When Labor Became My Prison

The contractions were ripping me in two. My vision was going dark.

My husband, Don Vittorio, the man who ruled Chicago, squeezed my hand. His dark eyes burned with love.

"Just a little longer, mia cara. You'll meet our baby soon."

Sweat poured down my face. I still found the strength to smile for him.

Then a nurse walked in. She held a syringe. I thought it was to stop the pain.

But Vittorio’s hand fell away. He took a single step back.

The needle sank into my arm. I heard Vittorio’s voice. It was cold steel. "Dose her carefully. She holds on until midnight. Not a minute sooner. Not until after Ornella delivers."

And then I knew. He thought I married him for the money.

He was stopping my labor. All for a sick Falcone family rule: the first son born is the next heir.

Pain tore through me. I reached for him. Tears streamed down my face. I begged him to stop.

He bit his lip. His voice was pure ice.

"My brother is dead. Ornella carries his only heir. You will do as you are told. You and your child will not steal his birthright."

The drug hit my veins. The violent squeeze in my belly, like some invisible hand, just… stopped.

My head was spinning. They pushed me into a storage room in the hospital basement. A makeshift cell.

"Put her here."

I knew that voice.

Elena Falcone. My husband's sister.

She moved closer. A cold blade touched my cheek. That's when I saw the scalpel in her hand.

"Don't blame Vittorio, Alessia," she said, looking down at me. "The baby in Ornella's belly is my dead brother Marco's only child. He's the only one who deserves to be the heir."

"I never... I never wanted to compete with her..." I whispered.

She clamped her hand over my mouth before I could finish.

"Your pathetic acting makes me sick! Did you forget pushing Ornella down the stairs last month? A pregnant widow who just lost her husband?"

My eyes shot open. "I didn't..."

"She almost lost the baby!" Elena’s voice was a shriek. "If the maid hadn't found her, Marco's only bloodline would have ended because of a snake like you!"

A tearing pain ripped through my belly. I couldn't breathe.

Elena sneered. She dragged the flat of the blade across my cheek. The metal was ice against my skin.

"Family rules are absolute. First to deliver the heir, wins. So you and your little bastard? You just lost."

I clutched my belly. A new wave of contractions was fighting the drug.

The pain was so bad, my vision was going dark.

"Get a doctor. I'm having the baby, for real..."

"Having the baby?" Elena laughed like it was the funniest joke she'd ever heard. "Stop the act. Ornella already explained your whole game to my brother. She said you'd pull a stunt like this today."

Elena turned and nodded to two big guards outside.

"Watch