In my wildest years, I was reckless and wild. I made the mistake of sleeping with mob boss Rocco Kane—never expecting his obsession would grow so dark. When I became pregnant, he locked me away. I overheard him say: “Once the baby is born, she’s useless. With an heir, we can take the Ashworth empire.” Fury consumed me. That night, I stabbed him in the eye. Enraged, he broke my legs repeatedly to prevent my escape, yet kept doctors close to protect the baby. So I cut open my own pregnant belly. “You’re asking to die,” he snarled, carrying me out. I smiled, twisting the knife toward his other eye. “No. We die together.” Rocco wrenched my arm with brutal force. The knife missed his eye, plunging deep into his left shoulder instead. Blood bloomed across his crisp white shirt, spilling onto the floor in a growing crimson pool. "Nora, are you fucking insane?" he roared, his free hand clamping around my throat like a vice. The ruined socket of his blinded eye was a terrifying void. I stared back at him, gasping for air, but a cold smile touched my lips. "I've always been a psycho. Is this the first you're hearing of it?" Panic for the baby must have finally broken through his rage, because he let go. He threw me to the floor. My legs, already broken and reset so many times, were useless. I struggled to push myself up, a pathetic, futile gesture. Still, I wasn't afraid to spit venom. "Rocco, I will never, ever give birth to this child." "Get her!" Rocco cursed, clutching his bleeding shoulder as he barked orders at his bodyguards. "The baby in her belly cannot be harmed. If anything happens to it, you'll all be eating lead!" As his men dragged me away, Rocco shot me a chilling smile. "Nora," he purred, his hand, impossibly gentle, caressing my face. "Remember this. As long as I'm here, you won't die. And there is only one future for that baby in your womb—" He leaned in closer. "It will be born." I was thrown back into my gilded cage. The sprawling villa was decorated like a princess's fairytale, all pinks and golds. A cruel joke, considering I was a prisoner who couldn't even move. Several private doctors tended to the gash on my stomach, bandaging it with practiced efficiency. "Mr. Kane," the butler's voice drifted in from outside my window. "Miss Ashworth's baby is fine. Just a little shaken, but there are no serious issues." I could almost feel Rocco's relief. He doubled my guard, posting ten more men around the villa. Every day, he had the finest food and drink sent to my room. Every sharp object was confiscated; not even a butter knife remained. "Miss Ashworth, the Master has already promised to marry you," the butler said one day, sighing with a look of genuine confusion. "You only need to deliver the child safely, and you can live a life of luxury. Why are you so determined to throw it all away?" I didn't answer. I just laughed, a cold, empty sound. "That sham of a wedding? He's not marrying me. He's just putting on a show." The butler tried to reason with me again, but I silenced him with a single glare. Everyone in Rocco's mansion thought I was a lunatic. They learned to keep their distance, afraid my madness was contagious. After a week confined to my bed, I noticed a new, curious face peeking in through my window. A young girl in a frilly princess dress. "So you're Nora Ashworth?" she asked, her nose wrinkled in a sneer. "You're not even that pretty. Do you really think my brother Rocco would look at you if it weren't for your Ashworth blood?" She tossed her hair back. "And that wedding? Don't even dream about it. To my brother, you're nothing but a cheap incubator." My eyes locked onto her. She was so clean, so delicate. So fragile. My interest was piqued. I'd heard the rumors—that Rocco kept a sweet, innocent young thing hidden away like a treasure. A girl named Clara, his adopted sister. And, more importantly, the one who had saved his life six years ago. A wicked idea began to form. Rocco had destroyed me. What kind of look would cross his face if I killed his precious little Clara? A cruel smile spread across my face. It seemed a new prey had just walked into my trap. I beckoned to her with a single finger. "Come here. I have something for you." That evening, after having his shoulder patched up, Rocco finally graced me with his presence. "Nora, since you've heard the truth, I won't hide it anymore," he said, his voice flat. "Be a good girl, have this baby, and I'll have your legs properly set. I'll even let you go." He sneered, tossing a check onto the bed. It was for fifty million dollars. "Consider it payment for your services." His gaze raked over me, cold and devoid of any emotion. "For a slut like you, that's enough to keep you in boy toys for a lifetime." I laughed from my wheelchair. "And if I say no? Rocco, why should I accept your terms? Don't forget, I'm the one carrying what you want. You should be begging me." My voice hardened. "I'll be the one making the demands. You'll be the one deciding whether to accept." He dismissed me with a wave of his hand, turning to leave. But then, I smiled softly. "Rocco, you call yourself a mob boss? You've already lost one eye. How can you still be so naive?" He froze, turning back to me with a flicker of confusion. "What do you mean?" I clapped my hands lightly and pointed toward a massive construction crane in the distance. "You hid that little girl so well, didn't you? Terrified one of your enemies would find her." My smile turned sharp as a razor's edge. "Rocco, now it's my turn to offer you a deal." I held up two fingers. "You have a choice. The baby in my womb..." My gaze flickered toward the crane. "...or your precious little sister." The color drained from Rocco's face. He whipped his head around, his eyes following my gesture. Suspended high in the air, dangling from the crane's hook, was a small figure in a white dress. Her hands and feet were bound, and muffled sobs echoed from the gag in her mouth. "Rocco, help me!" Clara's terrified cry was faint but clear. "She's a monster!" A thick vein pulsed on Rocco's forehead. His eyes, burning with a murderous fury, locked onto mine. "Let her go." "And if I don't?" I shot back, a crazed light dancing in my eyes. "Rocco, don't make me repeat myself. Her, or the baby. Choose." He just stared at me, his face a mask of conflict. I knew what he was weighing. The child, his heir, the key to the Ashworth empire... against the girl he'd sworn to protect. I knew six months ago that a mob boss’s bed wasn’t an easy place to climb out of. The night I got drunk and tore off his clothes, he was so receptive because he'd already done his homework on me. He wanted the Ashworth fortune, and he wanted an heir to secure it. He laid the trap, and I walked right in. But there was one thing he never knew. I would have a child with any man in the world, but not him. Never him. "Have you made up your mind?" I asked, my voice dripping with impatience. He gritted his teeth, his voice a raw, broken whisper. "Nora... do you really want to get rid of my child that badly?" "I do," I replied, my eyes lazily lifting to meet his. "You have fifteen seconds to decide. Save Clara, or let me walk away from this." My voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper. "If you hesitate... that rope on the crane is going to be cut..." I made a sharp, downward motion with my hand, my smile widening into a cruel grin. "And then... splat." "You'll be scraping your little sister off the pavement." "I choose... Clara!" Rocco's eyes squeezed shut in despair as he finally made his choice. A satisfied smile spread across my face. "I'm sorry," I said sweetly. "It's been eighteen seconds." "What are you doing?!" His eye flew open, widening in horror just as a sickening snap echoed from the direction of the crane. Clara's scream tore through the air, cut short by a heavy thud. "What a shame. You were just a second too slow," I murmured, admiring my fingernails as if nothing had happened. Rocco stumbled, his body swaying. When he finally regained his senses, he sprinted toward the crumpled figure on the ground. Clara lay in a heap, her head bleeding profusely, the pristine white of her dress stained a brilliant, horrifying red. "Doctor! Get the private doctor, now!" Rocco roared, gathering her limp body into his arms with a desperate tenderness. "NORA!" He spun to face me, his gaze pure, undiluted hatred. "You bitch! I made my choice! Why did you still have to hurt her?!" He held Clara tighter. "You leave family out of this! If you hate me, come after me!" Seeing the raw anguish in his eye, the utter devastation, brought a savage pleasure to my heart. "Oh?" I said softly. "Is that what you were thinking three years ago... when you murdered Leo Kane?" The words hung in the air. The blood drained from Rocco's face, leaving it a waxy, pale canvas. "How... how do you know that name? What are you to my brother?" "If you hadn't killed him," I said, my voice cold as the grave, "I'd be your sister-in-law by now." I lifted my gaze, meeting his shattered one. "Rocco. He died the night before he was going to propose to me." I'd known for a long time. Rocco had murdered his own twin brother. Leo was supposed to join my family, to leave the criminal world behind. I was so close to wearing his ring. But Rocco took him from me, leaving a void that could never be filled. So I crafted a new persona for myself—the reckless, wild party girl—all to get close to the man who killed my love. Rocco's eye was bloodshot, his arms still cradling the unconscious Clara. He let out a harsh, grating laugh. "So that's what it was. I always thought the timing of you falling into my bed was suspicious. This was all for revenge?" He sneered. "Nora, you're so naive. A failure like Leo could never have run the Kane family. He was weak." He took a step closer, a twisted smile on his lips. "Besides, we have the same face. And now you're carrying my child. Why not just marry me? It's perfect, isn't it?" The sharp crack of my hand across his face echoed in the silence. He turned his head slowly, a bloody hand coming up to touch his cheek. "No woman has ever hit me before," he said, his voice like shattering ice. "You're the first." He looked up, his good eye burning with cold fire. "Since your hands can't behave... I'll have them broken." He stood, holding Clara, and started to walk away. He paused by the bodyguards who had betrayed him. "These traitors... break them, too." But the bodyguards didn't move an inch. They stood like statues, their eyes fixed on me, waiting for my command. Rocco was careless. So utterly arrogant. He assumed these men were his. He assumed this whole world was his to command. "Miss Sinclair," a man I knew as Mr. Sterling said, stepping forward respectfully. "That boy has caused you enough trouble. Shall we show him a fraction of our power, so he understands his place?" I was calmly trimming a bonsai tree. "Not yet." I smiled to myself. "Rocco... the show is just getting started." Everything he took from Leo three years ago... I would make him give it all back, piece by painful piece. "The child," I said, my voice flat. "Get rid of it." Just before they wheeled me into the operating room, Mr. Sterling hesitated. "Miss Sinclair, are you certain? If he finds out the child is gone, he might do something... drastic." My smile deepened. "Are you afraid of him?" I looked at him, my voice steady. "Mr. Sterling, with the power of the Sinclair family, ten men like Rocco Kane would be nothing." My gaze drifted to a photograph of Leo on the nightstand. "If he didn't have Leo's face," I whispered, "he wouldn't still be breathing." "Yes, miss." Mr. Sterling said no more and signaled for the surgery to begin. When I opened my eyes again, a heart-wrenching roar echoed from outside my room. "Nora! How could you?" "Without my permission, how dare you get rid of my child?!" Rocco's screams were a grating annoyance. The procedure had left me feeling lighter, my face pale and drawn, but I still managed a weak smile for him. "What's wrong? Aren't you supposed to be at your precious Clara's bedside?" I taunted. "I guess her injuries weren't that serious if you still have time to stand here and shriek at me." Rocco looked like he was about to explode. He had believed I was helpless here, a lamb for the slaughter. "Nora, why are these men listening to you?" he demanded, his eyes darting between me and the guards. "Who the hell are you?" I idly twisted the simple band on my ring finger. "You'll find out soon enough." His gaze fell to the ring, and he stiffened. "Is that... the ring Leo was going to give you?" "No. And yes." Leo had died before he could place the real ring on my finger. So I had an exact replica made. A symbol of a promise I had accepted in my heart. "What do you have against Clara?" he pressed, his voice strained. "Even if you hate me, you should have come after me. She's just my sister! It wouldn't have stopped me from marrying you!" He took a shaky breath. "And... you agreed to marry me, didn't you? I have the same face as Leo. Isn't that what you've wanted all this time?" I reached out, my fingers tracing the lines of his face, a face I had once loved more than life itself. "Yes," I whispered. "It's identical." My voice was soft, almost longing. "If it weren't for your harsh voice, I could almost believe you were him." But I knew. My Leo would never have treated me this way. He was pure, he would never have become a monster. He would never have kept a fragile white flower like Clara locked away. And he would never have left my bed in the middle of the night, only to sneak into Clara's room, his breath catching as he watched her sleep, his desire a palpable thing in the dark. He would never have a cold, dead void where one of his eyes should be.
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