Vengeance of the Mafia Heiress

At the party celebrating Ryan making partner, his childhood friend, Jenna knew I was deathly allergic to peanuts, yet she deliberately put peanut syrup in my drink.

I drank it, Within seconds, my throat began to tighten, constriction seizing my windpipe like a closing fist. Panic flared in my chest as a suffocating wave of heat rushed to my face.

Desperate, I grabbed my emergency allergy spray from my purse. Instead, a harsh minty sting sprayed into my throat. She had swapped my medication with a mint spray.

I turned pale and collapsed onto the hardwood floor, clawing at my neck, gasping for even a shred of oxygen.

Jenna laughed so hard that tears welled in her eyes.

"Wow, Isabella Moretti. Someone get this girl an Oscar for that performance. I’ve been a nurse at the top hospital in Chicago for five years, and I’ve never seen anyone throw a tantrum like this over a splash of syrup."

I crawled toward Ryan on my hands and knees, biting my lower lip until the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth.

"Ryan... please... call 911... I can't breathe..."

Ryan looked down at me."Stop pretending, Isabella. Nobody drops dead from a little drink. Jenna is a medical professional. If you were actually in danger, she’d be the first to know."

With that, he turned his back on me.

I stopped begging. Using my final shred of strength, I triggered the phone's emergency SOS. A silent distress signal and my live GPS location immediately shot straight to my father.

"Are you out of your mind?" Ryan snatched my phone and smashed it onto the floor, shattering the screen. "It was a joke, Isabella. Stop abusing emergency legal and medical resources just because you can't handle a little fun."

By then, my lungs felt entirely sealed shut. Black spots swarmed my vision. I clutched my throat, curling into a miserable ball on the floor.

"I'm not... pretending... Ryan... my throat is closing... call an ambulance..."

Something in my graying complexion finally made him hesitate. His eyes flickered with a sudden, uneasy doubt.

But Jenna intercepted him instantly. She wrapped her arm through his, clinking her whiskey glass against the table with a lazy smirk.

"Isabella, stop ruining Ryan’s big night. He just made junior partner at Chicago’s most prestigious law firm. You just hate that the spotlight isn't on you for once, don't you? Does the tacky little rich girl think she can buy her way into being the center of attention? Just because your dad has cash from whatever shady, low-class business he runs, you think you can play the fragile princess here?"

Every agonizing attempt to inhale felt like swallowing shards of glass. My chest heaved violently.

Ryan and Jenna had been inseparable since childhood. Every single time Ryan and I had a date, Jenna would conveniently show up. Every time I voiced my discomfort, Ryan would use the same dismissive line: "Jenna is my childhood friend. Stop being so insecure and