A rival family set our world on fire. They stole every child from the school, including my Angela.

My husband, Leo, promised to bring her back.

Three hours later, he emerged from the chaos... with his mistress's daughter in his arms.

"The negotiation failed. I only had time to save Crystal..."

An explosion turned my daughter to ash. A falling beam shattered my spine, and I died.

Until I woke up. Back at the beginning.

This time, when he promised to save her, I smashed a glass of whiskey in his face and seized the encrypted phone.

He failed our daughter once. I won't let him again.

This time, I'm calling my brother.

The Don of the Gallo family.

————————

1

"Julia, what the hell are you doing?!"

Leo stared at the liquor stain on his suit, his eyes cold as he snatched the phone from my hand.

"I told you I'd save Angela! What more do you want from me?!"

"At a time like this, you're making a scene?"

"Rosalie is part of our team! My plan falls apart without her!" he growled, his expression hardening.

My fingers clenched. Before I could form a reply, Rosalie glided over, her body draped in a tight silk dress.

"Julia, this is not the time for your tantrums. There are thirty-six children in that school, and they're waiting for us."

"Look at the family members outside. Do you really think now is the right time to be undermining Leo?"

With a hint of contempt in her eyes, Rosalie casually lifted her wrist, revealing the new diamond bracelet Leo had given her.

"Julia, my daughter is in there too. I need you to trust in Leo's abilities as Consigliere."

"Our methods are proven. We will save every single child."

The sight of that garish bracelet made my stomach churn.

In my last life, I’d seen the photos. Obscene pictures of her and Leo. I was already drawing up the divorce papers, but before I could take them to the family elders, the news from Angela's school broke.

Back then, I suppressed all my pain and begged Leo to save our daughter.

When the news broke that a child had been killed, I even got on my knees, begging Rosalie.

I begged her to save my daughter, telling her I was willing to let her and Leo be together.

But she just sneered, completely indifferent.

"Who needs your permission?"

"Leo was always mine. For the past few years, you were just a placeholder in his bed."

The sickening memory flooded my mind.

I took a step forward, raised my hand, and slapped her hard across the face.

"Get out!"

"I do not approve of you two going in to negotiate!"

"I demand a change in the lead negotiator!"

I shouted, then bent down to pick up my phone, only to find the call had been disconnected.

I picked it up, preparing to dial again.

But his hand clamped around my wrist in a vise-like grip.

"Julia, you've gone too far this time!"

"Apologize to Rosalie right now!"

Red welts bloomed on my wrist. I winced in pain, my eyes welling up, but I didn't back down.

In my last life, just before she was killed in the explosion, Angela had called me on her watch.

She was terrified, her voice a terrified whisper.

"Mama, the bad man lit the bomb. He said we're all going to meet God now."

"Mama, Papa had to choose one child to save... and he didn't choose me."

"Was I not a good girl? Is that why Papa doesn't like me anymore?"

My daughter's last words would haunt me, even beyond the grave.

My little girl, blaming herself because Leo didn't choose her.

This time, I won't let anything happen to Angela.

My body tensed. I held my ground.

My finger found his number again on the encrypted phone.

"Julian, I've enabled my phone's location. Have you found the address?"

Six years ago, I ran away from my life in Chicago. To escape the gilded cage of being a Gallo, I hid my name and my past. When I met Leo Moretti, I thought I’d found a new beginning. I told him I was just Julia, from a minor family, with no one to rely on but him. For him, I moved to New York City and cut ties with my old life.

I'd been gone for six years, and I knew my brother had spent every single day feeling I'd been wronged.

The Gallo family of Chicago were the uncrowned kings of the underworld.

My cold, ruthless brother was their Don.

In my last life, I called him before I died, crying that I regretted everything.

His voice was hoarse as he repeatedly asked me where I was.

Before my eyes closed for the last time, that stoic, disciplined man had wept, blaming himself for not protecting me.

Tears streamed down my face. My voice choked as I spoke to my brother.

"Brother," I'd choked out, "take me home..."

But before I could finish, my phone was knocked out of my hand again.

"Julia, have you lost your mind?!"

"Who is 'Julian'? And how do you have an encrypted line to some crew from Chicago?!"

Leo's eyes were bloodshot as he pinned me against the wall.

Behind him, one of Rosalie's sycophants—a distant Moretti cousin—chimed in.

"Leo, we can ignore the fact that Rosalie was slapped, but Julia has gone way too far!"

"You are the family's Consigliere! How dare she not trust you and try to involve outsiders!"

Leo's expression darkened with her words.

He pressed my head down, forcing me to look at the feed from the drone.

"Julia, open your eyes and look!"

"Angela has been taken by the Falcones, and they have explosives! Every second you delay, you're gambling with her life!"

"Are you trying to get her killed?!"

On the drone screen, the children were locked in a classroom.

The kidnapper had a crazed look in his eyes, and the entire room was littered with crude explosives.

I immediately saw Angela, huddled in a corner.

She was trembling with fear, clutching the Superman doll Leo had given her.

Remembering the Angela who was abandoned, the Angela who was blown to bloody bits, I gritted my teeth and held my ground.

"I have already petitioned the family elders present to demand you step aside."

"You are Angela's father. You should not be involved in this negotiation!"

Then, I pointed at Rosalie and yelled, "Her daughter is in there too! I don't trust either of you!"

"I don't trust you to save the children in that school! I don't trust you to save Angela!"

As I finished speaking, my head was suddenly shoved violently from the side.

"It's you! You're the one who provoked the Falcone family!"

"Are you trying to kill my grandson?!"

"I'll kill you, you bitch!"

A hysterical mother, a low-ranking member of the family, rushed in, her face contorted with rage.

My forehead slammed against the wall, and blood streamed down my cheek.

My vision went black, and I almost collapsed.

I heard Rosalie's voice as she stepped forward to support the woman.

"Oh, please don't... she didn't mean it... It's just that Julia's attitude was so aggressive, we missed the best window of opportunity..."

"I'm so worried about my daughter. Julia, I'm begging you, swallow your pride and let Leo do his job!"

"If you're worried, I'm willing to stay behind. Let Leo and the other members go in without me!"

As Rosalie finished speaking, she dropped to her knees.

"Julia, I'm begging you, don't stand in the way any longer!"

"My Crystal has a heart condition! She can't take this kind of stress!"

Rosalie wept, a storm of tears, her forehead red from where it had hit the floor.

I ignored her, bending down to pick up my phone. I saw my brother had sent an encrypted text.

【Julia, my Soldati are wheels up. The jet is on its way. Hold on.】

The last bit of panic in my heart dissipated, and I turned off my phone.

But Leo seized my arm.

"Have her 'escorted' to a room!"

"Watch her. We're going in to negotiate now!"

Two tall men stepped forward, dragged me into a side room, and locked the door.

I struggled desperately, panic rising in me again.

"Leo, let me go!"

"I don't trust you!"

"You'll get our daughter killed! You'll fail, and every child in that school will die because of you!"

I screamed, my wrists chafing raw and bloody.

Leo's face was grim, but his voice dripped with arrogance.

"Julia, I will bring our daughter back. Just you wait here!"

With that, he turned and left.

Rosalie followed close behind, casting a triumphant smile in my direction.

The door was shut and locked from the outside. I scrambled to my feet.

But it was no use, no matter how much I struggled.

A few minutes later, I was drenched in sweat, my heart pounding in my chest.

Just then, my phone rang.

"Mama?"

My daughter's soft whisper came over the line.

"Is Papa here to save me?"

"Mama, the bad men took all our watches. I hid mine, so they don't know."

"Mama, am I smart?"

Tears streamed down my face as I listened to her sweet, innocent voice.

"Angie, don't let the bad men see you. Hide in a corner, and stay away from those explosives!"

I frantically tried to soothe my daughter, my mind a vortex of fear.

Suddenly, my daughter's voice on the other end went silent.

Then, the sound of a child crying came through.

"Angie?!"

"Angie, what's happening over there?!"

My heart felt like it would burst from my chest as I screamed her name.

A few minutes later, my daughter's trembling voice returned.

"Mama... a teacher was shot by one of the bad men..."

"It's because Crystal called the man a 'dirty rat' and a criminal. Then the man just went crazy."

"Mama, Papa is talking to the man. The first thing he asked was, 'Where is Crystal?'..."

"Why didn't Papa ask for me first?"

My daughter's innocent question left me speechless.

Ever since Rosalie's daughter had transferred to this school, Leo had changed.

On the school's family day, he abandoned Angela and me to accompany Rosalie and her daughter.

He’d skip our daughter's school activities to attend events with Rosalie and her daughter.

I had fought with him, questioned him.

Leo's response was always dismissive.

"Rosalie and her daughter have no one else in New York. It's my duty to help them."

The memories assaulted me. I bit down hard and forced myself to stand.

"Angie, don't worry. Your uncle is on his way to save you..."

I murmured words of comfort to my daughter, and then the door was suddenly thrown open.

"That's her!"

"It's her arrogance that got your family member killed!"

Rosalie's ally pointed a trembling finger at me, her voice a shriek.

Outside the door, several people with tear-streaked faces rushed in—they were the family of the teacher who'd been murdered.

"Bitch! You killed him!"

"Why don't you just die?!"

"You should have died in his place!"

One man roared, kicking me hard in the stomach.

The people behind him surged forward, their faces twisted with a murderous hatred.

"I'll kill you!"

"Go join him in hell!"

The man slapped me across the face, and I slammed against the wall, nearly blacking out.

"What are you doing?!"

"All of you, get out!"

"Someone, pull them off!"

Just as I was about to black out from the pain, Leo's men rushed in and dragged my attackers away.

I lay on the floor, barely breathing, every inhale a wave of nausea and agony.