Chapter 1

On my due date, my husband Russell locked me in an underground freezer at minus ten degrees.

The Pembroke family's unbreakable rule: the first-born male inherits the entire mafia empire. My sister-in-law Natasha and I were both pregnant, our due dates only one day apart. To ensure his brother's child was born first, Russell made this insane decision.

"My brother and Natasha's baby has to come first—this is what you owe them!" He ignored my desperate pleas and violent contractions, coldly shoving me into the freezer.

But that wasn't enough. They forcibly injected me with labor-delaying drugs. I curled up in agony on the freezing concrete floor, feeling my baby slowly slipping away, tears of despair streaming down my face.

My baby, Mommy is so sorry...

Amelia's POV

"Let me go! The baby's coming!"

I desperately clutched the door frame in the hallway as contractions tore through my lower abdomen. My husband Russell's right-hand man Hudson expressionlessly pried my fingers loose.

"Boss's orders." He coldly dragged me toward the underground cold storage. "The cold will slow down labor. You need to wait until Natasha gives birth."

"Wait?" I stared at him in shock, amniotic fluid running down my legs. "You want me to WAIT to give birth?"

"Braylon's child must be born first. Those are the family rules." Hudson forcibly dragged me toward the cold storage entrance.

Braylon was Russell's deceased older brother, the original heir to the Pembroke family.

"Are you fucking insane?" I struggled desperately. "That will freeze my baby to death!"

"Won't kill it, just to make you hold off for a bit." Hudson pushed open the heavy iron door, and bone-chilling cold instantly hit me.

The underground cold storage - steel walls reflecting harsh white light. The air reeked of blood and mold. This was where the Pembroke family dealt with traitors.

Hudson roughly shoved me down onto the ice-cold cement floor and immediately pulled out his phone to dial.

"She's in the cold storage." He put it on speaker. "Water broke, but the cold should make her wait."

"Is she still making a fuss?" Russell's weary voice came through the phone.

Making a fuss? I stared wide-eyed.

"Russell!" I yelled at the phone. "It's me! I'm in labor!"

"Are you kidding me? Right NOW?" He said impatiently. "Natasha's about to give birth, can't you wait two hours?"

"How can I wait? I can't control when my water breaks!"

"When you climbed into my bed, weren't you good at timing?" He sneered. "Now you can't figure it out?"

That rainy night from a year ago flashed before me again - the news of Braylon's accidental death, Russell's drunken rage...

"I was just bringing you soup!" I desperately defended myself. "You were drunk, I didn't—"

"Soup?" Russell suddenly exploded. "You fucking DRUGGED the soup!"

His roar sent a shock through my entire body.

"If it wasn't for your drugs that night!" His voice was full of rage. "Braylon wouldn't have—"

"Russell... it hurts so much... I'm scared..." Natasha's painful moaning suddenly came through the phone, cutting off his words.

Instantly, his voice became tender: "Hey, I'm here. Deep breaths, just hold on."

"The baby seems eager to meet us..." Natasha smiled weakly.

"He must be brave, just like his father." Russell said gently. "You're doing great, Natasha."

These tender words cut through my heart like blades. We're both pregnant women, yet Natasha received endless love, while I...

"Russell..." I pleaded. "I need a doctor too... our baby needs help too..."

"OUR baby?" He scoffed. "You should be grateful you're pregnant, otherwise you'd already be fish food. Hudson, give her that shot."

The call ended.

Hudson took out a syringe from the medical kit, filled with milky white liquid.

"What is this?" I stared at the needle in terror.

"Something to slow down the labor." He said coldly. "To keep you quiet."

"NO!" I desperately backed away. "That will kill my baby!"

"Won't kill it, just postpone it." Hudson grabbed my arm. "You don't understand what Braylon meant to this family. If the old godfather hadn't insisted before he died that the boss marry you, this woman who came out of nowhere..."

The needle pierced my vein, ice-cold liquid flowing into my body.

"Braylon would never have died!" Hudson put away the syringe, his eyes disgusted. "The Pembroke family wouldn't have been devastated. You're nothing but a complete disaster."

The drug began taking effect. The previously regular contractions became chaotic, the excruciating pain nearly suffocating me. Even more terrifying, I felt the baby's movements weakening.

"I didn't harm him..." I weakly defended myself. "Hudson, please..."

"This is what you deserve." He coldly stood up and walked away without looking back.

I curled up on the ice-cold ground as the drug slithered through my veins like a venomous snake. Every breath brought heart-piercing agony.

"Baby..." I gently caressed my belly, tears streaming down. "Don't give up... Mommy's here..."

The baby's movements grew weaker and weaker. I could feel that little life slowly slipping away from me.

Just as despair overwhelmed me, the iron door opened again.

A woman in high heels walked in - it was Russell's sister Ellie.

She held a leather whip in her hand as she approached me.

"I heard you were causing trouble?" She tilted her head with a cold smile. "My brother sent me to teach you what 'keeping quiet' means."