A few minutes later.

Vittoria's call came through.

The moment it connected, her voice came smug and gloating.

"Adriana, how low can you get?"

"Carrying a child and still can't behave. You just had to play the pitiful little wife and trick my Dante into going back."

"And how'd that work out?"

"All I had to do was crook one finger, and he came running straight back."

She laughed, wild with triumph.

"You really think he loves you?"

"If it weren't for the baby in your belly, he'd have thrown you out of the famiglia ages ago."

The old me.

I'd have hung up already.

But this time, I let out a soft laugh.

My palm settled over my flat stomach.

My eyes went cold.

"You're right."

"Dante does care a great deal about that baby."

"After all, the Moretti blood prizes bloodline and honor above everything."

"As long as the baby's here, he'll never sever the union."

The other end went silent.

I went on, slow and unhurried.

"But don't get too excited."

"You've been together this long. You must have always used protection, haven't you?"

"Otherwise, knowing Dante, there's no way he'd have let you go all this time with no claim to anything."

The line went completely quiet.

I'd clearly hit the mark.

I let my lips curve.

"So, Vittoria."

"As long as I'm still carrying this baby."

"You'll never get out of the shadows where no one can see you. A kept woman, living on laundered cash that isn't even yours."

"Men in this world are like that."

"No matter how wild they run out there, in the end they always come home to the blood."

"And Dante just told me that once the baby's born, most of the tribute in his name will go to the child."

"By then, you'll likely walk away with nothing."

"When it comes down to it."

"You're just the toy my husband uses to pass the time while my pregnancy makes me inconvenient."

"I should even thank you."

Heavy, ragged breathing came through the phone.

Then a voice grinding through clenched teeth.

"Adriana, you just wait!"

"I will make Dante sever this union, no matter what!"

I laughed.

And hung up.

Sure enough.

In less than half an hour.

Vittoria sent over a secretly filmed video.

Along with a taunting voice message.

"Adriana, you're pathetic."

"Dante already promised to give me a baby."

"Once I'm pregnant, you and your kid can both get out together."

I didn't even bother to open it.

I just quietly saved every piece of it.

Because there's no point arguing wins and losses with a fool.

What I needed.

Was for her to walk herself into the abyss with her own two hands.

I turned my mother's plain knitted band twice around my finger, slow, and felt the last warmth leave me.

Two days later.

Dante bought out a hotel in the heart of the territory, one of the Family's own fronts, every table laid with the kind of money that has to be washed before it can be spent.

A splashy celebration for the second anniversary of Vittoria's social club.

Besides their mutual friends, plenty of fellow Family doctors, faces from the information network, and front-business associates showed up.

Long before the gathering began.

Vittoria had already rushed to announce it to everyone.

Today.

I would apologize to her in front of all of them.

The big screen at the center of the banquet hall slowly lit up.

Countless eyes swung to me at once. The room had that hush that falls before a sit-down, when no one yet knows whose blood will be on the floor.

Vittoria sat in the seat of honor.

Her face full of a victor's smile.

Dante gave a satisfied nod too.

Signaling the men to start the livestream out to the Family's network.

On the screen.

I gave a faint smile.

"Hello, everyone."

"At the request of my husband, Dante Moretti."

"Today, I really have come to apologize to Miss Vittoria Greco."

A ripple of whispers ran through the room.

Vittoria's smile spread wider and wider.

But the next second.

I let my lips curve, slowly.

"I apologize."

"I'm sorry that when I received the evidence of Vittoria Greco's long-running betrayal of the blood with my husband, I couldn't hold back the disgust and threw up on the spot."

The whole room went dead silent. Somewhere a glass was set down too carefully. No one breathed.

I went on, calm.

"To show my sincerity."

"I even reached out to a good number of friends in the network."

"To give the two of you a free wave of publicity, carried to every ear that matters in this Family."

"Next, please join me in enjoying this years-long performance of deceit and betrayal."

"And witness, together."

"The whole truth of this filthy relationship."