Burning It All Down

During my wedding, hundreds of photos of me being sullied flutter down from the top of the church, landing before the guests below.

My fiancé instantly calls off our engagement and turns to kiss my sister.

Devastation washes over me. Just then, my childhood friend Derek Church, the Capo of the Church family, the East Coast's most powerful mafia family, pulls me into his arms.

He kicks the church's door open and presses a check worth a million dollars into my father's hands. He pulls me to the priest and has him announce that we are husband and wife.

I'm so touched that I agree to marry him. From then on, I become the Capo's wife.

Two years later, Derek and I finally conceive through IVF. I want to share the exciting news with him when I overhear his conversation with his subordinate.

"Lilyanne is afraid of pain and becoming ugly, so we can use Nicole to give birth to her child. Once she produces an heir for the Morse family, her position will be solidified. Then, the Morse family will become the Church family's MadeMan."

"As expected of you, boss. You knew the Morse family is full of politicians who would never accept a sullied woman into the family. The only way for Lilyanne to marry into the family was by having Nicole sullied."

My blood runs cold when I hear this, and the pregnancy report in my hand feels unbelievably heavy.

The man I thought was my salvation was actually the devil who pulled me into the abyss.

I dry my tears and call the Capo of the West Coast's mafia family, Derek's nemesis. "I have a way to help you become the mafia Capo dei capi. Do you want to work with me?"

The truth struck me like a thunderclap, leaving me utterly stupefied.

No wonder Lilyanne Accetta had been dressed more like a bride than I was on my wedding day. She even looked at me with such a mysterious grin on her face.

Two weeks before the wedding ceremony, Lilyanne claimed she was heartbroken over a recent breakup and invited me out for drinks. This was her first time being nice toward me, so I agreed to head out with her without any hesitation.

Thereafter, I went through a hellish 24 hours.

One drink was all it took. When I woke, I was sprawled undressed on the floor of the bar, hands groping me from every direction.

The more I struggled, the more agonizing it was. A cacophony of lewd laughter and pounding music assaulted my senses, while strobe-like flashes blinded me.

Lilyanne had known. She had orchestrated it all. It was no wonder that this spoiled brat, who'd always taken what was mine, would readily approve of my union with Russo Morse.

Even more baffling was Derek Church, the youngest overlord of the west coast and Capo of the Church family. He was actually willing to marry a defiled woman.

I had believed, foolishly,