I shook my head. I straightened up and looked toward the girl in the corner, her gaze vacant and lost. On my right hand, my father's signet ring caught the grey Ashford light. I turned it slowly, once, feeling the weight of the Montecarlo crest press into my finger.
"There's one more thing I need to do."
I needed to be absolutely certain.
In the empty hospital corridor, the doctor carefully handed me five paternity test results. He was one of ours — a physician who had served the Montecarlo Family for decades, the kind of man who understood that discretion was not a courtesy but a condition of continued breathing.
"Donna Montecarlo, all five tests show the same conclusion. I'd stake my entire career on it. This child is your biological daughter. One hundred percent."
I nodded and wired the doctor a million dollars on the spot.
Holding back tears, I walked step by step toward the trembling girl hiding behind a bench.
I crouched down until we were eye to eye. "Don't be scared. Mama's here to take you home."
A week later, I cleared an entire floor of the Montecarlo Grand Hotel and transformed it into a lavish birthday celebration. Every Capo, every allied family head, every business associate who owed us tribute or loyalty received a personal invitation. The kind you don't decline.
Dante walked in with Carina in a princess dress, and Serafina was right beside them.
She was wearing a matching mother-daughter princess dress identical to Carina's, drawing whispers from every corner of the room.
I'd had those dresses custom-made in Milan a month ago. A set of two, designed for me and my daughter.
Mine had vanished not long after they arrived.
Dante had waved it off with an impatient "It's just a dress. Gone is gone."
Turns out, it had gone straight onto Serafina.
The moment she spotted me, Serafina covered her mouth with a delicate laugh. "Donna Montecarlo, Carina just insisted on wearing a matching outfit with me to her birthday party. She said you'd look too fat and ugly in it. I couldn't bear to break the poor girl's heart. You don't mind, do you?"
"Of course not. Today is all about making Carina happy."
Dante's eyes flickered with contempt when he saw how agreeable I was being. "Honey, you should've been this sensible a long time ago. I'm pleased. Is the share-transfer agreement ready?"