Chapter 1 - The Degrading Uniform
The private, highly secure VIP corridor of Chicago’s most expensive hospital was bathed in warm, golden recessed lighting. Polished marble floors gleamed silently, but the atmosphere was completely, undeniably shattered.
Emily Russo leaned weakly against the heavy wooden doorframe of the examination room. She was thirty-two, stunningly beautiful, but currently exhausted beyond measure. Her chestnut-brown hair was pulled into a messy braided updo, and her cheeks were heavily stained with fresh, desperate tears.
She was exactly eight months pregnant, her naturally rounded belly prominent and heavy.
But it was what she was wearing that stopped the air in the corridor.
Emily, the legal wife of the city's most powerful man, was squeezed into a humiliating, degrading black housekeeping uniform. The short black dress featured a scalloped white collar, white cuffs, and a large white lace-trimmed apron that stretched agonizingly tight across her pregnant stomach. It was an outfit intentionally designed to mock and belittle her.
Standing right beside her, staring at the uniform in absolute, paralyzing disbelief, was her husband, Dante Russo.
Dante was the undisputed, heavily tattooed mafia king of Chicago. Wearing a perfectly tailored black suit, his sharp, masculine features and rugged stubble usually projected cold, intimidating authority. But right now, the ruthless executioner was completely shaken.
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Standing ten feet behind them in the corridor was Vanessa Laurent. The glamorous, thirty-something mistress wore a deep-red sleeveless evening gown, bold red lipstick, and sparkling diamond earrings. A smug, toxic, highly satisfied smile danced on Vanessa’s lips as she watched Emily’s ultimate humiliation.
👉 Vanessa thought she had completely destroyed the pregnant wife, but the doctor stepping out of the room was about to change everything.
