Chapter 1

The day I discovered my husband, Vincent, was cheating on me with my younger sister, I was seven months pregnant. I drove away in a panic, only to end up in a car accident.

When I woke up in the family’s underground clinic, Vincent was pressing a gun to his own forehead, begging me to forgive him.

My father immediately ordered Elena to leave Sicily.

From that day on, Vincent took over every family affair, big or small, never allowing me to worry about a single thing.

I never heard from Elena again.

Not until our son was suddenly hospitalized with acute pneumonia.

I rushed back to the family’s private hospital in the middle of the night.

Through the half-open hospital room door, I saw my parents and Elena, who were supposed to be thousands of miles away in Siberia.

Elena was bent over the bedside, sobbing.

"Leo is my child. Why can't he even call me Mom? Do you have any idea how much that hurts?"

Vincent wrapped his arms around her, his face full of tenderness.

"I know you've suffered, sweetheart. But if Isabella finds out that her baby actually died in that car accident, there's no telling how many people she'll drag down with her. You know what she's capable of."

I froze outside the door.

——

 Isabella's POV

"Mrs. Romano, why are you standing out here instead of going inside?"

The head of the security team approached from the other end of the corridor.

The room fell silent.

The door was suddenly yanked open from the inside.

Vincent stood in the doorway, wearing the black shirt I'd personally ironed for him, blocking my way.

"Isabella? Wasn't your arms deal supposed to wrap up tomorrow? Why are you back today?"

He stepped into the hallway and casually pulled the door shut behind him.

My fingers curled tighter and tighter at my sides.

I ignored his outstretched hand as he tried to pull me into an embrace.

Looking past his shoulder, I fixed my gaze on the narrow gap between the door and the frame.

"If I hadn't come back early, how would I have known there was such a lively gathering in there?"

Vincent's hand froze in midair.

"Baby, let me explain."

"Elena happened to have a layover in Rome. She heard Leo was sick and insisted on stopping by to see him."

"Carlo and Sophia came along to keep an eye on her. That's all."

What a perfectly reasonable excuse.

If I hadn't been standing outside that door moments ago, I might have believed him all over again.

Just then, the hospital room door swung fully open.

My stepmother, Sophia, emerged with red-rimmed eyes.

"Isabella, don't blame Vincent."

She approached me with a warm, apologetic smile, the picture of a loving mother.

"Your father and I are the ones at fault. We missed Leo so much that we secretly brought her back without telling you."

"Elena knows she made a mistake. She's spent the last five years in Siberia crying herself to sleep every night. She only wanted to see Leo once. She'll leave as soon as she's seen him."

Five years ago, she'd worn that same expression when she'd forced Elena to bow her head and swear an oath at my bedside.

I looked at them without screaming, without drawing my gun, without demanding answers.

My calmness clearly caught them off guard.

Vincent and Sophia exchanged a glance, their shoulders subtly relaxing in relief.

"Let's go inside and see Leo first."

Vincent put on his perfect-husband smile again, took my hand, and led me into the room.

Elena stood awkwardly in the corner beside the bed.

She wore an oversized men's trench coat, and her hair hung loosely around her shoulders.

"Sister..." she murmured timidly, tears still clinging to the corners of her eyes.

I didn't look at her. My gaze went straight to the little boy lying in the hospital bed.

Leo.

The son I'd raised for five years.

For him, I'd turned down countless gang wars and spent more sleepless nights than I could count. I even kept a note on my phone recording the caliber of every toy gun he owned.

Yet as I stared at his fever-flushed face, I couldn't find a single feature that resembled me.

His nose. His lips.

They were practically identical to the woman standing in the corner.

"Mommy..."

Leo suddenly scrunched up his little face in his sleep and mumbled the word.

My heart lurched. I instinctively took a step toward him.

But Elena moved first.

Carlo immediately grabbed her arm and pulled her back.

Vincent hurried to the bedside and tucked Leo's reaching hand beneath the blanket.

"He's completely exhausted."

"Elena brought him a limited-edition toy gun this afternoon. He's been thinking about it ever since."

He reached up to brush a stray lock of hair away from my face.

"Go home and get some rest, sweetheart. I'll stay with him tonight."

I glanced at Elena. She quickly looked away.

"Fine."