After Near-Death, I Heard Mafia Daughter’s Thoughts

The Vittori family was the most powerful mafia family in Ravenport. After six sons in a row, they finally welcomed a daughter. Dominic Vittori, the head of the family, was so overwhelmed with joy that he made the announcement on the spot. His newborn daughter, Thea Vittori, would inherit the entire family. But on the night of Thea's first birthday party, the private physician turned deathly pale after examining her. "Mr. Vittori," he said, his voice trembling. "Miss Vittori is in respiratory failure. I'm afraid she may not make it through the night." Seraphina Vale, Dominic's wife, fainted on the spot. The eldest son, Luca Vittori, racked the slide on his pistol. The fourth son, Dante Vittori, drew a dagger. The sixth son, Rocco Vittori, slipped on a pair of brass knuckles. Every one of them turned toward me. I was the new nanny. I was the person who had been taking care of Thea. Despair swallowed me whole. Then, all of a sudden, Thea's voice rang inside my head. "Luca's girlfriend! It's her perfume! There's poison in it! I smelled it, and then I couldn't breathe! I'm not dead. I just look dead! Get me somewhere with fresh air! I prayed forever to be born into this rich, pampered life. I cannot die from poison now! Somebody save me! Whoever saves me gets seven hundred million dollars!" The next second, I lunged toward Thea. "Don't touch her!" I shouted. I shoved past the household staff crowding around the crib, scooped Thea up with her blanket, and held her tightly against my chest. Luca strode toward me with the gun clenched in his hand. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?" I stumbled back with Thea in my arms, and my back slammed into the edge of a table. "She isn't dead!" I said quickly. "She can still be saved!" The private physician's face darkened. "Impossible," he snapped. "The child is already in severe respiratory failure. Her heart and lungs are barely functioning. You are only a new nanny. What could you possibly know?" Bianca Blake's eyes were red-rimmed as she stepped forward. "Miss Lane," she said softly, "I know you just started this job, and I understand that you're afraid of taking the blame. But you can't put the girl through even more suffering." Her voice trembled as she looked at Thea. "Thea is already pitiful enough. How can you do this to her?" As Bianca spoke, she took two more steps toward me. That sickly sweet perfume drifted into my nose again. Thea's voice exploded in my head. "That smell! That's the one! Keep her away from me! If I breathe in any more of it, I really will suffocate!" Panic seized me. I immediately carried Thea farther away. Dominic had been standing beside his wife after she collapsed. At my movement, he spun around. His eyes were bloodshot. "What did you just say?" Cold sweat slicked my palms. "Miss Vittori isn't dying," I said. "She has been poisoned. The fumes are making her stop breathing." I tightened my arms around Thea. "She can't tolerate that kind of irritating scent. She needs fresh air right now." The private physician's expression changed. His voice rose sharply. "Impossible!" He glared at me. "I have been practicing medicine for decades. Are you questioning my judgment?" Then he turned to Dominic. "Mr. Vittori, this nanny is clearly trying to avoid responsibility. She is making up lies to cover her own mistake." Nico Vittori, the third son, slammed his fist onto the table. A wineglass crashed to the floor and shattered. "Thea was perfectly fine before this," he said coldly. "How could she suddenly have been poisoned?" Bianca's face crumpled with fragile self-blame. "It's all my fault," she whispered. She lowered her eyes. "Just now, I thought Thea looked too adorable, so I leaned in to take a closer look. If I had known Miss Lane would use that against me and make such wild accusations, I never would have gone near Thea." The tiny voice from the baby in my arms shook with fury. "She's acting! She's still acting! That isn't ordinary perfume. There's something in it, some kind of irritant that can kill a baby!" I clenched my jaw and lifted my head. "Mr. Vittori," I said. "There is something wrong with her perfume." A flicker of panic crossed Bianca's face. But it disappeared almost instantly. Her eyes turned red again as she moved toward me. "What is that supposed to mean?" she asked. "I only wanted to comfort Mr. Vittori. You failed to save the child, so now you're trying to smear me?" The Vittori brothers' stares turned colder and colder. My legs shook beneath me. In my arms, Thea's breathing was fading, but her voice was still begging inside my head. "Get me out of here! There are too many people in this room, and I can't breathe! I'm going to suffocate!" I took a deep breath. At this point, I had nothing left to lose. "I don't have time to argue with any of you," I said. "If we wait any longer, Miss Vittori really will die." The private physician stepped forward, his face icy. "This woman has malicious intentions," he said. "For all we know, she is trying to take Miss Vittori away." He looked straight at Dominic. "Mr. Vittori, have her restrained immediately." Two bodyguards closed in on me.