Escaping The Ruthless Don's Golden Cage

I stood at the gala, draped in diamonds worth millions, playing the role of the perfect Mafia wife.

But the illusion shattered when his mistress walked in wearing a necklace identical to mine-a cattle brand dipped in gold.

When I confronted them, Liam didn't defend me. He shoved me aside to protect her.

I hit the floor, and as my blood soaked into the white stage, I realized he had killed our unborn child.

But the nightmare didn't end there.

I woke up to find that Liam had ordered me sedated to "manage my hysteria." The complications from his control and the trauma had forced an emergency hysterectomy.

He hadn't just killed his heir; he had stolen my future.

Yet, he still tried to lock me in his estate, convinced he could force me to love him again if he just kept me hidden long enough.

He thought I was broken. He thought I was his property.

He was wrong.

With the help of a doctor who had loved me from the shadows for years, I faked my death and vanished.

Six months later, the great Don found me in a small-town bookstore, falling to his knees to beg for a second chance.

I looked at the man who destroyed me and handed him a single dollar bill.

"Loyalty is the only currency, Liam," I said, quoting his own vow back to him.

"And you are bankrupt."

Chapter 1

Maya POV

I stood draped in a diamond necklace worth more than most people's lives, my arm linked with the most feared man in the city, just as I realized my marriage was nothing but a beautifully wrapped lie.

Liam stood beside me, his hand resting possessively on the small of my back-a heavy, claiming weight.

To the hundreds of guests filling the ballroom of the Grand Hotel, we were the perfect couple.

The King and Queen of the underworld.

He was the Don. A man who had carved his empire out of blood and bone, expanding our family's reach into legitimate real estate and shipping while maintaining a stranglehold on the city's vices.

He leaned down, his breath warm against my ear. "You look breathtaking tonight, Maya," he whispered.

His voice was a low rumble that used to make my knees weak. Now, it just felt like a performance.

I smiled. It was the smile I had perfected over four years of marriage. The smile of a dutiful Mafia wife who saw nothing, heard nothing, and said nothing.

"Thank you, Liam," I replied.

He kissed my temple, a gesture so tender it almost made me nauseous. Flashbulbs popped. The press ate it up. Liam turned back to the crowd, his charm switched on like a high-voltage light.

I let my gaze wander. The room was filled with sharks in tuxedos and vipers in silk gowns. My eyes landed on Marc Chen, Liam's Consigliere. His right-hand man.

Marc was standing near the bar, swirling a glass of scotch. He wasn't looking at the stage. He was looking at a woman in a crimson dress.

Ava Sinclair.

She was a socialite-young, hungry, and beautiful in a way that screamed for attention. Marc caught Ava's eye. He smirked. Then he looked at me. His expression wasn't respectful. It was mocking.

A cold shiver ran down my spine, unrelated to the air conditioning. I pulled my phone from my clutch, keeping it hidden behind the folds of my dress, and opened Instagram.

Ava Sinclair had posted a photo ten minutes ago.

It was blurry, artistic. A close-up of a woman's hand resting on a mahogany desk. In the corner of the frame, just barely visible, was a silver fountain pen with a distinctive obsidian inlay.

My breath hitched.

I bought that pen for Liam in Paris two years ago. It was custom engraved. The caption read: *Some late nights are worth the loss of sleep.*

My stomach turned over. I thought about the last few months. Liam coming home at 3 AM. Liam smelling of expensive scotch and a perfume that wasn't mine. Liam bringing me sapphire earrings, a ruby bracelet, a new car.

"Guilt gifts," my mother would have called them. I had called them love.

I looked up from my phone. Two women from one of the satellite families were standing near a pillar, their heads bent close together. They thought the music drowned out their voices. It didn't.

"...heard she's a firecracker," one whispered.

"And the First Lady?" the other asked, glancing my way. "She has no clue. Poor thing is deaf, dumb, and blind."

They giggled.

My blood ran cold. I looked back at Ava. She was laughing at something a waiter said, tilting her head back. The light caught the jewelry around her neck.

It was a starburst design. Diamonds and rubies.

My hand flew to my own throat. I was wearing the *Family Star* collection Liam had given me on our wedding day. Diamonds and sapphires.

Ava's necklace wasn't just similar. It was the exact same custom setting, just with different stones.

It was a claim. A brand. A cattle brand dipped in gold.

A woman approached me. Mrs. Ricci. She had hated me since I married Liam, believing her daughter should have been the one standing here.

She raised her champagne glass. "Maya, dear," she said, her voice loud enough to carry. "You look so well-preserved. It's a miracle Liam remembers to come home to you with how busy he is these days."

The insult was wrapped in sugar, but it tasted like poison. I froze. The room seemed to tilt.

"Excuse me," I said, my voice tight. "I need to powder my nose."

I didn't wait for a response. I walked away, keeping my back straight, my head high.

Inside the marble restroom, I locked the door and leaned against the sink. I looked at myself in the mirror.

Perfect hair. Perfect makeup. Perfect fool.

"Loyalty is the only currency," Liam had vowed to me at the altar. He had lied.

My mother had warned me. *In our world, Maya, tears are a weakness. Silence is power. Watch. Listen. Wait.*

I had ignored her. I had wanted the fairy tale.

I washed my hands, scrubbing them under the scalding water until the skin turned angry red, as if I could scour away the humiliation. I remembered Liam calling me "my property" in bed. I thought it was passion. Now I realized it was just an inventory check.

I dried my hands and fixed my lipstick. I was done crying.

I walked back out into the ballroom and stayed in the shadows of a large fern. Liam was talking to Marc. They didn't see me.

Marc leaned in, swirling his drink. "She's bold, posting that picture," Marc said, glancing toward Ava.

Liam chuckled. It was a dark, arrogant sound. "She's young," Liam said. "She needs attention."

"Men need variety, Boss," Marc said, clapping Liam on the shoulder. "Maya is... traditional. Good for the image. But a man gets bored of the same meal every night."

I waited for Liam to defend me. To punch him. To say anything.

Liam just smirked. "Maya doesn't ask questions," Liam said. "That's her best quality."

The floor didn't open up to swallow me. The world didn't end. But Maya, the loving wife, died right there in the shadows of the Grand Hotel.

I didn't confront them. I didn't make a scene. I waited until the gala ended.

We rode home in silence. Liam held my hand. I let him. It felt like holding cold marble.

When we got home, he went straight to the shower. I went to his study.

I didn't cry. I walked over to the wall safe hidden behind the portrait of his father.

I knew the combination-his birthday, backwards. He was arrogant enough to use it, and he thought I was too stupid, too trusting to ever try it.

I opened the heavy steel door. I didn't take the cash. I took the black ledger at the bottom of the stack. The one that contained the offshore accounts, the bribes, the real investments.

I took photos of every page. Then I put it back exactly as I found it.

I went to the guest room and locked the door. I pulled out a burner phone I had bought months ago, just in case. I dialed a number I hadn't called in years.

It rang twice.

"Is the path still safe?" I asked.

My mother's voice came through, clear and cold as ice.

"Always."