, but she got violent and knocked it over. She burned herself..."

Stefano's eyes fixed on my blistered hand. "Elara, how long you gonna keep this shit up? Yvette came here out of kindness, and this is how you treat her?"

"She's right." I laughed bitterly. "I AM crazy. I went crazy five years ago!"

"You—" He struck my face hard.

SLAP!

My cheek swelled instantly. Fury exploded through me. I lunged at him, clawing and fighting.

The pendant around my neck snapped during our struggle, hitting the floor.

The heart-shaped sapphire he'd given me when we got engaged. He'd said it represented his eternal love.

I reached for it instinctively.

"Still playing heartbroken?" Stefano sneered, snatching it up first. He hurled it out the window. "You don't deserve this pendant!"

I watched that blue gleam disappear outside the window. Something inside me just... broke.

"Where's the confession?" I said suddenly after a long silence.

Stefano froze.

"You want me to sign it? Bring it here. I'll sign."

His pupils contracted. He searched my face for defiance, pretense. Found nothing.

"You think signing will set you free?" He pulled out the confession and slammed it down. "Sign this, and you're no longer a Mancuso. You'll have NOTHING when you leave New York!"

I picked up the pen and signed without hesitation.

"As you wish, Stefano Mancuso." I pushed the document back. "We're done."

Stefano stared at the signed confession, his face ashen. Instead of triumph, he looked stricken.

He grabbed the document and stormed out.

Didn't even wait for Yvette.