Ten days. That was all the doctor believed my six-year-old twins had left, and for the first time in my life, all the money, guns, fear, and power I had built as one of Chicago’s most feared mafia bosses meant absolutely nothing. By three that afternoon, while death waited inside my mansion, a penniless woman stood outside my gates refusing to leave, and I had no idea she was about to change everything.

I stared at the doctor in pure disbelief, demanding to know what he meant by poison.

Dr. Yates explained that if he transplanted her marrow right now, the neurotoxin would kill the twins instantly.

Elara stepped out of the examination room, pressing a bandage tightly against her arm.

She calmly confessed that Viktor Volkov had personally poisoned her before she managed to escape his compound.

He did it specifically to ensure her rare blood could never be used to save anyone else.

I felt a terrifying rage burning deep inside my chest as I realized the cure was poisoned.

I pulled out my encrypted radio and ordered Prescott to capture one of the attacking Volkov lieutenants alive.

The gunfire above us raged for another thirty minutes before the radio finally crackled back to life.

Prescott announced that they had successfully repelled the initial assault and secured a high-ranking captive.

I told Dr. Yates to keep the twins stable while I went upstairs to get the answers we needed.

I walked into the ruined main foyer to find a bleeding Volkov captain strapped tightly to a wooden chair.

I drew my combat knife and told him he had exactly ten seconds to tell me where the antidote was.

The captain spat blood onto my expensive marble floor and laughed directly in my face.

He proudly stated that the only existing vials of the antidote were locked inside Viktor's personal bloodstream.

He taunted me, saying my children were going to die just like my beautiful wife did.

I raised my knife to cut his throat, but my eyes caught a strange blinking light under his tactical vest.

Prescott screamed a warning and violently shoved me backward onto the floor.

When my newborn 'passed away,' my mother-in-law leaned in and said

My Husband Left Me Alone in My Car While I Was in Labor

“You’re Dead When We Get Home,” He Snapped

The Volkov captain smiled wickedly and proudly declared his absolute loyalty to the syndicate.

He forcefully bit down on a hidden detonator hidden inside his own mouth, instantly triggering the explosive suicide vest.

Chapter 3 - The Captive