The Mafia’s Scapegoat Bride: A Stolen Life Chapter 06

The Mafia’s Scapegoat Bride: A Stolen Life Chapter 06

The operating room lights stayed on.

Matthew leaned against the hallway wall, his fingers rubbing his sleeve absently. His right hand –

the hand that had signed countless death warrants-was shaking.

His heart raced wildly.

“Pull all of Olivia’s medical records. Bring the lead surgeon who operated on me back then.”

Memories flooded his mind.

He recalled how she coughed up blood every time the seasons changed.

He’d never pressed her about it. Each time he asked, she’d simply say it was just a cold.

He remembered bringing up having another child. Olivia would open her mouth, then sigh and turn him down. That quiet refusal had sounded fragile, as if it might break apart.

Now he finally understood.

She’d wanted to tell him she was the one who’d saved his life. That she could never have children again. That she was in constant agony.

But she’d said nothing.

Grace had gotten there first, using falsified documents to play the savior.

And he had believed every lie.

Footsteps echoed from the end of the hall.

Men from the family dragged Dr. Nathan over.

She still wore her pajamas under a white lab coat, her face ashen. She knew she’d been dragged into the family’s bitter conflict.

“Who was the real donor that saved me?”

Dr. Nathan froze, then pulled a document from her coat pocket and handed it over. It was the

original surgical record she’d kept for five years-the only copy left unaltered.

The name on the donor line read: [Olivia Lucchese.]

Matthew’s hands trembled harder.

“That can’t be right. Grace showed me her paperwork.”

Dr. Nathan cut him off. She knew she would never leave this building if she hid the truth.

“You suffered complete renal failure back then. You had less than forty-eight hours to live. Mrs. Olivia insisted on getting tested for a match. We all warned her of the immense risks, but she said she was your wife.”

“The match was perfect. She signed the consent form without hesitation. The surgery saved your life, but it left her with permanent damage. Her lung function never fully recovered. Coughing up blood became a regular thing for her.”

Matthew sank slowly to the floor.

He buried his face in his hands, his shoulders heaving violently.

The Don of the Gambino family, a man who never flinched amid gunfire, who’d sentenced thirteen men to death in a single family tribunal, now huddled in the hallway like a stray dog abandoned by

its master.

Dr. Nathan let out a long sigh.

“After the surgery, she requested to remain anonymous. She didn’t want you burdened with guilt, fearing it would ruin what you two had.”

She paused for a moment.

“Don Matthew… did you truly never know?”

Matthew could not answer. He could barely stand.

Everything came crashing back.

Half-conscious after the crash, he’d heard Grace screaming that she would donate her organ. He’d thought how kind she was.

When he woke, Grace sat by his bedside, pale and weak, holding the falsified report and asking if he would always remember her.

He’d taken her hand and sworn to repay her for the rest of his life.

A lifetime of gratitude.

That was why he’d turned a blind eye to Grace’s schemes and petty tricks.

He’d let her grow close to Evan, stoking rifts between mother and son.

He’d had Olivia’s face surgically altered to look like Grace’s.

He’d sent Olivia to prison to take the fall for Grace’s crimes.

Three long years behind bars, all endured in another woman’s place.

He thought of the look Olivia had given him in court.

That haunted gaze had visited his dreams time and again, jolting him awake night after night.

He’d sheltered Grace, keeping her safe inside a penthouse safe house on the ninety-ninth floor.

And what of Olivia?

She’d lost a kidney to save him.

And he had been the one to lock her away.

Her ribs had been broken, the bone piercing her lung, leaving her clinging to life.

She’d sold hot dogs on the street, scraping together pennies to buy a burial plot for her father.

He’d thought she was putting on an act. That she was greedy, desperate for money.

“Treat her kindly, Don Gambino,” Dr. Nathan said softly.

“She has endured far too much pain.”

She hesitated for a moment before speaking again.

“There is one more thing. About her foster father, Jonathan.”

Matthew lifted his head slowly.

“After the fire, Mr. Jonathan suffered severe burns. He stood a good chance of recovering. His condition even improved the night he woke up. But…”

Dr. Nathan frowned deeply.

“Someone visited him that afternoon. Not long after the visitor left, he bit through his oxygen tube and ended his own life.”