THE MAFIA BOSS SLAPPED HIS SEVEN-MONTHS-PREGNANT WIFE FOR HIS MISTRESS—THEN SHE VANISHED WITH HIS DARKEST SECRET

Emma did not sleep that night.

She sat beside the apartment window while Rosa rested on the sofa, reading the documents Catherine had provided. Every memory of Dante had become a question.

Had he known when he proposed?

Had his mother recognized something in Emma's face?

Had the people who arranged their marriage understood what they were doing?

At sunrise, Emma called Sofia.

The older woman answered immediately.

"Emma?"

"Tell me the truth."

A long silence followed.

"You spoke to Catherine," Sofia said.

"Yes."

Sofia began to cry.

"I was told my daughter had died. Your father-in-law arranged everything. He said the hospital had made a mistake, that the child had been too weak to survive. Years later, I learned that Michael Hayes had taken you."

"And you did nothing?"

"I was afraid. My husband threatened to kill Michael if I exposed what had happened. I believed silence would protect you."

"You let me marry Dante."

"I didn't know you were going to marry him until the engagement announcement. By then, I suspected the truth, but I had no proof. I told myself that perhaps I was wrong."

Emma pressed a hand to her stomach.

"You watched him strike me."

Sofia's sobs grew louder.

"I know."

"You watched him humiliate me in front of fourteen people, and you said nothing."

"I was a coward."

Emma closed her eyes.

For years, she had wanted a mother who would choose her without hesitation. Instead, she had inherited a family that treated truth like a weapon and silence like a virtue.

"Why are you telling me now?"

"Because Victor knows. He has always known. He wants the inheritance settled before the truth becomes public."

Emma's stomach tightened.

"What inheritance?"

"Your father-in-law's estate was placed in a trust. If both of my children were alive, neither Dante nor Victor could claim complete control of it without the other's consent. Your existence changes everything."

Emma understood.

Victor had not simply been hiding a family scandal. He had been protecting an empire.

"And Dante?"

"He doesn't know the full truth. I swear it."

Emma looked at the folder on the table.

"Then he needs to hear it from me."

"Emma, please. Don't go near him."

"I'm not going back to him."

She ended the call and looked toward Rosa.

"I need a lawyer. A good one. Someone who doesn't work for the Romanos."

Rosa nodded.

"And then?"