Darling, I Remember

The night before my wedding, I was thrown into a warehouse and beaten like I was nothing. Three hours of fists, boots, and broken bones.

By my father’s orders. All so my half-sister could walk down the aisle in my place.

And when I was dumped in a clinic, half-dead, Matteo Rossi; my father, the almighty mafia don, stood outside my hospital room and said,

“I didn’t expect them to go that far. But it works. Rupert won’t want a ruined bride.”

That’s what I am to them.

Ruined. Disposable. A pawn.

Even my brother, Chris, the one who used to fight bullies for me and sneak me candy during Sunday mass, stood by and let it happen. He flinched when I asked him to save me. He couldn’t even lie right.

And that’s when I knew. No one is coming. No one is on my side. And I remember everything.

The promises.

The lies.

The fake love.

They thought they could leave me broken in that bed, bleeding and forgotten.

But the next time they see me, I won’t be the girl they used to control.

I’ll be something else entirely.

And when I return?

They won’t just regret hurting me.

They’ll beg me to stop.