When I awoke, the burns on my hand had been treated. I wasn't in the basement. I was in a clean, sterile-smelling room.
"So, you're finally awake," Julian said, his voice flat as he strode into the room. He gripped my chin and forced a bowl of incredibly bitter medicine down my throat. His rough handling made me choke, tears streaming down my face.
He sneered. "Don't give me that pathetic look, Cassie. You may not have pulled the trigger, but your father and your family committed the atrocity. You will bear the weight of their debt."
On the day he stormed our estate, he had slaughtered every core member of the Argento family. He hadn't even spared the child I had just conceived—his own flesh and blood. And yet, he let me live.
I never understood why—love or hate. I had long since concluded it was hate.
I wiped the dregs of medicine from my lips. Before I could speak, an excited voice called from the doorway. "Don Julian! We've just received confirmation—the Donna is pregnant! You must come quickly!"
Julian froze for a heartbeat, then shot up, his face alight with a joy I had never seen. "Vanessa… she's really pregnant?"
I stared at him, at the genuine happiness of a father-to-be blooming on the face of my tormentor.
A sharp pain pierced my chest. My body was failing faster.
That afternoon, the excited chatter of maids and guards carried every detail of Julian and Vanessa's celebration to my ears. He lined the winter paths with out-of-season roses and set off fireworks that felt like petty insults. He had even arranged a new surprise for her every five minutes.
I was fading quickly, my only wish to be left to die in peace. But Julian granted me permission to leave my room on one condition: I was to serve as Vanessa's personal attendant. He always knew the cruelest way to twist the knife.
In Vanessa's bedroom, I held a bowl of medicine, my face a blank mask. I scooped up a spoonful and brought it to her lips.
She didn't move, just stared at me with pure, undisguised hostility, her mask of civility stripped away. "You must hate me, Cassie."
Vanessa had been a street orphan. My father found her on the streets, a bullied, starving girl, and took her in while inspecting his territory. When our enemies came for us, she was the first to turn traitor.
The first time he locked me in the basement, she had visited me. "Your brother brought this on himself," she'd hissed. "He dared to reject me—as if he were too good for me. Since he shattered my heart, I decided to shatter his entire world. Your family deserved everything they got."
So that was it. A petty, rejected heart had brought down a dynasty.
