I never thought I would smile again. Not after everything I've been through. But there I was, sitting in that white leather chair in the clinic, my hand resting on my still-imperceptible belly and my heart racing.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Ferrari. The blood test confirms it. You are pregnant."

The doctor smiled tenderly, holding the chart with the lightness of someone who had just changed someone's life. And she had. She had changed mine. An avalanche of emotions hit me, but instead of fear, it was a relief that washed over me from the inside out.

I couldn't answer immediately. I just closed my eyes, letting a tear escape. It was real. As real as the accident that took my husband and son from inside the burning car. As real as the nights I screamed in pain, alone in an empty bed, begging God for a second chance.

Now I had it.

The doctor kept talking about the initial follow-up, but my mind got lost in the beating of my heart. For the first time in a long time, it didn't seem broken.

I grabbed my bag, thanked her, and left the clinic with light steps. I didn't want to tell anyone yet. I didn't even know how to explain it... After all, my attempt at fertilization had been marked as something practically symbolic. One in a thousand chance. But I did it. A miracle.

I went home embracing my little secret. I stroked my belly with affection.

"It's going to be okay, my love... Mommy will protect you with everything she has..."

But what I didn't know was that my life was about to transform again. And not by a miracle. But by a nightmare.

On the other side of the city, while I celebrated my light, a man was destroying the world around him.

"What did you just say?" Lorenzo Mancini's voice cut through the air of the room like a cold blade.

The doctor trembled. He sweated. Lorenzo's fiancee, Chiara, was already standing, in shock, staring at the professional with bulging eyes.

"I... I'm very sorry... there was an error in the genetic screening... the sperm sample used was not Miss Chiara's... hers is still intact... but... another patient received the material..." the doctor stammered.

Chiara screamed. An explosion of rage and shame.

"This is absurd! A disgrace! I'm not marrying you anymore, Lorenzo! This is a scandal!"

He didn't even look at her. He stood still, like a marble statue, with his eyes fixed on the doctor.

"Who?" he asked in a low voice.

"W-what?"

"The woman's name. Now."

"That's medical confidentiality..." the doctor tried to argue, but he didn't have time.

In a quick movement, Lorenzo pulled the gun from his jacket and shot the doctor in the chest. The bang echoed through the clinic hallway. Chiara screamed, falling to her knees, covered in blood.

"I said... the name."

One of the clinic's security guards, white as paper, ran in with a file in his hand. "It's... it's this one here. Giulia Ferrari."

Lorenzo took the paper, read it, and then simply turned his back.

"The wedding is canceled, Chiara. But my inheritance isn't."

And it was at that moment that my world began to crumble.

The next morning, I was having my coffee peacefully when the doorbell rang. I thought it was the neighbor, maybe a package. I opened the door without thinking twice.

And I was face to face with him.

The most handsome and terrifying man I've ever seen.

Tall, impeccable, dark suit, icy gaze. He stared at me as if he had known me for years. Behind him, two security guards dressed in black waited in silence.

"Giulia Ferrari?" his voice was deep, without any trace of emotion.

"Y-yes, that's me. Who are you?"

He held up the clinic file paper. I recognized it immediately.

My body froze.

"We need to talk," he said, without asking permission, just walking in.

"Hey! You can't just come in like that!" I protested, trying to keep the door half closed.

But he was already in the living room, observing everything as if he owned the place.

"You're pregnant," he said. "And the baby is mine."

It was as if the floor had disappeared under my feet.

"What do you mean yours?!" I shouted. "I had the procedure at the clinic! It was an anonymous donor! Everything was legal!"

"It was a mistake," he replied. "You received my genetic material. Without permission."

"That's not my problem! I just wanted to be a mother again! And now I'm pregnant! This baby is mine!"

"It's my child," he corrected. "And I came to get him."

My whole body trembled. I felt my legs weaken. I wanted to cry, to scream, to tell him to get out of there. But something told me that this man was not someone you could send away.

"I'm not giving you this baby," I said firmly, even with the fear gnawing at me. "This is my son. I lost my husband, I lost my first son. This child is all I have left. You can't take him away from me!"

He approached. I recoiled instinctively.

"Then we have a problem," he said coldly. "Because I'm not giving him up either."

"Do what you want, but I won't give in. I'll fight."

"Great," he replied, with a smirk. "But you won't need to. Because I have another solution."

"What?"

"You're going to marry me."

The silence that settled in was deafening. I widened my eyes, feeling my heart race.

"Y-you must be joking..."

"I'm serious. In three days, you will be my wife."

"I... I'm not a virgin!" the confession escaped before I could stop it. The fear, the pressure, everything made me explode.

He just raised an eyebrow.

"I don't care. You're carrying my child. And you will carry my name."

My eyes filled with tears.

"This is crazy... you can't force me!"

He came close until he was inches away from me. His gaze was steel. Implacable.

"Make no mistake, Giulia. I am Lorenzo Mancini. I can do anything."

My name is Lorenzo Mancini. I am thirty-three years old and the most feared man in Calabria.

There is not a single soul in this damned country who hears my last name and does not tremble. I am the direct successor to the empire that my father built with blood, steel, and silence. I carry the legacy of the oldest mafia in Italy, and if I still breathe today, it is because I learned early on that weakness is a luxury that men like me cannot afford.

I have always lived with a single goal: to consolidate the Family's power. That's why I chose Chiara. A strategic, perfect marriage to a daughter of one of my trusted men. It would be convenient. Simple. Without emotions. Until the damned clinic threw my whole plan in the trash.

The sperm that I had frozen as genetic security was mistakenly implanted. And now, a completely unknown woman carries my child in her womb.

A woman who refuses to give up the child.

And, faced with that, the only thing left for me... is to take what is mine.

I arrived home like a hurricane. The doors burst open with a kick, the servants stepped back at the sight of my expression. I grabbed the phone, took a deep breath, and fired off:

"Emergency meeting. Ten minutes. Here at home. No latecomers accepted."

I didn't even wait for replies. I hung up and walked to the main room, where the solid oak round table was already waiting for me. It was there that the decisions of the Mancini Family were made. And today, they would all hear mine.

One by one, the men arrived. Riccardo, Matteo, Don Cesare... and finally, Giovanni Ferretti, Chiara's father. His gaze carried the usual arrogance, as if he already knew that this meeting was about the wedding. Little did he know what was to come.

"What's happening, Lorenzo?" asked Don Cesare, always direct. "A meeting like this, without warning?"

I placed my hands firmly on the table.

"I am no longer marrying Chiara."

The silence that followed was absolute. Until Giovanni's chair scraped abruptly.

"What?!" he stood up, his eyes blazing. "Lorenzo, have you gone mad?! You promised! This was already sealed!"

"I changed my plans," I replied coldly. "And you are here to listen, not to question."

"I demand an explanation!" Giovanni roared.

I crossed my arms and stared at all of them. The air seemed heavy. No man dared to move.

"There was an error at the fertility clinic. My sperm was implanted in another woman's belly. She is pregnant. And she refuses to give up the baby."

Riccardo's eyes widened.

"Are you kidding..."

"I never joke," I retorted. "This child is my heir. And if she won't give me the baby, then she will be my wife."

Giovanni almost fell off his chair.

"This is absurd! You are going to throw everything away because of a mistake?! I'll have my men kill that woman right now! We'll cut the problem off at the root!"

My hand slammed hard on the table, the dry sound echoing through the walls.

"You will do nothing!"

Everyone froze.

"I decide. I am the Don. And that woman will not be touched. If anyone even gets close to her, I will tear out their tongue and eyes."

Giovanni paled.

"This is an affront... you are going to throw my name in the trash. You will shame my daughter!"

"Your daughter was never part of my future, Giovanni. It was a convenient choice. Now it is not anymore. I care about blood, about legacy. And that baby she carries is mine. Nothing is more important than that."

Matteo, who had been silent until then, cleared his throat.

"This woman... is she a virgin?"

I stared at him.

"No. But I don't give a damn."

He immediately looked away.

"The wedding will be in three days," I continued. "And it is an order. I will no longer hear laments or objections."

"You are throwing away years of planning!" Giovanni shouted. "All this for a whore that no one knows!"

I approached slowly, my steps heavy on the marble floor.

"Watch your words, Giovanni. From now on, she will be my wife. And if I hear anyone disrespect her, it doesn't matter if it's an ally, blood, or brother... I kill them. Do we understand each other?"

The old man swallowed hard. The other men nodded in silence.

"You may leave now," I ordered, returning to my position at the head of the table. "The meeting is over."

They left in silence. One by one. Some frightened. Others uncomfortable. But none dared to look back. Not even Giovanni.

The room fell silent. The tension still lingered, but I had already done what was necessary. That was what separated weak men from those who command the world.

And now, it was time to sever the last link with the past.

I picked up the phone. I dialed Chiara's number. She answered on the third call, her voice still altered by anger.

"Have you finally decided to call me? Are you going to explain what kind of madness that was?!"

I was silent for a few seconds before answering.

"The wedding is canceled."

"What?! Have you gone crazy?! My father will kill you!"

"Let him try. He and anyone else who wants to. The decision is made."

"You are an idiot! You are throwing everything away! You will never find another woman like me!"

I let out a dry laugh.

"Good thing. I don't want to. I will marry the woman who carries my son."

Chiara was silent for a few seconds.

"She is just a belly! A nobody! Are you going to marry her just because of a mistake?!"

"It was not a mistake. It was fate. And I don't argue with fate."

"You will regret this, Lorenzo!" she shouted.

"Hardly."

And I hung up.

Without goodbyes.

Without hesitation.

I stared at the phone for a few seconds, feeling something strange inside my chest. It wasn't regret. It was a kind of peace.

For the first time in a long time... I wasn't just making a decision for the mafia.

I was doing something for myself.

And for him.

My son.

Three days.

That's all I needed.

The silence of the room was deafening. But inside my head, a storm raged.

I threw the cell phone so hard against the wall that it shattered into a thousand pieces. I screamed. I screamed like I had never screamed before. This couldn't be happening. Not to me. Not to Chiara Ferretti.

I was raised to be a Don's wife. To rule alongside a king. To be the first lady of the Calabrian mafia. It was my destiny. It was sealed. Lorenzo Mancini was my fiance, and everything was ready for our wedding. Everything.

And now... everything had crumbled because of some woman. Some unknown idiot who dared to carry in her womb what should have been mine.

My breathing was rapid, and tears burned my eyes. But it wasn't sadness. It was hatred. A hatred so deep it seemed to corrode me from the inside out.

I heard the door open and turned around, already knowing who it was.

"Father," my voice came out trembling, laden with anger.

Giovanni entered and closed the door behind him. He was visibly tense, but trying to maintain his composure. Always political. Always calculating. But I knew that look. He was furious too.

"Daughter," he approached, analyzing me cautiously. "We need to talk."

"He humiliated me. In front of everyone. He said he was going to marry that woman!" I screamed. "Some nobody, Father! A nobody!"

"I know," he replied, pulling up a chair and sitting across from me. "I was there, remember?"

"And what did you do?! Nothing! You stood there silently while he spat in our faces! In yours! In mine!"

Giovanni stared at me for a moment. Then he sighed.

"Because I can't act on impulse. Lorenzo is still the Don. Any direct action against him would be suicide. He would leave my body hanging on the mansion gate."

"I don't care! I want her dead, Father! That slut has to disappear from the face of the Earth!"

He was silent for a few seconds. Then, he crossed his hands on his knee and spoke with the calm of someone who has killed many men:

"Then let's kill her."

My heart skipped a beat.

"Really?"

"But it will look like an accident. Or a robbery. Something clean. Something without a trace. Because if Lorenzo finds out it was us... he'll kill us both."

"I don't care," I replied, my voice choked with hatred. "I won't let some idiot steal the place that is mine. I was raised for this. You trained me for this!"

"And you're still going to have that place, daughter. Trust me." He stood up, walking to the corner bar and pouring two glasses of whiskey. He handed me one. "But we need to be smart. And fast."

I took the gulp as if it were water. The anger burned more than the alcohol.

"Do you know where she lives yet?" I asked.

"Not yet. But one of our men who works at the clinic is in contact with one of the employees. With the right amount, we can get the address. She must be being monitored, but nothing a good plan can't solve."

"I want her to suffer," I murmured. "I want her to know, in the last seconds of her life, that it was because she dared to challenge me."

My father raised an eyebrow.

"We can't guarantee that. We need it to look like an accident. Car off the road, gas leak on the stove, robbery with a knife... the more real, the better."

"So be it. But I want her to die before the wedding. If she shows up at the altar, Father, I swear I'll go up there myself and cut her throat."

He stared at me, serious. Then he nodded.

"I'll take care of it. But until then, you're going to control yourself. You're going to act normally. No scandals. No fuss."

"I can't, Father! He left me! He dismissed me as if I were trash!" I screamed, throwing the glass on the floor, which shattered.

"And you're going to hold your head up like a Ferretti!" he retorted firmly. "You want revenge? Then act with intelligence! Or do you want to die before her?"

That silenced me.

"You don't understand..." I whispered. "I love him, Father."

He sighed, approaching and holding my face in his hands.

"You love the power he represents. And he was your chance to rule. That chance isn't over. We just need to... reorganize the game."

"What if she doesn't die in time?"

"Then we'll have to act another way. But first, let's eliminate the problem in the simplest way. Accident."

We were silent for a few seconds.

"Do you want me to choose how myself?" I asked, my voice as cold as ice.

He smiled slightly.

"Of course. She stole what was yours. It's only fair that you choose how she's going to pay for it."

My heart raced with that sense of control. Of taking back the reins. Of no longer being the abandoned bride, but rather the woman who would get revenge.

"A car accident," I whispered. "She's pregnant. The impact will kill them both."

"Perfect," he nodded. "I'll take care of it today."

"But it has to look real. She has to leave his life as if fate had done it. As if the universe were protecting the real couple."

"It will look like it. Trust me, daughter."

I got up and hugged my father. It was the first time in years that I felt something real for him. He was a monster, yes. But he was my monster. And as much as Lorenzo was the king, I refused to be replaced by a peasant.

Giulia Ferrari may be carrying his child...

But she won't live long enough to hold him in her arms.