A Doctor's Fall, A Mafia Queen's Rise
My husband, a Mafia Underboss, built me a perfect life. I was the Chief Resident at a top hospital, the accomplished Dr. Falcone. But my world shattered when a woman brought her four-year-old son to my clinic.
The boy had a rare genetic allergy—one that runs only in my family. On his intake form, his father’s name was listed as "Emilio Thomas," my husband's secret middle name. Then, my husband’s voice came through the woman’s phone, and I saw him pick them up from my office window, a perfect, secret family.
That night, at our family's most important gala, the boy ran up to me, screaming, "You're the bad lady trying to take my daddy away!" The crowd turned on me, whispering that I was the other woman. On the boy's wrist was the custom bracelet I gave my husband on our first anniversary.
When I reached for it, Emilio shoved me. I hit my head on a table, and a sharp pain ripped through my abdomen as blood soaked my dress. I lost the baby I didn't even know I was carrying—the legitimate Moretti heir. My husband turned his back on me, leaving with his other family as I bled on the ballroom floor.
He never visited me in the hospital. His mistress, Hayden, did. She gloated that she’d planned it all, and that Emilio swore he'd never have another child after their son was born. I was just a barren, placeholder wife.
But this was more than a betrayal; it was a declaration of war. That night, I stared at two pink lines on a pregnancy test I’d taken before the gala. I was six weeks pregnant with the true Moretti heir, and now, I had a weapon.
Chapters
Share
Chapter 3
Elara POV:
The two pink lines on the pregnancy test felt like a death sentence and a declaration of war all at once. This child, this tiny, impossible life, was a bond to the man I now despised. It was also a weapon. The only one I had left.
The next day, I moved through the hospital corridors in a daze. And then I saw them.
Down the hall, tucked into a small alcove, was Emilio. He was holding a weeping Hayden, his hand stroking her hair, his expression holding a tenderness I hadn't seen from him in years.
"Does she suspect anything?" Hayden whispered, her voice thick with tears.
Emilio scoffed, a sound of pure, arrogant disdain. "She trusts me completely. She's the perfect wife."
My blood ran cold. The perfect, trusting fool.
"When will I be your wife, Emilio?" Hayden pushed, her voice hardening. "When will I be your real wife?"
He sighed, a long, weary sound. "Elara is my wife. It's a blood oath, a deal between families. I can't just cast her aside. There would be a war." He paused, and his next words shattered what was left of my heart. "Think of it as penance. A debt of guilt I have to pay for everything I have."
A debt. A penance. Our marriage, our vows, reduced to a transaction he was forced to endure.
As he spoke, Hayden's tear-filled eyes lifted. They met mine over Emilio's shoulder. A slow, triumphant, malicious smile spread across her face. She knew. She had seen me. She wanted me to hear every word.
The world tilted. I wasn't his queen. I was his gilded cage. His performance of honor for the other families.
I stumbled back, the sterile white walls blurring into a haze of pain. I turned and fled, my heels clicking a frantic, panicked rhythm on the polished floor until I reached the sanctuary of my office. My hands were shaking so badly I could barely unlock the door. I collapsed into my desk chair, the world spinning, and I did the only thing that made sense. I picked up the phone and scheduled an appointment to terminate the pregnancy.
I couldn't bring a child into this lie. I couldn't let my baby be a pawn in their sick game.
A moment later, I called Ayla.
When I spoke, my voice was unrecognizable-cold steel. "Draft the divorce papers."
"Elara? What's wrong?"
"Just do it, Ayla. I want everything he swore to give the Falcone family in our marriage contract. Everything."
I hung up before she could argue. A moment later, my phone rang. It was Emilio.
His voice was warm, oblivious, sickeningly cheerful. "Cara, I need you to look your best tonight. The annual gala. It's important we present a united front."
I stared at the wall, at the faint reflection of a woman I didn't recognize. A queen with a shattered crown.
"Of course, Emilio," I said, my voice devoid of all emotion. "I'll be ready."
Let the war begin.