Darling, I Remember

To make sure my half sister married my fiancé, my family staged everything like a chess game.

The night before the wedding, I was thrown into a warehouse and tortured by two of my father’s enforcers, animals with no conscience. Three hours of agony.

When they finally dumped me at a private clinic, my father arrived looking furious, pretending to be outraged.

“I’ll kill whoever did this to my daughter!” Matteo Rossi, the mafia don, roared, slamming his fist against the wall.

My older brother, Dr. Chris Rossi; the family's prized surgeon put on a concerned mask.

“Don’t worry, Ivanna. I’ll fix you up. You’ll be okay. I promise,” he whispered while adjusting my IV line.

But lying on that gurney, pretending to be unconscious, I heard what they really thought.

Chris leaned toward our father, voice low, but not low enough.

“Father... wasn’t it a bit much? Letting our men rough her up like that?”

Don Matteo paused, staring through the glass window at me. “I didn’t expect them to go that far,” he admitted coldly. “But it works. Rupert won’t want a ruined bride. Marian will step in without resistance.”

I shut my eyes tighter, my whole body trembling.

So that’s what I was to them, an expendable pawn for the family business.

Chris’s consigliere, Leo, inspected my injuries quickly and rushed out. “Don, her ribs are cracked, she’s lost a lot of blood. We need to operate ASAP.”

“We'll start prepping now,” Chris said, voice sharp with urgency.

But Matteo raised a hand calmly. “Wait. Not yet.”

Chris frowned. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“We hold off until Marian and Rupert’s wedding is over,” Matteo said smoothly, like he was discussing the weather. “Ivanna’s wounds aren’t fatal. Delay the surgery. If she recovers too soon, she’ll cause trouble.”

Leo blinked. “Doctor, that’s dangerous. There’s internal bleeding. We can’t gamble with this.”

“I agree,” Chris snapped. “I’m not letting her suffer any more. I gave my word to protect her.”

A loud crack rang out as Matteo smacked him across the face.

“You naive idiot!” he hissed. “You think this is about you and your word? We’re too deep into this. Ivanna has to stay under until Marian seals the deal. No distractions. No screw-ups. Got it?”

Leo stood frozen, caught between orders and ethics.

“Get her the strongest painkillers you can find. Morphine, Fentanyl—whatever. Knock her out if you have to. We do the surgery tomorrow night,” Matteo commanded.

I couldn’t feel my face anymore. The bastards had knocked out a few of my teeth, and my mouth was still bleeding. My stomach churned with betrayal.

When Matteo divorced my mother, he fought hard to keep me. I thought it was love. Love for her daughter… But no, it was leverage. And Chris… he was my shield as a kid. He used to pick fights with the other mafia brats if they even looked at me wrong. He’d give me the last slice of pizza, share his jacket when I was cold.

Now? He let our father beat him down for trying to help me. He let him delay the surgery that might save my life.

The door creaked open, and they both walked in again. I shut my eyes quickly, forcing my breathing to slow. But my fists clenched without permission.

Matteo noticed instantly.

“She’s awake,” he said, reaching down to grab my hand. “Ivanna, sweetheart. Can you hear me? You’re going to be okay.”

The concern in his voice made my skin crawl.

He looked over his shoulder. “Chris, don’t just stand there. Give her something for the pain. Make sure it’s the best.”

Chris moved to my side, avoiding my eyes. He cleaned the blood from my lips and wrapped my wounds with care... too careful. A performance for the others.

His fake gentleness made me want to scream.

“I-It hurts… so bad,” I whispered, forcing tears into my voice. “When can I have the surgery?”

Matteo jumped in before Chris could answer. “The meds we need are... held up. Customs issues. We’re doing everything we can. It should arrive tomorrow night.”

Bullshit.

I turned to Chris, eyes hollow. “That true? You can’t help me now… even if I’m bleeding inside?”

He flinched. Just for a second. Guilt flashed in his eyes before it was gone.

“Don said it all, Ivanna,” he muttered. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure you’re safe.”

I stared at him, barely able to breathe from the pain in my chest and the one deeper inside me.

Safe?

Safe from what?

Them?

No. No one’s going to save me this time.

So I’ll save myself.

And when I rise from this bed, the blood they spilled won’t be mine anymore. It’ll be theirs.

Because I remember the promises.

I remember the lies wrapped in love.

“I don’t care what happens between me and your mother,” Matteo once said, crouching down to fix my braid before Sunday church.

“You’re my princess, Ivanna. My blood. I’d die before letting anyone touch a hair on your head.”

And Chris? He was thirteen when he stepped between me and a boy twice my size who tried to steal my backpack.

“You don’t mess with my sister,” he growled, nose bleeding, lip split. Then he turned to me with a crooked grin.

“I’ll always protect you, Vanna. Even if the whole world turns on us.”

The whole world didn’t have to. Just them. Now Chris won't even look at me for more than a second. And my father… is the architect of this cage.

The truth is, they never built a wall around me to protect me. They built a ring