Chapter 1 - The Blade in the Nursery
The heavy double doors of the luxury high-rise penthouse nursery slammed open with a deafening bang.
Dante Moretti—a tall, early thirty-something mafia kingpin in a crisp black suit, black shirt, and matching black tie—burst into the room with his silver firearm drawn, his pulse hammering against his ribs. Behind him, two armed bodyguards and a private nurse froze in the doorway, their faces pale with shock under the glow of the crystal chandelier.
Near the window overlooking the glowing city skyline, Clara Bell, the family’s young nanny in a dark maid uniform and white apron, stood cowering against the wall. She was screaming violently, her fingers pointing frantically toward the changing table.
"Dante! Shoot her! She’s trying to cut the baby’s throat!" Clara shrieked, her voice high-pitched and hysterical.
Leaning over the padded changing table was Vivienne Cross, Dante’s bride. Dressed in her embellished white lace gown, her blonde hair arranged in an intricate bridal updo, Vivienne’s hands were stained with antiseptic as she held a gleaming silver surgical scalpel directly over the throat of six-month-old infant Leo.
The baby lay motionless on the white padding, his tiny lips turning a dangerous shade of blue as his chest strained against total blockage.
Dante stepped forward in horror, his gun raised, his outstretched hand shaking slightly as he aimed directly at the woman he was supposed to marry in less than two hours.
"Vivienne! Drop that blade before I put a bullet through your head!" Dante bellowed, his deep voice carrying a terrifying, lethal tremor.
Vivienne didn't flinch. She didn't drop the cold steel blade. Instead, her icy gray eyes remained fixated on the infant's collapsing airway with complete, razor-sharp focus.
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"His airway is completely blocked," Vivienne whispered in a steady, precise tone that cut through the room. "If I don't perform an emergency tracheotomy right now, he dies in ten seconds."
👉 Read on to discover whether Vivienne's surgical blade saves the baby or triggers a fatal bullet.
