The Don Drained Our Children's Marrow for His Sister-in-Law, I Left

The needle went into her vein and Vivian clenched her teeth shut, eyes closed.

The warmth drained out of her with every drop.

Her vision swam and her face went bloodless. She was almost at the end of what they'd taken when one of Ethan's men burst in.

"Don,Claire says it's not enough."

A chill ran through her.

The attending doctor's voice was small.

"Don, your wife is already pale. Her lips are turning blue. Any more and she could die."

Ethan was silent for a long moment.

Then he spoke. "Vivian. Don't worry. I remember what your mother asked of me. I won't let you die."

"Doctor. Take the maximum she can offer. But she has to survive. Do it."

Vivian's face went gray.

The needle slid in again, but she didn't feel it this time.

Probably because something inside her had already died.

She woke up alone in the hospital room.

Forcing herself upright with her head still foggy, she looked around. No one. Empty water glass and the dust on the bedside table suggested no one had been here in days.

She was thirsty. She pulled herself to her feet and went looking for a nurse.

She glanced up out of habit, and her blood went cold.

Across the hall, in the room opposite hers, Claire was propped up in bed, holding a child in her arms.

And Ethan was standing beside her with a bowl of porridge, smiling, feeding the boy spoon by spoon.

Like a family. Mother, father and the baby.

And Vivian, the one across the hall, could have died in that bed and no one would have noticed for days.

Her phone buzzed. She picked up without expression.

"Mrs. Voss. In three days, your death certificate will be processed."

Vivian smiled.

"Good."

She walked back into her room and let herself collapse onto the bed.

She didn't know how long she lay there. The nurses' chatter outside drifted in clearly.

"Honestly, it's absurd. The Don is such a steady, decent man. How did he end up with her?"

"Right? She loses one baby after another. Who knows what she did to deserve that. She can't even give the man a family and she still has the nerve to sit in the Donna's seat"

"If only Claire's son were the Don's. He's so good with that kid. The three of them are the real family."

Each word pushed in like a needle.

She gave a tired, bitter little smile, and old memories rose without permission.

Years ago. The war inside the family. A traitor's gun pointed at Ethan's chest.

She had thrown herself in front of him and taken the bullet for him.

But there had been too many men coming, and they couldn't shake them.

Her mother had come out of nowhere, a plain woman in a plain car, white at the temples, a housewife who had never known anything about gangsters or guns. But the moment she heard her daughter was being hunted, she came.

The car shot like an arrow onto the mountain road and rammed itself sideways across the lane, blocking the cars chasing them.

The crash was loud enough to split the air.

Her mother died right there.

Ethan, holding her bloodied body, had sworn through red eyes that Vivian would be his only wife. The only one. Ever.

Now that promise, the one her mother bought with her life, was worth less than weeds at the side of the road.

The door pushed open.

Claire walked in, dressed soft and pretty, and waved a calm hand to silence the nurses outside.

"All right, enough. The poor thing's not well. Let her rest."

Then she turned and looked down at Vivian, pale as paper on the bed. Her voice was gentle, almost sorry.

"I'm so sorry, sweetheart. They're young. Don't take it personally what they talk about."

"Although they're not entirely wrong, are they? Feelings are feelings. The one a man doesn't keep in his heart is always the outsider. No matter what title she's wearing."

She paused and let out a soft little laugh.

"If your mother hadn't died, would Ethan have made you his wife? It was the debt, sweetheart. It was always the debt."

Vivian's body went rigid as something black and hot rose in her eyes.

She could swallow anything else, but she would not let this woman drag her mother through the mud.

Claire bent low, lips near Vivian's ear, her voice was cruel enough.

"And, sweetheart, did you really think that car crash was an accident? Silly girl. I just didn't like the way you clung to Ethan. I wanted to teach you a lesson. I didn't know your mother would be too fragile to die. Such a pity."