Escaping The Ruthless Don's Golden Cage

I stood at the gala, draped in diamonds worth millions, playing the role of the perfect Mafia wife.

But the illusion shattered when his mistress walked in wearing a necklace identical to mine—a cattle brand dipped in gold.

When I confronted them, Liam didn't defend me. He shoved me aside to protect her.

I hit the floor, and as my blood soaked into the white stage, I realized he had killed our unborn child.

But the nightmare didn't end there.

I woke up to find that Liam had ordered me sedated to "manage my hysteria." The complications from his control and the trauma had forced an emergency hysterectomy.

He hadn't just killed his heir; he had stolen my future.

Yet, he still tried to lock me in his estate, convinced he could force me to love him again if he just kept me hidden long enough.

He thought I was broken. He thought I was his property.

He was wrong.

With the help of a doctor who had loved me from the shadows for years, I faked my death and vanished.

Six months later, the great Don found me in a small-town bookstore, falling to his knees to beg for a second chance.

I looked at the man who destroyed me and handed him a single dollar bill.

"Loyalty is the only currency, Liam," I said, quoting his own vow back to him.

"And you are bankrupt."

Chapter 1

Maya POV

I stood draped in a diamond necklace worth more than most people’s lives, my arm linked with the most feared man in the city, just as I realized my marriage was nothing but a beautifully wrapped lie.

Liam stood beside me, his hand resting possessively on the small of my back—a heavy, claiming weight.

To the hundreds of guests filling the ballroom of the Grand Hotel, we were the perfect couple.

The King and Queen of the underworld.

He was the Don. A man who had carved his empire out of blood and bone, expanding our family’s reach into legitimate real estate and shipping while maintaining a stranglehold on the city's vices.

He leaned down, his breath warm against my ear. "You look breathtaking tonight, Maya," he whispered.

His voice was a low rumble that used to make my knees weak. Now, it just felt like a performance.

I smiled. It was the smile I had perfected over four years of marriage. The smile of a dutiful Mafia wife who saw nothing, heard nothing, and said nothing.

"Thank you, Liam," I replied.

He kissed my temple, a gesture so tender it almost made me nauseous. Flashbulbs popped. The press ate it up. Liam turned back to the crowd, his charm switched on like a high-voltage light.

I let my gaze wander. The room was filled with sharks in tuxedos and vipers in silk gowns. My eyes landed on Marc Chen, Liam’s Consigliere. His right-hand man.

Marc was standing near the bar, swirling a glass of scotch. He wasn't looking