From Stand-In to Queen

When I woke up, the dull, crushing pain in my organs was still tearing through my nerves.

Lucas still had not come to see me. Of course, he had not. He was probably busy preparing for his wedding.

Suddenly, chaotic footsteps echoed down the hallway. I braced myself against the wall and staggered toward the door, catching fragments of hushed voices drifting through the air: "kidnapping", "Naples syndicate", "hostage exchange". Each word sent a chill down my spine.

The door was kicked open.

Lucas stood at the boundary between light and shadow. Beneath his black trench coat, the outline of a holster was visible. The man who always controlled the board with cold precision now carried a restlessness he could not fully conceal.

At the same moment, Serena's shrill, unhinged scream burst from the phone in his hand.

"Lucas! Save me! These lunatics grabbed the wrong person! They want to kill the last of the Lang family. I’m innocent! That illegitimate child isn’t mine either! They made a mistake! Give them Zoe! Hurry!"

"Take her."

Lucas ended the call. His gaze fell on me, stripped of all warmth.

The Soldati moved immediately, dragging me toward the door.

I did not resist, just staring at him in a daze.

So there was no need to weigh anything. Not even a second of hesitation. To save the woman he loved, I was a bargaining chip he could sacrifice at any moment.

…

The abandoned Sicilian port reeked of salt and decay, the sea wind heavy with iron and rust. Floodlights mounted atop shipping containers stabbed into my eyes.

Serena was bound beneath a crane tower, her makeup smeared, her elegance in ruins.

My Luna, the child I had fought so hard to bring into this world, had been tossed onto a rust-coated oil drum. Her cries shattered in the wind, each one carving into my heart.

"Let Serena go. She’s the one you’re after."

Lucas shoved me forward with one hand tucked casually into his pocket. As a Don forged in gunfire and blood, he knew exactly what would happen to me after that push.

The entire world mocked my foolish devotion, painfully clear in the cold rain of that night.

I finally understood.

I was Serena’s substitute. His plaything. Everything except a human being.

Yet I no longer cared. If it meant getting my daughter back, I would do anything.

I stumbled forward and took that cold, trembling little body from the masked thug’s hands, clutching her tightly against my chest. The warmth we shared in that moment—mother and daughter pressed together—was the last comfort I had left.

Then everything unraveled.

There was never meant to be a fair exchange.

The deal was broken without warning. A thug suddenly lunged forward, dagger flashing as it drove toward Serena, who had just been untied.

"You’re asking to die!" Lucas roared, drawing his gun, but his body reacted faster than the bullet ever could.

To shield Serena, he yanked me violently toward him and shoved me straight into the gleaming blade.

I held Luna and turned back in disbelief.

In those eyes that once consumed me, there was not a trace of remorse, only relief that Serena had been saved.

The blade sliced into my arm. Blood sprayed.

Police sirens wailed in the distance. The thugs scrambled into their vehicle, fleeing the scene without even noticing me collapsing to the ground.

All I saw were headlights growing brighter and brighter, my shadow stretching suddenly enormous before my body felt strangely weightless.

Bang.

The violent impact hurled me into the air.

Shattering pain exploded through my bones, the screech of tires ripping open a sealed corner of my mind.

Memories came crashing back like a tidal wave.

Another stormy night. Blinding high beams. Behind the windshield, a cold, shadowed face filled with murderous intent…

Lucas Vaughn.

It was him.

The car accident that stole my memory was never an accident.

I remembered.

I remembered everything.