Chapter 1

I used to think I had the perfect family.

My husband Nico started coming home less and less, always saying he had a meeting. But the truth was, he had another woman, Alessia. And it had been going on for a while.

The affair I could've handled. What really killed me was that my son Leo and my daughter Mia had known all along. They'd even started calling his mistress "Mom."

They thought I was clueless. But I'd known for months, his assistant had told me everything.

I tried so hard to win them back. I did more for them, cared more, tried harder. But they kept choosing Alessia.

That day, I stopped trying.

They could all have each other—Nico, Alessia, Leo, Mia.

I hoped they'd be happy together.

...

"Miss, the extraction route has been confirmed." The voice on the phone was cold, professional.

"But I need final confirmation," he continued. "Once we initiate the plan, Riley Volkov will cease to exist in this world."

I stared down at the cancer diagnosis in my hands. Stage four. The doctor said if I did treatment, there was still a chance. If I didn't, I had a month. Maybe less.

"I'm sure," I said, tears filling my eyes.

"Understood. Countdown begins in five days. Good luck, Miss Bennett."

Miss Bennett. The name sounded foreign after all these years. I'd been Mrs. Volkov for so long I'd almost forgotten who Riley Bennett was. Just another canary in Nico's golden cage.

The line went dead.

I set my phone down and stared at the painting on my study wall, the one Mia had made last month. Four people holding hands, all smiles and sunshine. The perfect family portrait.

Except the longer I looked at it, the more my chest tightened.

Because the woman in that painting, the mother standing beside Nico, didn't look anything like me.

It was Alessia.

A crushing pain gripped my chest.

When I first found out about the affair, my instinct was to run. Take Leo and Mia, file for divorce, start over somewhere far away.

But then came the diagnosis.

Divorce took time. Custody battles took time. And time was the one thing I didn't have. I could spend my last month alive drowning in legal paperwork, watching my children slip further away while lawyers argued over who got what.

Or I could disappear.

Fake my death, vanish completely. Use whatever time I had left to get treatment somewhere Nico couldn't find me.

I closed my eyes and imagined Nico's face when he got the news.

He'd be devastated, I knew he would.

He'd feel guilty. I knew he would. His love for me had been real—I'd always felt it. But guilt wouldn't make him faithful.

In the mafia world, a boss whose wife died under his watch? That was weakness and shame. Nico would hate himself for it, and that guilt would make him pour everything into protecting Leo and Mia.

And that was enough.

If I beat this thing, I'd come back.

If I didn't... then at least I'd die knowing they were safe.

My mind drifted back to our wedding day. Nico had been a mess, hands shaking so badly he could barely slide the ring onto my finger.

He'd leaned in close, breath warm against my ear, and whispered with more conviction than I'd ever heard from him: "I promise I'll always stay by your side."

He never forgot our anniversary. Every year, flowers arrived without fail. Thoughtful gifts wrapped in expensive paper.

He told anyone who'd listen that I was his everything, that he'd never love anyone else. He put my name on properties, businesses, bank accounts, marked me as his in every way that mattered.

And despite running half the criminal underworld, he still made time for us. Parent-teacher conferences. School plays. Family vacations where he'd actually turn off his phone and just be Dad.

I really thought we had it all.

Turned out it was just smoke and mirrors. Beautiful and fragile, gone the second you reached for it.

I sat down at my desk and opened my phone. There was a video saved there, sent anonymously a few weeks ago. I had a pretty good idea who'd sent it.

I pressed play.

Nico was sitting on a couch in some apartment I didn't recognize. Alessia was curled up against him.

And there, gathered around her like she was the center of their universe, were Leo and Mia.

"Look at what Alessia mommy got me!" Leo was practically vibrating with excitement, holding up a toy gun. It was one of those realistic replica ones. I'd banned those years ago, too violent, too dangerous for a child.

"Alessia mommy's the best!" Mia chimed in, squeezing a giant stuffed animal.

Her smile was so bright it physically hurt.

Every word landed like a blade between my ribs.

Nico looked at them with such open affection, the kind of look he used to save for me. He leaned down and murmured something in Alessia's ear. She giggled, pressing herself closer to his chest.

Like they were already a family. Like I was never part of the picture at all.

The pain in my chest shifted from sharp to dull. The kind you felt when something inside you died and left nothing but hollow space behind.

Ten years of my life poured into this family. I'd given up my career, filed down every rough edge of my personality until I was exactly what Nico wanted me to be.

And for what?

Betrayal.

"Nico, if loyalty means nothing to you," I whispered, "then I hope guilt keeps you company for the rest of your life."

I'd let Nico have his precious Alessia, let Leo and Mia have the mother they'd already chosen in their hearts.

I'd hand them the "perfect family" they'd always wanted.