I never realized how fast love could turn into punishment until the day Marco made me watch a ticking clock attached to our childrens chests.
I used to believe that getting rid of herthe woman who slipped into our marriage like poisonwould bring back the peace Id been clawing for. I sent her away, thinking distance could fix everything. Instead, it ignited the fuse that destroyed everything we built.
The message came firsta video call that lit up my phone in the middle of the night. Marcos face was emotionless, all sharp lines and shadows. He slid his phone toward the camera, revealing the worst sight Id ever seen: Sofia and Mateo, bound to chairs, bombs strapped to their small bodies, a red digital timer blinking between them.
Forty-nine minutes, Isabella, he said evenly, his voice almost soothing. Where is Natalia?
I couldnt move. Couldnt think. Nataliathe woman who turned my husband into a stranger. The woman who whispered her way into our lives until Marco started looking at me like a lie he wanted to erase.
Hed asked me that question before. The first time, it was a warning. The second time, a threat. But this timethis time it was war.
Marco, please, I whispered, my throat dry, hands trembling. Theyre your childrenour children.
He let out a small, humorless laugh. No, your children, he hissed. Natalia told me everything. She told me about Milan. About the man who came before me. You tricked me into raising someone elses blood.
Thats not true, I said, desperate. You held them, Marco. You taught Mateo how to fight. You sang Sofia to sleep. You know theyre yours.
He leaned in close, the edges of his voice cracking. Then tell me where she is, Isabella. Youve got thirty-two minutes before I let one of those bombs do its job.
Something inside me broke that night. Because the man standing in front of me wasnt my husband anymore. Whatever love we once hadwhatever warmth existedwas long gone. All that was left was something cold, shaped in her image.
---
There was a time I used to think Marco Cortez was untouchable. He was the kind of man people crossed the street to avoidthe son of the Cortez empire, heir to everything ruthless and corrupt in the city. Power followed him like a shadow. His name was a threat disguised as a prayer.
And somehow, he chose me.
I was nobody. A quiet girl from a forgotten town, born into a family that never had enough. But he made it feel like that didnt matter. He courted me the way legends are writtengrand, ridiculous, unforgettable.
The night he proposed, the sky above the city exploded in fireworks spelling out my name. G, marry me. People cheered. Cars stopped. For that one night, I was his entire world.
I thought I was living a fairytale. The kind you grow up dreaming aboutthe one where love conquers everything. But fairy tales born in the underworld always end in ash.
When I told him we couldnt work, that I wasnt made for his kind of darkness, he didnt argue. He just waitedday after day, rain or shine, outside my building. The most feared man in the city waiting for a nobody like me.
When I finally said yes, I thought the storm was over. I thought Id found peace.
Then I got pregnant. He cried when he first touched my belly. Theyre ours, he whispered. You, me, them. Thats all Ill ever need.
I believed him. God, I really did.
But then came her.
---
The first time I heard the name Natalia Jenner, it was in passing. Luca, Marcos right hand, mentioned her at a partya woman whod made a scene at one of their auctions. Shed tripped in front of Marco, claimed her heel broke. Everyone laughed about it later.
I didnt. Something about her name stuck.
A week later, I heard it againthis time from Marcos lips.
We were togetherhis breath warm against my neck, the world silent around us. Then he whispered her name.
Natalia.
It was so soft I thought I imagined it. But when I confronted him the next morning, he didnt even flinch. He just pulled me into his arms like nothing was wrong.