Chapter 1

A violent shove sent me crashing to the floor. Warm blood trickled from my throbbing temple.

Before I could steady myself, a stack of documents slammed into my face.

"Sign them," my mother, Rosalyn, ordered coldly. "Alexander belongs to Chloe now. Give up your position."

I slumped against the floor, instinctively clutching my abdomen.

Memories of my past life drowned me.

The blazing yacht. I watched my husband—Alexander Rizzo, Don of the Five Families—board the sole lifeboat with my half-sister, Chloe, and my parents.

"Alexander! Save me! And our child!" I had pounded on the glass.

No one looked back.

Not a single one of them remembered I was still on that ship. 

Freezing seawater flooded the cabin. My unborn baby and I died in suffocation and despair.

But I was reborn. Reborn on the exact day I signed away my marriage and inheritance. It was also Chloe's birthday.

In my last life, my baby died with me. In this one, no one would know of its existence. It was our only way to survive.

I picked up the pen and signed my name. No hesitation.

My father, Carmine, froze. He had prepared threats, expecting me to cry.

He sneered. "Finally wised up. For five years, you were nothing but a placeholder. If Chloe hadn't left, you'd never sit in that seat."

My father continued to execute me with his words. "Do you know what Alexander did to welcome Chloe back? He specially built a new estate on Long Island to celebrate her return, complete with fifty top-tier bodyguards. And you? When you married him, he didn't even give you a decent wedding!"

"Make sure you get Alexander's signature as soon as possible. Then get out."

Chloe stood nearby, clinging to my mother. Her seemingly innocent eyes brimmed with a victor's flaunting pride.

The favored are always fearless. I, however, was born an unwanted reject.

Chloe was my father's illegitimate daughter. Her mother died in labor, and out of guilt, he gave her all his love.

My mother, twisted by his infidelity, shifted her resentment onto me.

In her absurd logic, if I had been enough to hold my father's heart, he never would have strayed. It was because I wasn't as pleasing as Chloe that I failed to earn his affection. 

But in those dark years, Alexander appeared. 

When I was bullied by everyone, dumped in the mud by my own blood, Alexander had reached out to me.

I thought he was my salvation.

I thought by marrying him, I finally had a family. 

It turns out, I had merely jumped from one hell into another.

I slipped the signed papers into my bag and walked out.

Back in the bedroom, I began packing my suitcase.

The door was pushed open. Alexander strode in. Seeing the luggage, his eyes darkened.

"This again?" He towered over me. "Chloe just got back, and you flip out? Who are you trying to threaten?"

I took a deep breath, suppressing the bitterness. Before I could speak, a frail voice drifted from behind him.

"Alexander..." Chloe tugged at his sleeve, tears slipping down her cheeks. "Did my return upset Eleanor? I shouldn't have come back. I'll just go..."

Alexander’s eyes filled with panic. He pulled her protectively into his arms. When he looked back at me, his gaze was lethal.

"Eleanor, you disappoint me. When did you become so jealous?" he snapped. He turned to the guards outside. "Keep an eye on her. She doesn't take a single step outside without my permission!"

He paused, his voice unquestionable. "Today is Chloe's birthday party. You will attend. Embarrass her, and I won't forgive you."

My nails dug deep into my palms.

Five years ago, he knelt and put a silver ring on my finger. "I'll take care of you for the rest of your life."

Now, holding Chloe's hand, there was no room in his eyes for anyone else. "A lifetime" was only valid until the day she returned.

My throat burned. I pulled out our divorce papers, hiding them beneath a standard report.

"These are... documents your subordinates just sent over. You need to sign them." My voice trembled slightly.

He frowned. "What needs to be signed right now?"

"Just routine reports."

He shot me a suspicious look. If he saw the words "Divorce Agreement", I would never walk out of this estate. Cold sweat seeped from my palms.

Suddenly, Chloe shook his arm. "Alexander, remember in school? You'd always sign my absence notes without hesitating... How come you're so hesitant over a document now?"

Alexander paused. Those memories instantly softened the cold-blooded Don's features. Without another glance at the papers, he took out his pen and signed the final page.

He didn’t know he had just signed our divorce.

He took Chloe's hand and headed downstairs. Halfway down, Chloe intentionally raised her voice.

"Alexander, weren't you too harsh? She's been with you for five years. She at least put in the effort."

His apathetic voice pierced my eardrums.

"What she sacrificed was her choice. Now that you're back, she needs to make room."

My blood froze.

When Chloe left five years ago, Alexander fell into a crazed slump. He was severely wounded in a gang shootout and refused treatment. I stayed by his bed. I endured his rages, changed his blood-soaked bandages, and held his hand through nightmares.

When he finally proposed, he said, "You're different from Chloe. You're gentler. More suited to be a wife."

I was so foolish. I actually believed that was a certificate dubbing me the perfect wife. 

Only now did I finally understand the true meaning behind those words. 

"You aren't as good as her, but you are the best substitute I can find while she's gone."

I wiped away my last tear and looked down at my slightly swelling belly.

My blood relatives treated me as an unwanted reject; my husband saw me as a disposable stand-in.

Since no one loved me, I had no reason to stay.

Once the party was over, I would vanish.

Alexander Rizzo. In this lifetime, we will never see each other again.