“For three years, I was the wife of Damian Costello, a feared mafia underboss who I believed was my savior. I lived in a gilded cage, mistaking his possessive passion for love. Then, on the day my father was executed, I discovered my marriage was a lie. A photo proved my husband was in Paris, not for business, but to chase the one woman he had always loved: my aunt, Isabella. I was just a substitute, a younger version of her he could own. He had staged the ambush where he "saved" me, and he only wanted a child with me for my family's eyes. His obsession was absolute. When a tureen of scalding soup flew toward us in a restaurant, he didn't shield me, his pregnant wife. He threw himself in front of Isabella. He even screamed at me in front of everyone, "In my heart, Seraphina will never be as important as you!" I realized my child wasn't a product of love. It was the final piece of his collection-a living trophy. So after he carelessly signed the annulment papers, I had an abortion. On the day he went into surgery to donate his second kidney to her, I left him a box containing the surgical report and our annulment decree. Then, I boarded a plane and vanished.”