I've been married to Salvatore Falcone for seven years.

He's a mafia Don who drills raw terror into everyone's minds. While I'm the Donna whom he has announced to the world, in truth, I'm just a mistress who serves as his human shield that can warm his bed on the side.

Salvatore has betrayed me countless times over the past seven years.

The first betrayal occurred when he took my ring off on our first wedding anniversary and gave it to one of the escorts in the clubhouse on a whim.

The second betrayal occurred when I collapsed in the kitchen out of exhaustion. Instead of saving me, Salvatore blamed me for not preparing the hangover tonic for him in time, so he had someone dump iced water onto me to wake me up.

The third betrayal occurred when I suffered from massive bleeding when I was five months pregnant. When I begged Salvatore to go to the hospital with me, he told me that he was keeping Valentina Caruso, his childhood sweetheart, company while her cat was getting fixed.

For 2500 days, I swallowed all of my grievances, agony, and tears.

Last night, at the banquet of our seventh wedding anniversary, Salvatore had taken Valentina's hand and sat her down on the Donna's throne that was meant to be mine.

At that moment, everyone looked forward to seeing me humiliate myself.

This was the 101st time he betrayed me.

After the banquet was over, Salvatore didn't even bother looking me in the eye. He just said icily, "Don't forget that you're only a mistress to me despite our marriage."

At the crack of dawn, Salvatore wakes up with a hangover. He tosses his soiled shirt at me out of habit.

"Wash this shirt immediately. I'm going to wear it tonight."

As I gaze at him, I caress my belly, which is slightly swollen.

"Sorry, Mr. Falcone. This is no longer my duty."

Salvatore most likely has forgotten that we've signed a contract when we first got married. The clause states that we will get divorced seven years later.

Today is the third day before our contract comes to an end.

I toss the marriage certificate and the pregnancy report into the shredder on the spot.

In three days, my unborn baby and I will disappear from Salvatore's world permanently. This time, I will never look back.

Salvatore Falcone froze, then anger lit his eyes.

He strode forward and grabbed my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze. "What the hell is wrong with you, Alessia Santoro?"

I ignored the sharp pain in my jaw. Instead, I lifted his shirt and tossed it onto the floor.

Salvatore's eyes darkened instantly. "Looks like you want another trip to the basement."

The basement was dark and damp. It was filled with snakes and spiders that slithered across me whenever I woke up.

Any hint of disobedience meant being locked down there. Sometimes it was for three days. Sometimes it lasted for a month.

I used to be terrified. But now, I simply looked at him. There was no emotion in my eyes.

My silence seemed to enrage him further. Just as he raised his hand to hit me like he always did, a sugary voice drifted down from the staircase. "Salvatore, what got you all worked up this early in the morning?"

Valentina Caruso slowly descended the stairs wearing my nightgown.

That nightgown was the first and only gift Salvatore had ever given me. Now, it was on another woman's body.

Salvatore let go of me. The dark expression on his face immediately softened.

Valentina walked straight to the Donna's seat and sat down as if it belonged to her.

"This really is the best seat," she said.

Salvatore watched the scene unfold and said nothing. He silently allowed her behavior.

The housekeepers nervously brought out breakfast.

Valentina picked up the bowl of hot oatmeal, but didn't take a bite. Instead, she turned her gaze toward me.

"Alessia, don't be upset with Salvatore. He's just got a temper," she said, raising the bowl as if she were about to hand it to me.

Suddenly, her hand tilted, and the scalding oatmeal spilled onto the back of my hand.

"Ah!" Valentina cried out as if she were the one burned.

The scalding pain shot through me. Two blisters swelled on the back of my hand almost instantly.

Salvatore rushed forward, gripping Valentina's hand to inspect it. "Are you hurt? Let me cool it."

Valentina shook her head, her eyes glossy with tears.

"I'm fine. I just… spilled Alessia's breakfast," she said, glancing at my injured hand. "Alessia, is your hand okay? It's all my fault. I was careless."

Salvatore finally looked at my hand and frowned. "Don't think you can win my sympathy with that pitiful look. Clean this up!"

I lowered my gaze to my swollen hand, but I couldn't feel the stinging pain.

My heart had gone numb.

Seven years ago, my brother, Nicola Santoro, had gotten into an accident. His treatment required medicine that cost a fortune.

Salvatore had appeared out of nowhere. He said he could save Nicola, but I would have to become his wife—a nominal Donna.

We agreed to a seven-year contract.

Once it ended, he promised he wouldn't interfere with my life.

Now that Nicola's treatment was almost finished, I had reached out to a high school friend. Once the agreement expired, I would leave with him.

All I had to do was endure Salvatore until the day the contract ended.

I was about to tend to my hand when Valentina spoke again. "Salvatore, there's a charity auction tonight. I'd love to go check it out."

She leaned against him before flicking her eyes to me. "As the Donna, you should show up too, Alessia. People would talk if you don't."

The blisters on my hand had begun to ooze blood. Cold sweat dripped from my forehead.

Clutching my wrist, I refused coldly, "I'm not going. I need to get this treated at the hospital."

Salvatore's frown deepened. "It's just a scratch. Don't be dramatic."

"Just a scratch?" I asked, staring at my ruined hand. "Is anything short of death just a scratch to you, Don Falcone?"

I turned to leave, refusing to look at the two of them again.

Salvatore's voice rang out from behind me. "Alessia, stop right there!"

He stepped in front of me, blocking my way. "You are going to that auction. It's your responsibility as the Donna. Are you telling me you want to give up that title?"

It was a blatant threat.

He knew I couldn't risk losing the title while Nicola still needed care.

I had no choice but to give in until he's out of danger. "Fine. I'll go."

On the way to the auction, Valentina sat beside me in the car.

"Alessia, Salvatore said you're like a corpse in bed. He only married you for your pretty face. But after seven years, even that gets boring," she said, voice dripping with mockery. "He needs a woman like me. Someone who actually knows how to keep a man interested."

I closed my eyes. I was too tired to entertain her chatter. My thoughts were focused on the escape plan three days from now.

Right after breakfast, my high school senior, Luca Bellini, messaged me.

Everything was in place. As long as I could board the ferry, Nicola and I would finally be free.

When the car reached a highway on the outskirts of the city, another vehicle suddenly rammed straight into us. The car instantly lost control and slammed into the roadside guardrail.

Then, a storm of gunfire erupted.

I instinctively covered my lower abdomen with my hand as the force of the crash threw my body forward.

In the chaos, Valentina suddenly shoved me hard. I was completely unprepared and was pushed out of the car.

"Salvatore told you to protect me! Distract them!" she screamed.

Before I could react, a bullet grazed my shoulder. Blood poured out, and a wave of pain flooded my body.

Inside the car, Valentina was completely unharmed. Still, she clutched her face and screamed louder than I did.

After two gunshots rang out, she fainted on the spot.

Salvatore and his men arrived right on time. Within seconds, they had the situation under control.

Salvatore rushed toward us like a madman and yanked the car door wide open. When he saw the unconscious Valentina, his voice trembled. "Tina!"

Meanwhile, I was lying right at his feet. Blood had already soaked most of my clothes.

He anxiously picked Valentina up and walked straight past me. He had passed by me three times without sparing me a glance. It was as if I were nothing more than a piece of garbage in the way.

"Take Tina to the hospital! Now!" he roared at the bodyguards.

One of them hesitated before speaking. "Don Falcone, Donna Falcone is still bleeding…"

Salvatore paused for a beat. I thought that he might turn around and look at me.

Even just once.

Instead, all I got was his cold voice. "She's tough. She won't die. She can get a cab home."

With that, he left.

I wasn’t even worth as much as a dog. Even a dog would get some concern from its owner when it got hurt.

With the last bit of strength I had left, I forced myself up from the ground and began moving forward, one step at a time.

I don't know how long I walked, but I eventually found a small private clinic by the roadside.

The doctor was an elderly woman. She froze when she saw me covered in blood.

"Miss, what happened to you?"

"A gunshot wound. Please help me remove the bullet fragment," I said calmly. It wasn't the first time something like this had happened.

"You'll need anesthesia. It'll hurt badly if you don't."

I shook my head and clutched my abdomen. "I can't take anesthesia. I'm pregnant."

The woman stared at me. Her eyes were filled with shock. Removing a bullet without anesthesia was basically torture.

I bit down hard on a towel. Cold sweat soaked through my back. As the doctor searched through my flesh with tweezers, my whole body trembled with pain.

Soon, she pulled out the bloodied fragments.

She dressed my wound, then sighed. "Miss, you should have your husband pick you up. You need rest. You can't keep pushing yourself."

Husband?

A smile tugged at the corners of my lips.

"My husband's dead."

While I was recovering alone after the surgery, my phone buzzed.

It was a message from Valentina. She had sent me a photo.

In the picture, Salvatore was personally feeding her a spoonful of stew. "Salvatore said he's really worried about you. But I can't have him leave me so you'll have to take care of your wound yourself."

I felt nothing despite staring at their intimacy.

After deleting the message, I called Luca.

"Luca, it's me."

"Alessia, everything's set," he replied in a calm voice. "I'll pick Nicola up at 9:00 am the day after tomorrow. We'll meet up and then board the ferry."

"Okay."

His confirmation lifted the last weight in my chest.

Over the past seven years, I had taken knives and bullets for Salvatore. I had even nearly died in an explosion while saving him.

I didn't regret it. If I had to do it again, I would.

With the seven-year contract about to expire, I could finally breathe the air of freedom.

Just after I hung up, another call came in. It was Salvatore.

I hesitated for a moment, but still answered.

"Alessia! Where the hell are you? Why haven't you gotten back here yet?"

When I got hurt back then, he would at least pretend to care about me. Now, he didn't even bother pretending and just barked orders.

"With you gone, who's going to prepare Valentina's dinner? Who's going to handle the famiglia's files? Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused me?" he said matter-of-factly.

I hung up on him. The world instantly fell silent.

That peace lasted less than ten minutes.

Salvatore sent a video. It showed Nicola lying unconscious as a doctor slowly approached him with a syringe filled with an unknown liquid.

My heart clenched instantly.

"You've got some nerve hanging up on me! I'm giving you half an hour to get back here right now. If you don't, you'll regret it."

Nicola was my only weakness.

I forced myself to suppress the turmoil in my chest and told myself to endure it all just one last time. Soon, Nicola and I would be able to leave him.

Dragging my injured body, I returned home.

The front door was locked from the inside. I rang the doorbell, but no one came to open it.

I could faintly hear Valentina and Salvatore laughing inside the house.

"Do you think she's shivering outside right now?" Valentina asked. "Maybe we should let her in."

"Let her stay out there. It'll teach her a lesson."

"You're evil. I love it! Honestly, I'd really like to see if she'd freeze to death if we left her outside all night."

Salvatore sounded intrigued. "That's a great idea. Spread the word. Anyone who sheltered Alessia tonight is going against me."

Salvatore ruled the mafia with absolute authority. A single sentence from him could decide one's faith.

If he wanted me punished, no one in the area would dare help me.