My Husband Dumped Me and Our Newborn Twin Daughters to Die in the Freezing Cold Because They Weren’t Boys, But the Mafia Boss Who Rescued Us Made Him Regret Every Second of It

We arrived shortly after midnight, accompanied by Luca and six armed guards. The building had once provided fertility treatments to wealthy clients who valued secrecy more than ordinary medical care.

Its windows were boarded up.

A single light remained on in the basement.

“Dr. Bennett is inside,” Luca said. “Two men are watching the rear entrance.”

I stepped from the vehicle.

Elias caught my arm.

“You stay behind me.”

“I'm done standing behind men while they decide what happens to my children.”

“Ava, this isn't about courage.”

“Neither was giving birth. I did it anyway.”

For a second, he looked as though he might argue.

Then he released my arm.

“Stay close.”

We entered through the basement.

Dr. Matthew Bennett sat tied to a chair beneath a fluorescent light. His shirt was stained with sweat, and his glasses lay broken on the floor. When he saw Elias, he began speaking before anyone asked a question.

“I didn't know what Cross intended to do with the children.”

“You falsified their records,” Elias said. “You arranged an illegal transfer. You accepted nearly a million dollars.”

“I was threatened.”

“By whom?”

“Eleanor. Nathan. Both of them.”

I stepped forward.

“Where is Grace?”

The doctor swallowed.

“She was taken to a private apartment in Manhattan. I was given instructions to keep her sedated during transport, but I refused. She's unharmed.”

“Where is she?”

He gave Luca an address.

Then I asked the question that had haunted me since seeing the ledger.

“What does V-1 mean?”

Bennett looked toward Elias.

The room seemed to grow colder.

“It's a designation from a confidential fertility program,” he finally admitted. “Nathan wanted a biological son to satisfy the Cross family trust. But he had another arrangement. His mother wanted access to a dormant inheritance connected to the Vance family.”

Elias said nothing.

Bennett continued.

“Years ago, a genetic sample belonging to your older brother was stored at a private facility. Nathan obtained access to it. He arranged for an embryo to be created using Ava's eggs and that sample, without her knowledge.”

My stomach turned.

“No.”

“I was told the agreement had been authorized by both parties.”

“I never agreed to that!”

“I know.”

My hands began to shake.

“Which daughter?”

“The child designated V-1 is Grace.”

I had to grip the edge of the table.

Nathan had done more than deny my daughters.

He had secretly turned my pregnancy into a transaction, using my body to create a child whose existence could be exploited by two criminal families. Grace was my daughter, but she had been conceived through a deception so deliberate that I could hardly comprehend it.

“And Clara?” I whispered.

“Clara was conceived using Nathan's genetic material.”

I pressed a hand against my mouth.

Elias looked at Bennett with a fury that seemed to empty the room of air.

“Why?”

“The Cross trust was structured to pass to a male descendant. Nathan's mother believed a connection to the Vance family would give them leverage over your organization. They expected a son. When the embryos developed into two girls, their plans changed.”

“So they decided to erase one of them?” I asked.

Bennett nodded.

“Grace was to be hidden until Eleanor could use her lineage to challenge the old trust. Clara was to be treated as the only child. The original plan was to make Ava disappear and declare Grace lost during delivery.”

My knees nearly buckled.

The whole thing had been planned before my daughters were even born.

Elias turned to Luca.

“Get Grace.”

Luca hurried toward the stairs.

I watched him leave, then turned to Elias.

“Your brother's sample. Did he know?”

“No.” Elias's voice was quiet. “He died before Nathan's arrangement was made.”

“Then this has nothing to do with him.”

“It has everything to do with what my family left behind. But the decisions were made by living people, Ava. They are the ones who will answer for them.”

A crash sounded upstairs.

Luca's voice erupted over the radio.

“Contact! Three men at the east entrance!”

Elias drew his weapon.

I heard running feet, then a scream.

A moment later, Luca appeared at the top of the basement stairs, carrying a small bundle wrapped in white.

Grace.

I ran to him, took my daughter in my arms, and kissed her forehead so many times that she began to fuss.

For one glorious moment, nothing else existed.

Then Luca looked at Elias.

“Boss, we have another problem.”

Elias's eyes narrowed.