The Mafia Heir

Episode 1

I never thought I would smile again. Not after everything I've been through. But there I was, sitting in that white leather chair in the clinic, my hand resting on my still-imperceptible belly and my heart racing.

"Congratulations, Mrs. Ferrari. The blood test confirms it. You are pregnant."

The doctor smiled tenderly, holding the chart with the lightness of someone who had just changed someone's life. And she had. She had changed mine. An avalanche of emotions hit me, but instead of fear, it was a relief that washed over me from the inside out.

I couldn't answer immediately. I just closed my eyes, letting a tear escape. It was real. As real as the accident that took my husband and son from inside the burning car. As real as the nights I screamed in pain, alone in an empty bed, begging God for a second chance.

Now I had it.

The doctor kept talking about the initial follow-up, but my mind got lost in the beating of my heart. For the first time in a long time, it didn't seem broken.

I grabbed my bag, thanked her, and left the clinic with light steps. I didn't want to tell anyone yet. I didn't even know how to explain it... After all, my attempt at fertilization had been marked as something practically symbolic. One in a thousand chance. But I did it. A miracle.

I went home embracing my little secret. I stroked my belly with affection.

"It's going to be okay, my love... Mommy will protect you with everything she has..."

But what I didn't know was that my life was about to transform again. And not by a miracle. But by a nightmare.

On the other side of the city, while I celebrated my light, a man was destroying the world around him.

"What did you just say?" Lorenzo Mancini's voice cut through the air of the room like a cold blade.

The doctor trembled. He sweated. Lorenzo's fiancee, Chiara, was already standing, in shock, staring at the professional with bulging eyes.

"I... I'm very sorry... there was an error in the genetic screening... the sperm sample used was not Miss Chiara's... hers is still intact... but... another patient received the material..." the doctor stammered.

Chiara screamed. An explosion of rage and shame.

"This is absurd! A disgrace! I'm not marrying you anymore, Lorenzo! This is a scandal!"

He didn't even look at her. He stood still, like a marble statue, with his eyes fixed on the doctor.

"Who?" he asked in a low voice.

"W-what?"

"The woman's name. Now."

"That's medical confidentiality..." the doctor tried to argue, but he didn't have time.

In a quick movement, Lorenzo pulled the gun from his jacket and shot the doctor in the chest. The bang echoed through the clinic hallway. Chiara screamed, falling to her knees, covered in blood.

"I said... the name."

One of the clinic's security guards, white as paper, ran in with a file in his hand. "It's... it's this one here. Giulia Ferrari."

Lorenzo took the paper, read it, and then simply turned his back.

"The wedding is canceled, Chiara. But my inheritance isn't."

And it was at that moment that my world began to crumble.

The next morning, I was having my coffee peacefully when the doorbell rang. I thought it was the neighbor, maybe a package. I opened the door without thinking twice.

And I was face to face with him.

The most handsome and terrifying man I've ever seen.

Tall, impeccable, dark suit, icy gaze. He stared at me as if he had known me for years. Behind him, two security guards dressed in black waited in silence.

"Giulia Ferrari?" his voice was deep, without any trace of emotion.

"Y-yes, that's me. Who are you?"

He held up the clinic file paper. I recognized it immediately.

My body froze.

"We need to talk," he said, without asking permission, just walking in.

"Hey! You can't just come in like that!" I protested, trying to keep the door half closed.

But he was already in the living room, observing everything as if he owned the place.

"You're pregnant," he said. "And the baby is mine."

It was as if the floor had disappeared under my feet.

"What do you mean yours?!" I shouted. "I had the procedure at the clinic! It was an anonymous donor! Everything was legal!"

"It was a mistake," he replied. "You received my genetic material. Without permission."

"That's not my problem! I just wanted to be a mother again! And now I'm pregnant! This baby is mine!"

"It's my child," he corrected. "And I came to get him."

My whole body trembled. I felt my legs weaken. I wanted to cry, to scream, to tell him to get out of there. But something told me that this man was not someone you could send away.

"I'm not giving you this baby," I said firmly, even with the fear gnawing at me. "This is my son. I lost my husband, I lost my first son. This child is all I have left. You can't take him away from me!"

He approached. I recoiled instinctively.

"Then we have a problem," he said coldly. "Because I'm not giving him up either."

"Do what you want, but I won't give in. I'll fight."

"Great," he replied, with a smirk. "But you won't need to. Because I have another solution."

"What?"

"You're going to marry me."

The silence that settled in was deafening. I widened my eyes, feeling my heart race.

"Y-you must be joking..."

"I'm serious. In three days, you will be my wife."

"I... I'm not a virgin!" the confession escaped before I could stop it. The fear, the pressure, everything made me explode.

He just raised an eyebrow.

"I don't care. You're carrying my child. And you will carry my name."