Three days before the blood union that was meant to bind the Colombo Family to the Falcone throne, I was struck by a speeding car. My spine shattered against the cold asphalt.
Lorenzo Falcone, the man I was supposed to marry, personally made sure the driver disappeared into a prison cell where no one could ever reach him.
But none of that mattered anymore.
Lying in the Family's private clinic, I wished I would never wake up. Anything was better than facing a future where I would never walk again.
Somewhere between the haze of pain and the pull of unconsciousness, I heard Lorenzo's voice outside my room.
Dr. Bruno spoke first, his tone heavy.
"We still have time to operate. But if we delay another few days, Serafina will be permanently crippled. If you truly want Ambra by your side, so be it. But why destroy Serafina's life?"
A long silence followed before Lorenzo let out a weary sigh.
"As long as Serafina recovers, she'll never agree to the arrangement."
His voice was calm, almost indifferent.
"But if she spends the rest of her life in a wheelchair, she'll have no choice except to stay with me."
"I promised Ambra I'd bring her into the Falcone Family."
"When the child is born, Serafina will raise it as her own. At least that way, our baby will never be mistreated."
My breath caught in my throat.
A single tear slid silently down my cheek.
So this was the truth.
The blood union I had spent years longing for had always been a lie.
The man I had loved with all my heart had never intended to make me his wife.
To him, I was nothing more than a convenient cage for another woman's child.
Fine.
If this was the future he had chosen for me...
Then I would make sure he got exactly what he wanted.
……
"Just follow the plan," Lorenzo said quietly. "Make sure the damage is permanent. She can never suspect a thing."
Dr. Bruno removed his glasses and rubbed them with a trembling hand, deliberately drawing out the silence.
"Are you absolutely certain?" he asked at last. "Serafina has already lost the use of one side of her body. If you take away her chance of ever bearing children as well... what will she have left? How is she supposed to survive in this Family after that?"
His voice dropped even lower.
"And what about the child you have with Ambra? She's already three. Anyone with eyes can see she's your daughter. If Serafina ever learns the truth, everything you've built will collapse."
Lorenzo didn't answer immediately.
He dipped a cloth into warm water and carefully wiped my dry lips, his movements impossibly gentle, as though tending to someone precious.
The tenderness made me sick.
Finally, he spoke.
"She'll never know."
His thumb slowly traced the engraved crest on his signet ring.
"As long as she can't walk, she'll spend the rest of her life inside the Falcone estate. She'll never leave those gates, and she'll never have the chance to uncover the truth."
He let out a quiet breath.
"I promised Ambra the wedding she deserves. I promised I'd watch our children grow up beside her."
"Even if she's another man's wife now, I'll make sure she never lacks for anything."
Dr. Bruno looked at me for a long moment before lowering his eyes.
"Serafina has loved you since she was a girl," he said softly. "You grew up together. She would have given you everything."
He shook his head.
"But this isn't my decision to make."
"If you've already chosen your path... I won't try to stop you."
Lorenzo's expression remained cold.
"Just make sure it's done properly."
"No visible scars. No complications."
"Operate while she's still unconscious."
"I don't want her suffering any more than necessary."
After a long hesitation, Dr. Bruno finally nodded and walked out.
The room fell silent.
Lorenzo pulled out his phone and sent a voice message to one of his soldiers.
"Did the driver disappear?"
A brief pause.
"Good."
"Make sure he sticks to the story."
"Give his family five hundred thousand and move them beyond our territory."
"Serafina can never learn this was ordered."
Another tear escaped the corner of my eye, soaking silently into the pillow beneath me.
Completely unaware that I could hear every word, Lorenzo continued bathing me with warm water.
His hands were steady.
Careful.
Almost impossibly gentle.
Yet no matter how warm the water felt against my skin, an icy chill spread through my bones.
The blood union I had waited five years for had never belonged to me.
It had always belonged to Ambra.
And the collision that shattered my body...
Had never been an accident.
Lorenzo had ordered it himself.
I was nothing more than an obstacle standing between him and the woman he truly loved.
Every promise.
Every embrace.
Every dream of a future together.
Every single one had been a lie.
I fought to open my eyes.
I wanted to scream.
I wanted to tear away every mask he wore.
But before I could move, a cold sting spread through my veins.
The anesthesia.
The ceiling lights drifted farther and farther away as the nurses wheeled me toward the operating room.
Lorenzo walked beside the gurney.
Just before the doors closed, he leaned down and pressed a featherlight kiss to my forehead.
"Rest now, Serafina."
His voice was as gentle as it had always been.
"When you wake up..."
"It'll all be over."
The surgical lights blazed overhead.
Cold steel sliced into my body.
I barely felt the pain.
My heart had already been carved to pieces.
