A Capo's Anniversary of Ashes

Blood trickled down my forehead. I stared at Dante in disbelief.

But his eyes were only for Chloe.

"Chloe, are you okay?"

Chloe feigned unconsciousness, her eyes squeezed shut.

Dante grew anxious, desperate to rush her to the hospital.

"Dante!" I grabbed his arm, pointing to the blood matting my hair. "Shouldn't I be the one going to the hospital?"

"Besides, Chloe hasn't told us where Sofia is. She's only five…"

But Dante irritably flung my hand away.

My head slammed against the marble table. A fresh wave of blood bloomed across the fabric of my white dress, staining it crimson.

He didn't even glance at me. Instead, he continued his tirade.

"Scarlett! Haven't you caused enough trouble? You're the one who hid Sofia!"

"Besides, Chloe has already fainted. What more do you want from her?"

"If anything happens to Chloe, I swear, we are done!"

Dante helped Chloe up from the floor and rushed out, leaving me on the verge of collapsing from blood loss.

Three minutes later, he returned.

Just as a sliver of hope sparked that he'd found his conscience, he locked the door from the outside.

"Chloe is badly hurt. To keep you from causing more trouble while I get her to the hospital, I have to lock you in here."

He knelt, his hand cool as he caressed my bloody face.

"Don't worry, Scarlett. Even though you're old and boring, you're still the one I love most."

"Just behave yourself, stop bothering Chloe, and maybe, after I get tired of her, we can go back to being a family."

Dante left. My phone chimed.

A text from an anonymous number flashed on the screen. "Scarlett, you'll never find that little brat! Dante and his fortune are mine, and mine alone. Soon, I'll send you and your daughter to join each other in hell!"

Fortune? What the hell was she talking about?

Seven years ago, to solidify an alliance, my father arranged my marriage to Dante, who was just a low-level Soldato. I made him a Capo and put him in charge of our family's most profitable nightclubs.

Everything Dante possessed, he had because of me. What fortune could he possibly have that I didn't already own?

Before I could process it, the sound of a child crying echoed from the adjoining room.

"Papa, Mamma, where are you? It's so dark... Sofia's scared..."

It was my daughter's voice.

I scrambled to my feet to rush to her, but a Molotov cocktail skidded under the door.

It ignited the sofa, and flames devoured the room in seconds.

I poured the last of my mineral water over myself and charged into the fiery anteroom, only to find a phone on a table, playing a video.

In the video, Dante carried my crying daughter and shoved her into the trunk of Chloe's car.

They drove her to an unknown warehouse.

My daughter's small body was curled into a ball as she cried out for her Papa.

No one answered.

My heart shattered. I snatched the phone, intending to escape, but the door had been chained shut from the outside.

The air vents were sealed.

As the fire raged, I knew I had one chance.

I smashed a crack in the bulletproof glass and screamed to the street below.

"I am Scarlett Moretti!"

"Dante Romano and his whore are trying to burn me alive! Help me find my daughter!"