Best Friends, Carbone Brides, Perfect Revenge

Late at night, Nico still hadn't returned.

No doubt, he was still with Seraphina, tending to the chill she’d supposedly caught.

Bianca slipped into my room, a shadow in the moonlight. She sat beside me and pressed a small vial into my hand.

"I got the drug," she whispered.

"It'll put me into a deep coma in a few days. Once it takes hold, you just have to get me in the car and send it over the cliff. Then we're free. Don't worry about the rest—I've got it all planned. They'll never find us."

She paused, a wry chuckle escaping her lips. "The great escape, huh?"

I rolled my eyes at her but said nothing.

The sound of footsteps approached the door. Bianca shot me a sharp, knowing look, then vanished over the balcony and back into her own room.

The next moment, the door swung open and Nico entered.

He frowned, his eyes scanning the room. "Who were you talking to?"

I shook my head, slipping on my usual mask of docile obedience.

"No one," I replied. "Just talking to myself."

He gave me a skeptical glance but didn't press the matter.

"Go to sleep," he said.

I blinked, surprised he hadn't immediately launched into his usual tirade about me hurting Seraphina.

Regardless, I obediently lay down on the far edge of the bed.

Nico undressed and lay down beside me.

His back was to me, his voice flat and distant. "Seraphina just got back. She's… fragile. I have to be there for her, given our history."

I could feel the warmth radiating from his body, but my own blood ran cold.

Nico was sharp. He had to know. He had to see that everything today, and all the days before, was a trap Seraphina had set for us. And he still chose her. All because she was feeling insecure?

I turned my back to him as well, offering only a noncommittal hum in response.

Ever since Seraphina's return, everything was a brutal reminder that I owed my position to a face that resembled hers.

How could a replacement ever expect the original to step aside?

I closed my eyes and said no more.

Steady breathing soon sounded from behind me, but sleep refused to come.

Two days later, Bianca slipped into my courtyard again and tossed me a backpack.

"Cash and fake IDs," she said. "Start packing."

I took it and began stuffing all the jewelry and valuables Nico had ever given me inside.

Bianca clicked her tongue. "Well, well. I didn't realize Nico was so generous."

The next day, I was tending to the flowers in the manor's garden when a commotion erupted from the main house.

I rose to my feet, hurried to the gate, and stopped a passing maid. "What's happening?"

The young woman looked terrified, but my status compelled a reply. "Mr. Marco took Mrs. Carbone and Miss Seraphina to a meeting. On their way back, they were ambushed by the Kozlov Bratva. Miss Seraphina was injured, so Mr. Nico and Mr. Marco are gathering the family's doctors to treat her."

A knot of dread tightened in my stomach. My voice trembled as I asked, "Where is Bianca?"

The maid hesitated, her eyes darting away. "When Mr. Nico and Mr. Marco returned… I didn't see Mrs. Carbone."

I let go of the maid's arm and ran, my heart pounding, toward the main building.

As I neared a derelict warehouse on the edge of the estate, I saw one of Marco's trusted men carrying a familiar, limp figure.

I rushed over and saw Bianca, covered in blood. Rage burned through me, blurring my vision.

"Bianca, are you okay?" I asked, my voice choked.

Bianca offered a faint, bloody smile. "Almost time."

I understood instantly.

The drug was about to take effect.