Chapter 3

The dead hush of dawn was brutally split by the sound of porcelain shattering down the second-floor hallway.

I jolted awake from a blood-soaked nightmare, grabbing a tissue to wipe the dark red blood streaming from my nostrils.

I’d barely recovered from coughing up a pool of clotted blood when Marcus stormed over to me. He seized my collar roughly, yanking me off the cold floor like I was a tattered rag doll.

“You witch! What the hell did you inject Ivy with?” His eyes blazed crimson with unbridled rage, his roar ringing loud enough to make my eardrums throb. “She’s barely conscious from the agony!”

I didn’t even get a single word of explanation out before he dragged me down the hallway. Every harsh tug wrenched my failing insides, the pain so crippling I could barely draw breath.

Bang!

He hurled me hard into Ivy’s bedroom like I was a heinous criminal, and I crashed painfully onto the tile beside her bed.

I bit down hard on my lip to swallow the metallic blood rising in my throat, forcing my head up.

An absurd, dramatic scene unfolded across the oversized velvet bed.

“It hurts so bad… Marcus, it feels like my heart’s splitting open,” Ivy whimpered, leaning weakly against the headboard with glist teetering on her lash line.

The irony was sickening. Under the effects of my Aphrodite serum, her skin glowed with a breathtaking rose-gold radiance—stunningly flawless, not a single trace of a dying, suffering woman in sight.

Marcus clutched her hands tight, his face swimming with raw, unmasked distress.

“Mom, did you poison that shot?” Eleven-year-old Leo spun to face me, glaring as if I were his sworn enemy. He took a step back, pinching his nose in undisguised revulsion. “You always reek of those disgusting lab chemicals! You’re just jealous Aunt Ivy’s prettier than you, so you hurt her on purpose, aren’t you?”

A sharp stab tore through my chest. This was my own son—the boy I’d slaved eleven years for in toxic labs to build a safe, secure future for.

“Valentina, what twisted game are you playing?” Don Carmine slammed his cane hard against the carpet, fire blazing in his eyes. “Ivy’s always had a fragile constitution! What cheap, dangerous garbage did you pump into her?”

“Sis, don’t be mad at everyone,” Ivy trembled, snuggling deeper into Marcus’s chest on cue. “It’s just that I’m not worthy of such a precious gift from you.”

Isabella rushed over to cradle her instantly, shooting me a venomous glare. “What are you still standing around here for? Get back to your lab and mix up a milder dose right now!”

Every single person in the room pointed their blame straight at me.

Once, I would’ve lost my mind screaming, slamming lab test reports down to prove the serum held no poison, crying about all the sacrifices I’d made for this family.

But watching their tight, united little family act play out before me, all I felt was bitter absurdity.

The iron tang of blood flooded my throat again. I swallowed it down, a cold, hollow smile tugging at my lips.

“The serum works exactly as intended. Temporary cellular strain is a natural side effect during tissue reconstruction.” My voice was flat, devoid of any emotion. “If all of you are this worried about her safety, I’ll hand over full top-tier access to the entire Ghost lab to Ivy too.”

The air in the room turned stone cold.

Marcus froze, a flicker of greedy delight flashing across his face quickly masked by suspicion. “You’re truly willing to give up control of the whole lab?”

“Of course.” I stepped forward and set the lab’s master key lightly on the nightstand beside her bed—the key that held dominion over the mafia’s entire fortune. “This way, Ivy can brew any compound she wants whenever she likes, with zero risk of me tampering with her doses ever again.”

Don Carmine snapped out of his shock first, his fury melting into blatant approval. “You’re finally acting like a proper elder sister! We’ll rest easy knowing Ivy’s in charge of the lab now.”

Rest easy?

I stared at my father’s fake, performant grin, sneering silently to myself inside my head.

Did they honestly think anyone could walk into that lab full of lethal fumes and hidden precision explosives and take command without a single ounce of specialized training?

“This is amazing!” Leo leaped onto the bed and threw his arms around Ivy’s neck. “Aunt Ivy, you’re gonna be my new mom soon, right? I won’t have to deal with my cold, work-obsessed birth mom anymore!”

Ivy shot me a triumphant side glance, barely holding back a smug grin before putting on a timid, bashful tone. “Leo, don’t say such silly things. She’s still your mother after all…”

I cut her fake performance short, looking down at the boy from where I stood. “I’ve already agreed to it.”

Leo whipped his head around, stunned.

“You’ve always wanted a soft, gentle mom who sits down to every meal with you, haven’t you?” A faint, icy smile crossed my face, no warmth in my eyes whatsoever. “Starting today, she’s your real mother.”

Wild joy exploded across Leo’s face. “You’re the best mom ever! Thank you, new Mom!”

He clung tightly to Ivy’s frame, while Marcus and my parents watched the sickeningly sweet mother-son display with pure, unadulterated relief and fondness.

A violent wave of dizziness crashed over me, warm blood pouring uncontrollably from my nose again. I twisted my back to them, swiping the glaring red stain away with the back of my hand, and walked out without glancing back once.

Go ahead, revel in this stolen happiness for all it’s worth.

I pulled the bedroom door shut, sealing their hollow, cheerful laughter far behind me.

They had no clue Aphrodite held a second meaning in Ancient Greek: the goddess of vengeance, who brings ruin and catastrophe to all who wrong her.

Crowns seized through thievery will always grow poison thorns that pierce straight through the skull.