Chapter 1

All because I asked his foster sister to apologize after she deliberately jabbed me with the wrong needle ninety-nine times while I was sick—the very next day, my intimate photos were plastered across the entire internet at six cents apiece.

I went to find Ethan with my bruised hand still throbbing, only to hear him laughing with his friends on the other side of the door.

"I'll play one of Iris's chest shots."

"That big a bet? Don, you're too generous—really giving the boys a show!"

"Don, you've got Iris's nudes all over the web and printed them into a deck of playing cards for public sale. Aren't you afraid she'll find out and dump you?"

Ethan let out a soft laugh and flicked a card printed with my lips onto the table.

"She's already been seen naked by everyone. Right now she's dying to beg me to marry her just to save face. Why would she dare break up with me?"

The Capos egged him on, laughing like pigs.

"Is Don actually going to marry her? If not, once you're bored, mind passing her around? What did Iris even do? Why are you suddenly treating her like this?"

At that, Ethan straightened up, his voice dripping with disgust.

"Alessia just poked her a few extra times during the injection. She had to be so dramatic about it. It's not like she didn't know Alessia's only an intern. And she still had the nerve to embarrass her. This is just a little lesson."

He tossed out the card with my backside on it. It landed on the table without a sound, yet it stole the breath from my lungs for several seconds.

…

"Don, how'd you come up with the idea of selling Iris's nudes at six cents a pop? That's insanely cheap! The guys can buy the whole set for a few bucks. Even a roadside rose goes for nine cents!"

Ethan smirked with disdain.

"That's exactly the point. I want everyone to know she's not even worth a cheap rose from a street vendor."

"She wanted to humiliate Alessia? Then I'll humiliate her even more."

Something seemed to occur to him. He pulled out his phone and unlocked it.

Broken, breathless sounds filled the room.

"I've got videos and audio recordings too. How about nine cents a clip? Who wants them?"

My stomach dropped. I pressed my hand over my mouth to keep from crying out loud.

That video—he'd filmed it in bed last night.

Ethan was a Don, untouchable, above everyone. I was just an ordinary Cinderella.

He'd pursued me for a long time, agreed to everything I wanted, and only then did I say yes to dating him.

Four years together—his appetite in that department had always been insatiable.

Lately, though, he'd grown cold toward me. Until last night.

For the first time in two months, he was tender with me. He coaxed me into lingerie in bed, patiently shifted positions to bring me pleasure.

It was all just to get revenge for Alessia today.

The whooping inside the room grew louder and louder, and I felt like I was drowning in their sickening cheers.

I bit down on my lip until the taste of iron spread through my mouth—only then did I claw back a shred of reason.

A few days ago, it had snowed in New York, and I caught a cold.

Days of medication hadn't helped. Ethan seemed concerned, so he drove me to the clinic where his foster sister was interning.

It was our very first meeting, yet she seemed to despise me on sight.

Every time she inserted the needle, I could clearly feel her missing the vein on purpose. Each botched attempt was agonizing.

After just a few sticks, the back of my hand was red and swollen.

"Iris, just hang in there—I didn't mean to!"

"I'm sorry, seeing you just makes me so nervous. You're not going to give up on me, are you?"

"Since you're going to be the Donna, be the bigger person. Give me one more chance, okay?"

Ninety-nine needles later, the back of my hand was riddled with puncture marks, a solid sheet of purple and blue.

She looked somewhat sheepish, but not a single apology left her lips.

In the end, another nurse couldn't stand to watch anymore. She found an excuse to send Alessia away and switched the IV to my other hand.

Even so, I still felt wronged. That's why I asked her to apologize.

Alessia refused. Only under Ethan's stern warning did she finally mutter, "I'm sorry."

The moment the words left her mouth, she ran off in tears.

Ethan didn't chase after her. He even laughed and gently reassured me that everything was fine.

But the moment my back was turned, he'd posted my intimate photos all over the internet—just to avenge Alessia's wounded pride.

Before all of this, he'd held my hand and said: "Once you've met Alessia, I'll take you to meet the Commission. I'll propose to you in front of every Made Man."

But if he truly wanted to marry me, why would he do this?

Were all those "I love you"s over four years just empty words…

I suddenly remembered something a Capo had drunkenly said at a gathering long ago:

"If it weren't for the fact that Don has to keep up appearances with Alessia because they're technically siblings—you think he'd have ever looked your way?"

My heart was crushed by an invisible fist, so tight I couldn't breathe.

I don't know how I managed to walk out. All I remember is that the moment I stepped through the front door, every pair of eyes was on me, full of mockery.

The shame and the terror swallowed me whole. With trembling hands, I dialed my parents.

Because of their special clearance, Mom and Dad had to go abroad every cycle for a three-year classified experiment. During that time, no one could reach them.

And today—today was the day their experiment ended.

The call connected. The concern in their voices shattered the last thread holding me together.

After I'd cried myself empty, I wiped my tears.

"Mom, Dad—I've made up my mind. I want to join you in the research. I want to do something meaningful with my life."

Before, because Ethan said he didn't want me too far away, I'd given up my dream of following my parents into science.

I'd told myself that spending a lifetime with him, being an ordinary Cinderella, wasn't so bad.

But the pumpkin carriage's magic had expired. It was time for me to leave.