Chapter 1 - The Woman Who Walked Into The Bellandi Mansion
A little girl pushed away her dinner plate, crying:
"I don't want another woman to leave me!"
When Mafia boss Dante Bellandi arrived, he discovered a torn employment contract beside the untouched bowl of soup.
But three small boxes were drawn on the back of the paper.
"Dinner. Trust. Tomorrow."
Dante suddenly realized this wasn't just another nanny interview.
The last thing I owned was a twenty-six-dollar bill.
I remembered staring at it inside my old handbag while standing outside the courthouse in Chicago, watching rainwater drip from the edge of my coat.
My divorce papers were folded beside it.
That was all I had left.
Not a house.
Not a husband.
Not even a goodbye.
My name was Evelyn Ward, and three hours earlier, I had still believed that after three years of marriage, I deserved at least a conversation.
I was wrong.
Sebastian Crane had not come to the courthouse to fight for our marriage.
He had come to make sure I left with nothing.
"The agreement is clear, Mrs. Crane," his lawyer had said while sliding the documents across the table. "You will leave the estate immediately. You have no legal claim to the family's assets."
I had looked at Sebastian.
My husband.
The man who once promised I would never stand alone.
He had not even looked angry.
That was the part that hurt the most.
He looked bored.
Like I was an inconvenience that had finally been removed.
"You knew this was coming," Sebastian said quietly.
I stared at him.
"I knew our marriage was falling apart," I replied. "I didn't know you planned to erase me."
His expression never changed.
"You should be grateful. You lived a comfortable life."
A comfortable life.
That was what he called it.
The dinners I organized.
The family events I saved.
The nights I stayed awake taking care of his sick mother while everyone else ignored her.
The years I spent trying to become someone his family would accept.
Apparently, none of it counted.
The assistant standing near the door held my coat.
Not offered.
Held.
Like she was waiting for me to leave.
"Your belongings have been packed," she said.
Belongings.
A few dresses.
Some books.
A photograph.
Everything else belonged to the Crane family.
Even the memories.
I signed the papers.
My hand shook.
Not because I loved Sebastian anymore.
Because I finally understood that the person I had been fighting to keep had never been fighting for me.
When I stepped outside, my phone died.
The screen went black.
The last message I saw was from my former friend.
A job notice.
A strange one.
Live-in maternal assistant needed. Immediate placement. Room, salary, protection included.
Protection.
That word stayed in my mind.
Because after losing everything, safety had become something I could no longer take for granted.
I had no relatives nearby.
No savings.
No apartment waiting for me.
Just twenty-six dollars and a divorce certificate.
So I followed the address.
And that was how I arrived at the Bellandi mansion.
The gates opened before I could knock.
A tall man in a black suit stood behind them.
He looked at my wet clothes.
Then at my old handbag.
Then at the envelope holding my divorce papers.
"Miss Ward?"
I froze.
"How do you know my name?"
The man didn't answer immediately.
"This house knows who approaches it."
That should have scared me.
Maybe it should have made me walk away.
But walking away required somewhere else to go.
"I was told there was a job."
"There is."
He stepped aside.
"I am Enzo."
I entered the gates.
Only then did I understand why the address had felt impossible.
This was not a normal mansion.
Black vehicles lined the driveway.
Security guards stood silently.
Every person inside moved with purpose.
Nobody laughed.
Nobody wasted time.
It felt less like a home.
More like a fortress.
Enzo walked beside me.
"The rules are simple."
I looked at him.
"What rules?"
"You are not here to impress the Don."
"The Don?"
His expression remained calm.
"Dante Bellandi."
The name meant something.
Everyone in Chicago knew it.
Some called him a businessman.
Others whispered different names.
A man who controlled powerful people.
A man who never lost.
A man nobody wanted as an enemy.
I stopped walking for half a second.
Enzo noticed.
"You may leave now if you wish."
I looked behind me.
The city lights were far away.
My twenty-six dollars felt heavier in my pocket.
"I'll stay."
He nodded.
"Then understand this. The children come first."
Children.
I hadn't expected that.
"What children?"
Before he answered, the mansion doors opened.
And Dante Bellandi walked out.
He was exactly what I expected.
And nothing like what I expected.
Tall.
Controlled.
Dangerous.
His black suit looked expensive, but his expression was colder than anything money could buy.
His eyes moved over me.
Not in judgment.
In calculation.
"She's the applicant?"
"Yes, Don," Enzo replied.
Dante looked at my handbag.
Then at my shoes.
Then back at my face.
"You came here with nothing."
It wasn't a question.
I lifted my chin.
"I came here looking for work."
Something unreadable crossed his face.
Then he turned.
"Follow me."
Inside the dining room, I saw why.
Three children.
Three small lives surrounded by a world built on fear.
A boy sat beside a chessboard.
His eyes were sharp.
Suspicious.
Another boy held a blanket tightly against his chest.
And the smallest child sat in a chair.
A little girl with dark curls.
She hugged a white rabbit toy.
Her eyes were red from crying.
"I don't want another woman," she whispered.
Nobody moved.
Dante Bellandi stood there.
A man feared by half of Chicago.
Unable to convince a child to eat soup.
He looked at me.
"Her name is Livia."
The little girl looked away.
"Get her to eat three bites."
I blinked.
"What?"
"Three bites."
"And if I can't?"
"You leave tomorrow."
The room became silent.
I looked at Livia.
She wasn't being difficult.
She was afraid.
That was something I understood.
I placed my handbag down.
"Can I have a pen and a napkin?"
Everyone stared.
A maid slowly brought them.
I sat on the floor.
Not too close.
Not touching her.
Just close enough.
"What is your rabbit's name?"
The little girl looked at me.
"Pearl."
"Pearl is a beautiful name."
She hugged the rabbit tighter.
"You won't stay."
The words were quiet.
But they hurt.
I looked at her.
"I don't know how long I'll stay."
Everyone seemed surprised by my honesty.
"But tonight, I am here."
I drew three small boxes on the napkin.
Livia watched.
"What are those?"
"Choices."
"For what?"
"Three bites."
She looked confused.
"After each bite, you fill one box."
"And then?"
"Then you decide if I come back tomorrow."
Her eyes widened.
"I decide?"
"Yes."
Nobody had expected that answer.
Not Dante.
Not Enzo.
Not even the children.
Livia stared at the soup.
Then at the boxes.
Slowly, she picked up the spoon.
The first bite happened.
The entire room went silent.
The second bite came easier.
Before the third, she looked at me.
"You won't touch my hair?"
I smiled softly.
"Not unless you ask me."
She ate the third bite.
Then she took the napkin.
And marked the final box.
"Three."
I nodded.
"Three."
For the first time that night, Livia smiled.
A tiny smile.
But real.
She pushed the napkin toward me.
"You can come back tomorrow."
Dante Bellandi watched everything.
And for the first time since I entered the mansion, his expression changed.
Not because his daughter had eaten.
Because she had trusted someone.
Later that night, Enzo led me toward my room.
I thought I had accepted a nanny position.
I thought I had found a temporary place to survive.
But when I opened the door the next morning, there were two contracts waiting on the desk.
One was an employment agreement.
The other had my name written across the top.
May you like
And beneath it were the words:
Marriage Contract.
