The Last Time You Chose Her

On the way to my wedding, our car was ambushed. The guards rushed me and Camilla to our family's private clinic. I was bleeding heavily. Blood completely soaked my bridal gown. My mother Alessia holds absolute power over the family. She took one cold look at me. Then she turned around and called in the top trauma team. She made them examine Camilla over and over, all for a minor scrape on Camilla's forearm from a stray bullet. "Camilla's wound is in plain sight," Alessia snapped. "If this leaves an ugly scar, how will she ever stand among high society?" I begged her to stay. She just brushed me off without a second thought. "You are my flesh and blood. You should be tougher than this. If I save you first, the men will think I am playing favorites with family." "Once I take care of Camilla, I will see to you." She walked away without looking back once. I could feel my life slipping away from me. Weakly, I grabbed Dominic. He had just stripped off his leather gloves. "Dominic, save me... the broken steel beam from the door stabbed right into my chest..." Before I could finish, he shoved my bloody fingers away with pure disgust in his eyes. "You were curled up in the reinforced armored back seat. Camilla was in the front passenger seat with zero cover. How could you be hurt worse than her?" "Gianna, drop the sick jealousy. Do you have to fight Camilla for attention every damn time?" He turned and walked straight into the sterile trauma room. He forgot. When the gunfire erupted, he was the one who yanked the steering wheel to shield Camilla next to him. He swung the car around. He made the back seat take the full hit from the truck. I took every ounce of the deadly impact meant for her. Alessia even cut off the ER doctor during his critical report. She yelled in his face. She accused him of acting along with me to beg for attention. Then she ordered everyone to treat only Camilla's "severe trauma." My vision began to darken. The twisted steel beam bit deep into my ribs. Chapter 1 "Get your hands off me, Gianna." Dominic did not even bother looking down. His eyes held pure disgust. My bloody fingers clutched the hem of his jacket. I used every drop of my fading strength to hold him back. With one vicious twist of his wrist, he threw me off. I lost my balance and slammed hard against the cold concrete floor. A sickening crunch tore through my back. Blinding pain shot straight into my skull. The broken end of the armored steel beam pushed an inch deeper into my organs. I choked down my scream. Hot, bitter copper flooded my throat. Dominic did not pause for a second. He held the sobbing Camilla in his arms and rushed toward the VIP trauma room. "Don't be afraid, Camilla. I won't let you keep a single scar." His voice was low and gentle, carrying a softness once meant only for me. The heavy blood loss made me tremble. Darkness crept across my vision in waves. I lay in a pool of my own blood and crawled toward the nurses' desk ten feet away. "Help me... call a surgeon..." Behind the desk, two doctors wearing our family crest stared at me coldly. They went right back to their charts. "Save your breath, Gianna," one muttered, flipping a page. "You know the Boss. In this family, rules come before blood." "Six days ago, Dr. Julian took pity on you during your checkup. He slipped you an IV bag without authorization." The nurse beside him sneered. "The Boss broke his fingers that very night. Now he is down in the morgue washing body bags." "None of us are going down to join the dead just to wait on you." This was Alessia's iron rule. This was the family I gave my life for. I gritted my teeth. My cracked nails scraped bloody trails across the concrete. I tried to push my chest up. Every movement sent the jagged beam grinding against my organs. My arms gave out. I crashed back down. Thick, dark blood gushed from my lips, soaking my white veil. A woman in the waiting chairs jumped up, holding her bandaged arm. She slapped a hand over her mouth in horror. "Blood! There is black blood all over the floor! She is dying!" The two behind the desk shifted, but they looked at each other and stayed put. No one dared cross the Boss. Hurried footsteps sprinted down the hall and stopped right beside me. "Hold on!" Mia, a trainee nurse, dropped to her knees. She slipped her hands under my arms, trying to haul me up. "Mia, are you crazy? You want to get thrown to the dogs?" a doctor barked from behind. Mia ignored him. She locked her jaw and pulled. The second her shaking hands brushed my back, she froze solid. Through my soaked gown, her palms hit something cold, jagged, and hard. Blood poured like water from a massive tear in my flesh. All color vanished from Mia's face. She knew. This was no surface scratch. It was half of the door frame's steel beam, shoved right inside my body. I clutched her sleeve, choking on froth and blood. "Mia... I cannot breathe..." Mia began to shake all over. She let go of me and scrambled toward the closed doors at the end of the hall. She raised her blood-covered hands and slammed them against the heavy lead doors with everything she had. Loud clangs echoed down the corridor. The intercom flashed red. Alessia's voice cut through, cold and harsh. "Back off. Who let you disturb Camilla?" Mia threw her body against the doors, her voice cracking in pure terror. "Boss! The steel beam went through Gianna's chest! Open the door, or she dies on this floor!" Chapter 2 "Shut up. Hit that door one more time and I will rip out your tongue." The heavy lead doors slid open. My mother, Alessia, stepped out with a face like ice. Her sharp eyes scanned the hall. Every single guard held his breath and stepped back against the walls. Mia scrambled forward on her hands and knees. She pointed at me in the pool of blood and screamed: "Boss! The crushed car door went right through Gianna's back! The broken steel beam is inside her! She needs surgery right now!" The escort paramedic spoke up, shaking. "Boss, she is crashing..." "Nonsense." Alessia cut him off. She did not even let him finish. She walked over in her high heels. Seeing my blood-soaked train, her face froze for a second. "How are you hurt this bad?" She bent down, reaching out to check my wound. Just then, her phone rang. The timing was terrible. Alessia stopped. On the other end, Camilla's constant cries of pain held her back. "Is it bad? Okay, I am coming right now. Did someone check on Gianna's wound? Okay, I got it." I did not know what the voice said. But when Alessia looked at me, all the care in her eyes vanished. "A little broken glass scraped a vein. You throw a tantrum over some blood?" Mia's eyes burned red. She dragged herself forward. "Boss, it is not a scratch. The whole metal beam is trapped inside." "Enough!" Alessia snapped. Her glare sliced into Mia and the paramedic. "You two bought into her act? One more word, and I dump you both in the Hudson River." The paramedic flinched and stepped back. Mia froze in place under that lethal stare, her face pale. I lay on the cold concrete. With the last bit of my strength, my shaking hand grabbed the hem of Alessia's pants. "Mother... save me..." I fought for air. My words came out in broken gasps. "I am... really dying..." Alessia looked down at me. There was no pity in her eyes. Only cold disgust. "Always this soft." I wanted to tell her I wasn't. But the agonizing pain pierced my heart. I did not even have the strength to cry out. She glared down at me, her voice cutting like glass. "Today is your wedding day with Dominic. Every top man in this family is watching. Camilla took a hit for you. She is bleeding out. You take a scratch and throw yourself on the floor to beg for attention." "Camilla already told me. She made the doctors check on you first. You are perfectly fine, yet you dragged Dominic and me over here... Do you know you are embarrassing me and this whole family?" A violent cough tore through my chest. Thick, dark blood mixed with foam poured from my mouth. I clenched my fists. The last bit of light in my eyes went out. "I am not looking for attention... my organs are crushed..." "Shut up." Alessia looked away. She turned around to face the silent mob soldiers filling the hall. Her voice echoed across the room: "The Bellini family rules New York on iron discipline. Blood ties do not break our laws." "Gianna thinks her status puts her first. She is selfish, spoiled, and pathetic. From now on, she goes to the very back of the line." "Give her a single drop of medicine, and you die for treason." The entire corridor fell dead silent. Seconds later, dozens of soldiers bowed their heads and pressed their hands to their chests. "Yes, Boss." Alessia lifted her chin, taking in their submission. The trauma room doors opened again. Dominic walked out fast, his brow furrowed. "Boss, Camilla's cut is deep. Stitch it now, or she gets an ugly scar." The word "scar" wiped away all of Alessia's calm. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She looked at me on the floor and sighed. The next second, she pushed through the trauma room doors, barking orders at the chief surgeon behind her: "Get every plastic surgeon in this hospital right now! If you leave one mark on her skin, I will skin you alive!" Dominic turned to follow, but his steps slowed as he passed me. He looked down at me, soaked in blood. A faint hint of doubt flashed across his eyes. "Dominic..." I fought my eyelids open. I looked at the man sworn to be my shield. A trembling sob came from inside the room: "Dominic... where are you? I'm scared... my arm hurts so bad..." That cry shattered his hesitation instantly. Dominic's face turned cold again. He looked away and walked straight into the trauma room. The heavy lead doors shut behind them. Right before they clicked shut, I heard Alessia's voice. She used a tender, soothing tone she had never once given me: "Don't cry, little bird. Mama is here. No one leaves a mark on you." Chapter 3 The lead doors clicked shut, locking the trauma room away from the hallway. Waves of dizziness washed over me from the massive blood loss. My entire body shook. The year my father died, Alessia took the family over the bodies of her rivals. She sat at the head of the long table and looked down at me. She told me to survive in this family, I had to swallow all my blood and tears. She said I would take over the family one day. "As the future Boss, you leave your emotions behind. From today on, I am not your mother. I am your superior." To prove I was as good as any heir, I fought on the front lines again and again. Back then, Dominic was just a street enforcer. To stop a hit on me, he cut down seven gunmen alone on a rainy night. Covered in blood, he knelt before me, held my fingertips, and swore: "In this life, I am your blade. Anyone who touches you dies by my hand first." I fell for him. But Alessia saw his ruthlessness too. Step by step, she pulled him up to the second-in-command position just to pit him against me. I cried and begged Alessia not to be so cruel. I told her I couldn't watch the people I love leave me one by one. That was the last time she ever touched my head with any tenderness. "I must teach you the ruthlessness of a Boss." The very next day, Alessia brought Camilla back from the slums. Everything changed. A few fake tears from Camilla, and Alessia blamed me for bullying her. I never knew what Alessia said to Dominic behind closed doors. But after one private talk, Camilla called him "Brother Dominic," and the man sworn to be my blade aimed his gun at me over and over. Just an hour ago, on the way to the cathedral for our wedding, Camilla begged for custom cherry mousse from an Upper East Side shop. Dominic ignored my warnings. He drove straight off course into an active gang war zone. A split second before the heavy truck hit us, Dominic yanked the wheel to shield Camilla. He left me in the back seat, completely exposed. The car smashed apart. The broken steel beam punched through my back and tore through my chest. Memories rushed in. Hot blood surged up my throat, and my vision blurred into darkness. I cannot die here. I bit my tongue hard, using the sharp pain to stay awake. I dragged my lifeless body toward the dispatch desk. My cracked nails scraped bloody trails across the tiles. "Get a car... call a driver..." I lifted my bloody face, clawing at the edge of the desk. "Take me to the West Side underground clinic... to the old doctor..." Those were my father's men. Get there, and I had a chance to live. The dispatcher looked down at me. He didn't even bother to lean over. He just smirked down at me. "Save it, Gianna. The Boss just gave a strict order. Anyone moving a car without her signature dies for treason on the spot." He tossed the dispatch sheet onto the desk and looked down at me. "No signature, no car. Lie there and wait like a good girl." A shadow rushed in from the side. Mia lunged past the desk, pulled her pistol, and racked the slide. The cold black muzzle pressed right between the dispatcher's eyes. "Hand over the keys!" Mia's eyes burned red as she screamed. "Get a driver right now!" The cold barrel froze the dispatcher in place. His face went white. "Mia, are you crazy? Pulling a gun in the clinic is a death sentence!" "Call the car!" Mia's knuckles turned white on the trigger, her voice a raw roar. "Call it, or I blow your head off!" Before the dispatcher could move, the lead doors flew open. Alessia strode out, her face like thunder. She did not even look at the gun at the dispatcher's head. Her icy gaze dropped straight onto me. "Carry her inside and draw her blood." Alessia's voice was completely flat. Only I knew her well enough. She did this on purpose. She was punishing me for "lying." Mia froze, horror in her voice. "Boss! Gianna is bleeding out from her back! She barely has a pulse! You want to take her blood?" "Camilla lost too much blood and went into shock," Alessia cut her off. "Her rare blood type has antibodies. Bank blood will cause hemolysis. Only your blood can save her." She glanced at me and let out a sigh. "Stop acting like a spoiled child. The heir to the family must look at the big picture. Just give eight hundred cc's of whole blood to Camilla. Then we are done with this. No more throwing tantrums." It was rare tenderness. Normally, I would have cried. But I lay on the floor without the strength to answer. "The bone marrow failure report on your desk seven days ago..." I choked out, fighting for air. "Did you even read a single page?" Chapter 4 Alessia looked down at me, confusion flashing in her eyes. "Don't push your luck, Gianna." She looked almost helpless. "I already promised not to give you the cold shoulder anymore. What else do you want? Every time Camilla needs blood, you come up with a new trick." "I am not lying..." I clawed at the tiles, trembling as every breath ripped through my chest. "My marrow is already dry. Take more blood, and I will die, Mother..." Three years ago, our family took a hit. Camilla jumped in front of Alessia and took a bullet. Soon after, doctors diagnosed her with bone marrow failure. In the whole family, only my match worked. I knew I was Alessia's only daughter. Without her asking, I took it all on myself. I volunteered to make up for the half-life Camilla lost. From that day on, I became her walking blood bank. Later, even Alessia took it for granted. "She bled for your mother! Keeping her alive is your damn duty!" Alessia crushed me with that iron rule for three long years. Three years. Two bone marrow extractions, dozens of heavy blood draws. The moment Camilla's counts dropped, guards pinned me to the chair, draining my life away to fill her bottomless pit. Then came the pre-wedding checkup seven days ago. The doctor held my chart with a white face and warned me: years of heavy extraction destroyed my bone marrow. My body reached its absolute limit. That day, I ran into the study with the report. The second I set the file on Alessia's desk, Camilla grabbed her head and collapsed at the door. Alessia did not even hear half a word from me. She scooped up her adopted daughter and ran out. She never looked at that report once. "I told you this is the last time. Stop bargaining." Alessia interrupted me, raising a hand. "Put her on the bed." Two bodyguards stepped forward, twisted my arms behind my back, and dragged me onto the trauma gurney. The wound in my back tore wide open. The agony stole my breath. A few feet away, Camilla leaned against the pillows of her VIP bed, a thin layer of gauze wrapped around her arm. Seeing me dragged in, her eyes turned red. Her voice shook with tears. "Mother... please don't take Gianna's blood... It's all my fault. I shouldn't have begged for that mousse... I'd rather die than watch Gianna suffer..." That little show made Alessia's face turn even colder. "You hear that? She's hurt, but she still worries about you. You lie on the floor pretending to die just to steal the spotlight!" Alessia turned to Dominic. "Pin her down." Dominic stood by the bed, his fingers tightening at his side. He looked at my bloodless face, his steps stalling for half a second. "Dominic," Alessia's voice dropped, heavy with absolute command. "You are second-in-command now. Remember your place." That tiny hesitation vanished. Dominic walked over, avoiding my eyes. He twisted my wrists back and pinned me down hard against the mattress. "Bear with it, Gianna," Alessia said, her voice flat. "Once they finish the draw, I will have the doctor stitch you up." "Mother... I really can't take this..." I could barely pull in air, my voice down to a whisper. My fiancé did not let go. He threw his full weight onto my wrists, locking me in place. On the bed across from us, Camilla tilted her head. Out of everyone's sight, her lips curved into a cold, mocking grin. "Move fast!" Alessia ordered. The nurse hurried over with a thick gauge needle and shoved it right into my vein. Dark red blood surged down the tube, filling bag after bag. The massive wound had already drained me. Now my body turned ice-cold. My limbs locked stiff, and the heart monitor started beeping in rapid panic. I could feel my breaths getting shallower. My chest barely had the strength to rise. "Boss, that's eight hundred cc's!" The nurse stared at the monitor, her voice shaking. "Her pressure is bottoming out! She's in shock!" "Shock?" Alessia's face changed. She tried to step forward to check on me, but Camilla grabbed her arm. "Mother, it is all my fault. Gianna gave blood for years and was fine. Why would she..." Alessia scoffed at that. "I planned to hand her my power after this wedding. Now I see she is still too emotional." Then she thought of something and her brow smoothed. "Whatever. What is mine is hers anyway. She behaved well this time, so I will tell her early." She turned around and looked at the ER doctor. "Give Gianna a shot. Wake her up right now. I have good news for her." The doctor went pale, sweating as he looked at the crash tray. "Boss, Gianna has massive internal bleeding and organ failure! Pushing a heavy stimulant now will blow her torn vessels apart!" Alessia's eyes turned lethal, her patience gone. "Push the meds! Are you running this family, or am I?" In the past, every time I passed out from blood loss, I begged the doctors for a stimulant to wake me up. I did it because that was the only time Alessia ever showed me tenderness. So this time, she naturally thought it was just like all the other times. Facing the Boss's deadly glare, the doctor trembled. He grabbed the syringe, jammed it into the IV port, and shoved the entire dose in. The brutal drug slammed through my dry veins. The steel beam had already shredded my chest. The sudden pressure spike tore the damaged vessels wide open. Right then, Camilla called out, "Mother, I can't breathe in here. Will you take me outside for some fresh air?" Alessia immediately called for a wheelchair. She ordered Dominic to push her. Whispering soft comforts, the three of them hurried out. "Tell me sooner next time you feel off, okay?" In their blind spot, my body jerked twice. Then I went completely limp. Dead silence fell over the trauma room. The rapid beeping stopped. The line on the heart monitor went completely flat. One long, shrill tone filled the room.