Chapter 13
Lorenzo stared at the DNA report, his vision blurring.
Probability of paternity: 0%.
Dante wasn’t his son.
The words slammed into him like a bullet, cold and unforgiving. His grip tightened around the paper, his knuckles whitening. A second report lay beneath it, detailing Dante’s medical history. Or rather, the lack of it. The child was never sick. Never dying. Never in danger.
His chest constricted, fury simmering beneath his skin. His mind replayed every moment he had sacrificed for a lie. Amara had died because of this. Because he had chosen a child that was never his over the daughter that was.
His daughter. His real daughter.
His breath turned ragged, sharp and uneven as the weight of his betrayal crushed him. The trust he had placed in Isabella, the blind devotion–it had cost Amara her life.
His vision blurred. The room spun. Memories struck like knives, each sharper than the last.
“Papa, look!”
Amara’s laughter echoed in his mind, pure and sweet as she twirled in her princess dress at Disneyland. She had been obsessed with fairytales, believing in magic, in happily–ever–afters.
“You’re my king, Papa!” she had giggled, reaching for his hand.
He had lifted her onto his shoulders, her small hands tugging at his hair as she squealed in delight. “Higher, Papa! I want to see the castle!”
His throat tightened.
“Papa!” Amara’s tiny voice rang in his ears again, this time softer, sleepier. “Love you!”
Every morning. She had said it every morning, her sleepy eyes barely open as she snuggled into his arms. “Love you, Papa.”
And he he had barely acknowledged it. He had been too busy. Damn.
“Say ‘Papa, Amara. Say it for me.”
“Pa…pa!”
He Let Our Daughter Die for Hi
1/5
610%
Her first word. The way she had beamed up at him, tiny fingers reaching for his face, waiting for his praise.
His hands trembled. His knees nearly buckled.
He had failed.
Failed as a father.
Failed as a husband.
Valeria.
His mind twisted with another memory, sharper, crueler.
“Lorenzo, don’t do this. Please.”
Her voice had cracked that night, filled with desperation, but he hadn’t listened. He had turned his back on her. On his wife. On the woman who had given him everything.
“I have to save him.”
“And what about Amara?” Valeria had screamed. “She’s sick, Lorenzo! She needs you!”
But he hadn’t believed her.
Because Isabella had cried harder.
Because Dante had looked weaker.
Because he had been greedy.
He had wanted a son.
And in that greed, he had lost his daughter.
A broken sob tore from his throat. His grip slackened, the DNA report slipping from his fingers. It fluttered to the floor, meaningless now.
He staggered to the leather chair in the corner of his office, burying his face in his hands. His chest ached, the pain crushing, suffocating.
Amara had loved him. She had trusted him. And he had failed her.
His body shook, silent tears sliding down his face. He had killed his own child.
Not with a bullet. Not with a knife.
But with his choices.
And now, it was too late to fix it.
***
Chapter 13
2/5 620%
12:31 Sun, 2 Mar
wall.
91%
The door to Isabella’s estate burst open, the wood splintering against the
She gasped, whirling around, eyes wide as she took in his rigid stance, the storm brewing in his gaze.
“Lorenzo-”
He was on her in seconds, his hand wrapping around her throat, slamming her against the wall. Her body jolted, nails digging into his wrist as she choked on her breath.
“You lied to me.” His voice was quiet, deadly.
Her lips trembled. “Lorenzo, please, let me-”
“You lied.” His grip tightened, his body shaking with barely restrained fury. “Dante was never my son. You stole Amara from me. You let my daughter die.”
Tears welled in her eyes. “I–I never meant-”
“Shut up!” He slammed her against the wall again, pulse roaring in his ears. The urge to end her was suffocating, consuming him. She had taken everything–his trust, his love, his child.
“You let me believe-” His voice cracked, jaw clenched so tightly it ached. “You let me destroy my own daughter for a lie.”
|—”
Isabella sobbed, hands weakly gripping his wrists. “I was scared, Lorenzo!
“Who?” His voice was raw, dangerous. “Who is his father?”
She hesitated. His grip tightened.
“Who?”
A sob tore from her throat. “My ex–husband,” she whispered.
The world stilled.
Lorenzo’s breathing turned ragged. His hold didn’t waver. He could kill her. Right here, right now. He could snap her fragile neck and be done with it.
She deserved it.
His finger’s flexed. Isabella gasped for air, her body trembling beneath him.
But then-
His eyes flicked lower.
The swell of her stomach.
Hin shild
Chapter 13
child
3/5 63.0%
Sun, 2 Mar
His child. His real child.
91%
Lorenzo staggered back, releasing her so suddenly she collapsed to the floor, coughing and gasping for breath. His hands curled into fists at his sides, his entire body shaking with the effort not to finish what he started.
He had already lost one child. He wouldn’t let another die.
But Isabella was dead to him.
His voice was ice. “I never want to see your face again.”
And with that, he turned and walked away.
****
I watched from the shadows, a slow smile curling my lips.
Lorenzo had played his part perfectly. The rage, the devastation–it was all captured, every gasp, every desperate plea, every soul–crushing realization.
Because I had made sure of it.
The tiny recording device planted in the corner of the room had picked up everything.
By morning, the world would know who Isabella truly was.
I slipped away before Lorenzo could see me, making my way back to my penthouse. Darius was already waiting when I arrived, his expression unreadable.
him.
“It’s done,” I said, tossing the bug onto the table.
He exhaled, rubbing his temples. “You just ruined Isabella.”
I smiled. “Good.”
Darius smirk. “Lorenzo will find out you planted that.”
I shrugged. “Eventually.”
His jaw tensed. “And then what?”
I stepped closer, voice low. “Then it won’t matter.”
Because by the time Lorenzo pieced it all together, I would already own
The morning headlines were brutal.
The Betrayal of a Mafia Queen–Isabella De Luca’s Lies Exposed.
Fake Illness, Stolen Son–How Isabella Played Lorenzo De Luca.
DNA Scandal Shakes the Underworld–Isabella’s Downfall.
