Standing outside my boyfriend’s bedroom in a red silk dress, I heard him laughing with my best friend about the $10,000

The grand dining room of the Casaro estate looked like a Renaissance painting swallowed by shadows.

Crystal chandeliers cast a brilliant, glittering light over a mahogany table long enough to seat twenty people. Piles of roasted meats, fine Italian wines, and silver tableware gleamed under the warm glow. But the atmosphere around the table could cut glass.

Nico sat near the middle, looking bored and irritated, occasionally glancing at his phone. Chloe sat beside him, wearing an expensive designer dress, whispering in his ear and giggling softly.

Across the room, at the far end of the table, sat Leo Casaro.

And standing directly beside him, resting her hand lightly on the back of his chair, was me.

I wore a high-necked, pearl-trimmed black velvet dress that screamed quiet authority. My hair was swept up into a sleek chignon, and on my left ring finger, the heavy antique diamond and sapphire ring caught every ray of light from the chandelier.

Nico finally looked up as the butler poured the wine. His eyes locked onto me—and then drifted down to my hand resting on his father’s chair.

The fork slipped from Nico’s fingers, clattering loudly against his gold-rimmed plate.

“What…” Nico stammered, half-rising from his seat. “What is she doing here? And what the hell is that on her finger?”

The entire dining room went dead silent. Twenty capos, advisors, and security heads stopped chewing, their eyes darting between Nico, his father, and me.

Leo didn’t even look up from his steak. He cut a precise piece, chewed slowly, and then set his knife down with a soft clink.

“Sit down, Nico,” Leo commanded, his voice carrying the crushing weight of absolute dominion.

“Dad, are you out of your mind?” Nico roared, slamming his hands on the table. “That’s Myra! She’s... she’s my girlfriend! What is she doing standing beside your chair like—”

“Like my wife,” Leo finished smoothly.

Chloe gasped, covering her mouth with her hand, her eyes wide with shock. “Wait... Mr. Casaro, you mean she’s working for you now as an assistant? Or—”

“I mean,” Leo interrupted, turning his dark, piercing gaze directly toward his son, “as of noon today, Myra Mercer is legally Mrs. Casaro. She is your stepmother, Nico. Show some respect.”

The color drained completely from Nico’s face. He looked like he had been struck by a truck. He looked at me, searching my face for a joke, a sign that I was playing along with some sick prank.

“Myra,” Nico whispered, his voice cracking with a mix of absolute fury and disbelief. “Tell me you didn’t. Tell me you didn’t sleep with my father just because you found out about a stupid bet! Is this about the ten grand? I’ll give you twenty! I’ll give you a hundred thousand!”

Before Nico could finish his sentence, Leo’s hand slammed down on the table so hard the wineglasses rattled.

“Guards,” Leo said quietly.

In a fraction of a second, four armed men stepped out from the shadows behind Nico and Chloe, grabbing both of them by the shoulders and forcing them back into their chairs.

“You talk about money like a child playing poker,” Leo said, his voice dropping to an icy, lethal whisper that echoed off the high stone walls. “You made a bet to destroy a good woman for pocket change. I gave her my name, my fortune, and my protection because she has more honor in her little finger than you possess in your entire bloodline.”

Nico struggled against the guards, red-faced and screaming obscenities, before he was dragged backward out of the dining room doors, his frantic protests fading down the long hallway.

Chloe was shaking so violently she could barely stand as two guards escorted her out right behind him.

When the heavy doors clicked shut, silence returned to the grand dining room.

Leo turned his head slowly, looking up at me. The ruthless mafia boss softened just enough to offer a quiet, genuine question.

“Satisfied?”

I looked down at the heavy sapphire ring on my finger, then out across the vast, glittering estate that was now legally mine. The fear that had gripped my heart days ago was completely gone.