The Don's Biggest Mistake: Sending His Brother to My Bed

I am Eliana Torre, the Consigliere for the Caputo Famiglia. In Deyork, a city controlled by the mafia, everyone calls me Ice Lady. They say I am the first love of many MadeMen, that I clawed my way out of the slums with sheer ability, and am just one step away from the Don of the Caputo Famiglia, Lorenzo Caputo. Only I know that for the past three years, all my hard work and persistence have been just for one goal. I want to be promoted to Senior Consigliere so that I can be worthy of Lorenzo, who is my secret boyfriend. I believe we are in love. We share so many private moments of tenderness, like the late-night embraces in the apartment, the warm breakfast that suddenly appears on my desk, and the way he quietly protects me at business dinners. Until one day, my private photos spread throughout the entire company. I go to Lorenzo for help, but outside his office, I overhear a conversation. "Lorenzo, you casually send out Eliana's intimate photos, and all her efforts over the years are wasted. She can't compete with Fiore for Senior Consigliere anymore. "But I don't get it. Eliana is so beautiful. Even if you are not attracted to her, why do you keep having your brother sleep with her in your place?" It turns out that from the very beginning, Lorenzo is with me only to pave the way for my rival, Fiore Marotta. Even the intimate moments at night are carried out by his younger brother, Vincenzo Caputo, in his place. Tears run down my face. I wipe them away and unlock my phone to buy a ticket to Grayland. Then, I start drafting my resignation letter. I will never, ever return to this city full of deception. Chapter 1 Eliana's POV My name was Eliana Torre, and I was the Consigliere for Caputo Industries, the company under the Caputo Famiglia. Deyork was a city controlled by the mafia, and everyone here always referred to me as the "Ice Lady" because I looked naturally cold and aloof. Yet, I was also referred to as many Mademen's first love. I had clawed my way up the ranks with my own abilities and professional skills, and I was literally just one step away from reaching Don Lorenzo Caputo's heights. However, I was the only one who knew how much I drank and threw up at social parties and gatherings—sometimes until my stomach ruptured—just to seal contract deals and projects for the company. I once even stayed up for three days and nights at the office to complete the dock project he'd approved, finally collapsing at my desk afterward. I put in all this hard work, gritting my teeth and persevering through it all, just for the opportunity to be promoted to Senior Consigliere at the company and to be worthy of Don Caputo, who was actually my boyfriend in secret. At least, I thought that we were in love with each other. All those late-night embraces in the apartment, the warm breakfasts that would suddenly appear on my desk, and him silently deflecting alcohol from me at alcoholic social parties—these were all just kept as secrets between him and me. However, today, my intimate photos were leaked. They immediately went viral throughout the entire company. Every photo taken captured me at my most private, indecent, and vulnerable moments. There were photos of me covered in hickeys all over my naked body, being lost in passion with dazed eyes from being kissed in the Maybach, and more. Each of these photos could only have been captured by someone who was also there during those intimate moments. Overnight, I went from being a well-respected Consigliere to being called a slut and a whore who slept my way to the top. I was immediately stripped of the chance to be promoted as the Famiglia rejected my application. I'd even received anonymous text messages asking me how much I charged for a night. My colleagues' gossip and whispers were like poisoned darts, piercing straight into my ears. "Wow, who would have thought? She acts all cold and aloof when she's actually so slutty behind doors." "No wonder she made her way to the top so quickly. She slept her way there the whole time." I practically ran out of the office with only one thought on my mind—I had to find Lorenzo. I had to ask him why these photos were even leaked in the first place. I had to know why he did this to me. I felt as though my heart was about to burst open during the elevator ride to the top floor of the building where the Don's office was located. Tears fell down my cheeks uncontrollably. The door was left slightly ajar with a crack in the middle, and a very familiar bout of laughter floated out into my ears. Then, I heard my name being brought up. "But Lorenzo, I remember Eliana drinking so much she got a stomach ulcer and even working so hard on the projects until she got hospitalized multiple times, all just for the sake of this promotion. And now that you've leaked the photos, everything she's done thus far has been in vain. "She'll never be able to fight Fiore for the position of Senior Consigliere anymore!" I felt as though my feet had been nailed to the floor at that. All the blood seemed to drain from my entire body as I felt a chill shiver down my spine. That was right. Who else would have these photos besides Lorenzo? And who else could have made that anonymous post if not him? I supported myself against the wall, my fingers shaking violently as I thought of shoving the door open. However, the next sentence made me freeze immediately, to the point where I'd even forgotten to breathe. "Still, I don't get it. Eliana is a really beautiful woman, and yet, you're not even the least bit attracted to her. You can't even bear to lay a hand on her, to the point you had to get your own twin, Vincenzo, to sleep with her for you. I must say, you're really devoted to Fiore after all." Another voice, sounding exactly the same as Lorenzo's, was heard. The only difference was that his tone was more flippant, casual, and mischievous than Lorenzo's. "Eliana's completely different at the office compared to when she's under me. You might think she's all prim and proper here, but you gotta see just how seductive and inviting she can be in bed. She can bend her body into any position you can think up. She's really quite the slut. "Otherwise, why did you think I gave up those busty, booby models just to come back and do this for Lorenzo for three years? Of course, it's because the experience is so good that it's totally worth it!" Three years. Those two words felt like they were being seared onto my heart with a red-hot iron sear. It hurt so much that I couldn't even breathe anymore. To think that every intimate moment, every tender night, and every second I thought was a blatant proof of our love for each other had been done with another man over the last three years. I hadn't even known that his name was Vincenzo before today. This was the first I'd ever heard of him. Chapter 2 I had never seen him before, and I'd certainly never spoken a word to him before. And yet, I had been completely naked before him for countless nights before. A wave of nausea and disgust surged immediately from my stomach. I bit my hand so hard until I could taste the metallic tang of blood in my mouth to stop myself from throwing up and prevent the people in the room from realizing that I was there. The voices in the office still went on. I could hear Lorenzo's voice, the voice of the man whom I'd loved for three whole years. He was as cold as ice as he said, "If you're still not sick of sleeping with Eliana yet, Vincenzo, then you'd better hurry up and sleep with her a few more times while you still can within this week. "News about Fiore's promotion will be announced next week, and I'll be holding a celebratory dinner for her then. I'm also planning to confess to her during the party. And when that time comes, I'll be cutting off all contact with Eliana completely." "The hell, Lorenzo? You're saying that you're finally going to confess to Fiore after being in love with her for three years? You kept saying that Fiore didn't like relying on other people and wanted to prove her own efforts, so you're only confessing to her after she's gotten the promotion? "So that you'll both be meeting at the peak of your careers? "Sure, Eliana did get in her way all the time, and you didn't want to get her mad by letting Fiore take the back door. That's why you came up with this brilliant plan to ruin Eliana to make way for Fiore, didn't you? This is brilliant! Brilliant!" Lorenzo didn't deny it. He scoffed lightly, and the sound felt like a sharp ice pick striking against my bones. "Of course! Fiore graduated from a Privy League university. She's completely different from Eliana, who came from the slums. Eliana only agreed to be with me three years ago because I was the Don. It's her own fault and greed that she ended up like this in the end." Tears blurred my vision so much that I couldn't see anymore. I leaned back against the icy-cold walls and clapped a hand over my mouth, stopping myself from making any sound at all. So, this was the truth after all. As it turned out, the bar scene where Lorenzo saved me from a perverted potential business partner by smashing a wine bottle against their head and dragging me out from the abyss had been nothing but a lie from the very start. My fate had already been decided then. I thought that he was my salvation, but I never thought that he had only pulled me out of that abyss to shove me back into hell instead. To him, all three years of my love, affection, and sacrifice were nothing more than a carefully-plotted means to pave the way for Fiore's future instead. I couldn't even be considered Lozenro's bed partner at this point—just a substitute whom he cast to his younger twin brother and could be used as Fiore's springboard instead. I staggered back to my feet and ran toward the fire escape, shutting the metal door behind me. I then backed against the cold metal and finally lost it, letting out a silent, heartbreaking wail. The Deyork wind blew in through the vents, as cold as blades against my skin. The man whom I'd loved for years, and the city that I'd sacrificed so much for, had both ended up being a lie. I dried the tears on my face and shakily bought a one-way ticket home on my phone. Then, I tapped into my email and began typing out my resignation letter. Lorenzo Caputo. Fiore Marotta. Vincenzo Caputo. I wasn't ever coming back to this city of lies and deceit anymore, and I didn't want to bother with these people in my life anymore either. I was still huddled up in a corner against the fire escape door when my phone suddenly rang. The caller ID on the screen said that it was Mom. I inhaled deeply and shakily swiped on the "answer" button. A split second later, Mom's shrill curses pierced my eardrums. "Eliana Torre! How could you be so shameless! Your sex photos have all gone viral online! Did you know how embarrassed your dad and I were when your aunt sent them to the family group? "Did you think that I paid for your tuition fees for years only for you to end up being a free slut? Forget about ever coming back for the holidays next month! We'll talk again only after this has blown over in a couple of years!" I opened my mouth to defend myself, wanting to explain to her that I was a victim because I was being framed. However, I swallowed my words just as they had reached my lips. I should have known earlier that she would never listen anyway. Since I was young, Mom was only proud of me when I was at the top of the class, won scholarships, and got a job in the Caputo Famiglia's company, showing me off to all her relatives. However, she chose to ignore me completely when I was suffering from gastritis due to staying up too late at night, or when I lay alone in a hospital bed after being sent in for a stomach ulcer because I was forced to drink too much too often. In her eyes, she looked at me the same way Lorenzo did—a mere tool for showing off, and that was all. "Got it," I heard myself saying, my voice so hoarse that I couldn't even recognize myself anymore. "I won't come back." After hanging up, I swapped my flight ticket home for a one-way ticket to Grayland instead. Chapter 3 I couldn't even remember how I got back to my apartment, the place where "Lorenzo" and I had lived for the past three years. I stood at the entrance, staring at the door. Every time I pushed it open, I would always be welcomed with a warm pair of arms and a series of hot, lustful kisses. I would always see the smile on "Lorenzo's" face as he welcomed me home and told me how much he missed me. However, I'd only just realized now that the person who hugged me and kissed me every night was never the person I thought he was. I went inside and began packing. I packed up the jewelry Lorenzo bought me, the clothes Vincenzo bought me, and all our couple items over the past three years before throwing them into the recycling center downstairs. I watched as the items sank into the dark abyss of the huge recycling truck and felt a sense of hollowness in my chest. When I got back to the apartment, the door suddenly opened. "You're back, darling. Did you just take out the trash? What did you just throw out?" This voice was very, very similar to Lorenzo's. I had been hearing this voice countless times over the past three years as he whispered sweet nothings and dirty talk into my ear. But I only found out today that this voice belonged to someone else called Vincenzo. I turned around and finally looked at him seriously for the first time. His face was almost identical to Lorenzo's, but the flippancy and cynicism in his eyes were completely different from the cold indifference in Lorenzo's eyes. It had been three whole years since I slept with this man, but this was the very first time I was finally taking a good look at him. "I just threw out all the things you gave me last time. And you're saying that you don't remember what they are?" My voice was calm and flat, and he couldn't read my emotions from my tone alone. Only I knew how I felt. I dug my nails firmly into my palm. Vincenzo froze for a split second. Then, he chuckled and approached me, trying to hug me as he always did." "Alright, alright. Don't stay mad anymore. I've already settled everything related to the leaked photos and suppressed the rumors about them. I'm sure it was leaked by a rival Famiglia, trying to attack and undermine our morale. "It also doesn't matter if your promotion falls through because of this. I'll be taking care of you anyway. You can just resign and become a full-time housewife instead. I'll still be able to support both of us." He would take care of me? They destroyed my career, ruined my reputation, and completely crushed the past three years of my life, and yet, Vincenzo could still casually say that he'd "take care" of me and "support" me? Before I could speak, Vincenzo hugged me from the back, pressing me back against his warm, burning body. He then planted kisses on my neck as his breathing turned quicker. "Don't keep thinking about these anymore, darling. I missed you so damn much…" His familiar touch and scent would have immediately made me go putty in his arms if this were in the past, and I would have responded wholeheartedly to him. But now, I could only feel waves of nausea surging within me. I shoved him off with all of my might as I spoke in a cold, icy voice. "Don't touch me." Vincenzo froze as a flicker of surprise and a hint of hurt appeared in his eyes. However, he quickly masked them and shrugged instead, then turned and walked into the bathroom. I lay on the bed with my back to the bathroom. The water sounds soon stopped, and the door opened. The mattress sank behind me as he climbed into bed, releasing cool, dampish steam. I kept my eyes shut and didn't move a muscle. Then, I felt Vincenzo pressing his body against mine and rubbing against me relentlessly. His touches, which used to make my heart flutter, now only felt suffocating to me. Finally, at the moment of his release, I heard him moan in my ear in the most tender voice I'd ever heard. "Fiore… I love you…" My eyes shot wide open at once, tears silently flowing down the corners of my eyes and dampening the pillowcase underneath my face. So, that was how it was. Lorenzo wasn't the only one obsessed with Fiore. Even Vincenzo was in love with her too. As it turned out, I couldn't even be considered a substitute at this point. I was just a tool for Lorenzo and Vincenzo to relieve their unrequited lust and desire for Fiore instead. Vincenzo sighed heavily in content and satisfaction, turned over in bed, and quickly fell asleep. I kept my eyes wide open and stared at the Deyork moonlight outside the window until daybreak. Every night of the past three years had been nothing but a pathetic joke. Chapter 4 The spot next to me was already cold by the time I woke up the next day, just like how it had always been for the past three years. I used to always come up with excuses for Lorenzo, saying things like him just being used to waking up early, or being too busy with work, or naturally disliking intimacy after sex. But now, I learned that it wasn't because he disliked intimacy. It was just that he disliked intimacy with me. I suppressed the nausea in my guts, cleaned up the mess left from the previous night, changed into my work clothes, and headed toward the company. I realized that something was wrong as soon as I set foot into the company. Everyone's eyes were still fixed on me, but even more blatantly, disdainfully, and with more schadenfreude than yesterday. It was like they were waiting for some drama to unfold. My colleague next to me, Nadia Russo, cautiously tugged at my sleeve and whispered, "Eliana, there's a problem with the database from the case you were handling. The Underboss wants to see you at his office." I felt my heart sink. I pushed open the door to the Underboss', Claudio Bianchi's office, and saw that Fiore was already seated inside. She was wearing a white suit with exquisite makeup on her face. She even gave me a fake smile when she saw me walking into the room. "Eliana, you and Fiore had been jointly managing the database for the Famiglia's cases. But now, all the core data has been corrupted, and it's all garbled. Explain this." Claudio spoke while rubbing his temples, looking exhausted. I was just about to speak when Fiore immediately cut in first and said, "I know that I locked the computer after checking the database with my other colleagues that night. Only Eliana and I have access to the computer, and I was with the other colleagues for the entire night. They can vouch for me." She then paused and looked at me with a sly expression on her face. "As for Ms. Torre… Nobody knows where she was that night." I quickly thought back about that night, my mind racing. I was with Vincenzo at the apartment that night. He had prepared a candlelit dinner for me and even opened up a bottle of wine he claimed was a special brew from Rotugal. It tasted a little funky, but I didn't think much about it and drank it all up. After that, I fell into a daze and made love with him all night long. So, Vincenzo hadn't been romantic that night after all. It had just been a scheme all along. He had spiked the wine long before I drank it so that I would blank out and give them enough time to frame me for the blunder, and so I wouldn't be able to defend myself. "I was with Don Caputo that night," I said, gritting my teeth as I spoke. I had no choice but to expose my three-year secret relationship with Lorenzo to save myself. However, the office door opened just then, and Lorenzo walked in, expressionlessly tossing an iPad onto Claudio's desk. It was video footage from the office surveillance cameras, showing him entering the office together with Fiore on the exact night the data was corrupted. "I was with Fiore discussing a new dock project that night, and this is the full CCTV footage as proof. It's impossible that Fiore was the one who did it." Lorenzo didn't even spare me a glance, speaking in such a calm manner that he might as well just be describing the weather. All my blood ran cold at that moment. His Plan A was to expose my intimate photos and ruin my promotion. Meanwhile, he came up with a Plan B to frame me for the database error so Fiore could maintain a clean record. If the photos didn't ruin me first, then this disgrace of me ruining the database would ensure that I could never recover in this industry. They had set up a trap for me from the very start, luring me in step by step, completely removing me as an "obstacle" from Fiore's path to her promotion. "I understand," Claudio said with a sigh. "Since you're unable to provide an alibi, Eliana, then you will be held responsible for this. Rebuilding the database will cost millions of dollars. But considering you're a long-time employee in the Famiglia, you can just pay the fine, and we'll leave it at that." "It wasn't me!" I exclaimed in a shaky voice. "I never did it!" Claudio waved his hand dismissively at me and stopped me from fighting back. I could only walk out of his office in a dejected manner. I'd only just reached the hallway when I heard Lorenzo's voice from the back. "You don't have to worry about the fine. I'll pay it on your behalf. You've already lost the chance at the promotion because of your photos, but Fiore must have no stains on her record at all. Just admit the fault and take one for her." I stopped in my tracks, looked up, and forced the tears back in. So to him, my career, reputation, and life could never hold up to Fiore's career—something that couldn't get a single stain on it. "I'll make dinner for you myself tonight to make it up to you," he added in a self-righteous tone he probably thought was a gentle one. I didn't look back at him nor stop walking forward. I couldn't afford to eat the dinner he was planning to make for me. The price for it would be my entire life in his hands. I went back to my seat, turned on my laptop, and opened a blank document before typing out my resignation letter. All three years of our relationship were only worth this thin sheet of A4 paper now. I printed it out, signed my name, and went knocking on Claudio's office. I set down the letter before him. "Thank you for the Famiglia's support. This is my week's notice for my resignation. I've already made up my mind about leaving. Kindly acknowledge it as soon as possible." Claudio looked at me with shock in his eyes. "Are you really planning to resign, Eliana? Someone's already agreed to pay the fine on your behalf. You—" "I've made up my mind." He looked at me for a while. Then he sighed and signed off on my resignation letter, acknowledging that my notice period and the resignation procedures would be completed within the week. I took a copy of the letter back from him. It was very light, but it weighed down heavily on me, almost suffocating me. I would be flying off to Grayland in exactly one week as well. And when that time came, I would be 30,000 feet above sea level in the air, leaving behind this utterly rotten city and never returning for the rest of my life. Chapter 5 When I walked out of the office, I heard a commotion outside. I walked over instinctively and saw Lorenzo in the middle of a fight with another middle-aged man while Fiore stood to the side, her eyes red and bloodshot and looking extremely pitiful. I caught wind of the whispers and gossip from the colleagues around me. "This is one of our old clients we've been working with for decades! All he did was just tease Fiore a little, and the Don ended up beating him to a pulp like this!" "The Don also immediately brought video surveillance proof to save Fiore regarding the database issue just now. He really is so fond of her! Do you think they're going to be getting together soon?" "Oh, my heart! This is so romantic! I'm shipping them both together!" I stood away from the crowd, watching as Lorenzo kicked the middle-aged man to the ground, completely passed out. Fiore then tugged on his arm and said tearfully, "But Don Caputo, he's our biggest business partner for the dock project!" Lorenzo turned around and looked at her with such tender eyes I'd never seen before. It made him look like a complete stranger to me. "He never should have touched on you. You're my bottom line. So what if the Famiglia loses a supply chain? Anything is worth it as long as it's for you." My heart felt like it was being squeezed in my chest. It hurt so much that I couldn't even breathe anymore. I recalled the last time I'd accidentally dripped a single drop of water onto a contract. It hadn't caused any losses or issues in the end, and I'd even taken care of it as quickly as possible. However, Lorenzo lost his shit over that and yelled and berated me in front of the entire office for a whole hour. I always thought that he was someone who always prioritized the Famiglia's profits over anything else, but as it turned out, it wasn't like that. He just never thought I meant anything to him after all. I turned around to leave without looking back. Lorenzo turned around to stare at me just then, as if by clockwork, but all he caught was my back silhouette leaving determinedly. He didn't know why, but right at that moment, he felt a sudden ache in his chest as his heart thumped wildly for a second. … Over the next few days, I proceeded to hand over my job and duties and packed up, watching the entire company celebrate Fiore's promotion as if I were nothing but an outsider. Vincenzo would always come home every night. He probably realized that something had changed about me and thus began putting in a little more effort to woo me. He would ask me where I wanted to go on a trip and what I wanted to do. He even brought up the one time I casually mentioned I wanted to try pottery and try out some of the food trucks that had opened up in the alleys. I had wanted to try pottery for a long time, but because Lorenzo found it dirty and disgusting, he refused to keep me company. I had also wanted to try the food trucks for a long time, but Lorenzo said that the food was unsanitary and refused to even touch them. But now, Vincenzo was telling me that he was willing to come with me. I knew that these were just instructions from Lorenzo. After all, the official announcement for Fiore's promotion hadn't been made yet, so they were probably worried that I'd find out something fishy about it and cause a ruckus that would eventually harm Fiore. That was the main reason why he told Vincenzo to keep my emotions in check to "stabilize" me. Yet, for some reason, I still went along with it and followed Vincenzo out. We spent the rest of the night taking pottery classes. He held my hands in his as we shaped the vases with the clay on the wheel. We had some spicy food from the food trucks afterward. It was so spicy that I couldn't stop crying. He fumbled around trying to hand me some water and wipe the food stains from my mouth. We even managed to catch a slow, artistic film in the cinema, with Vincenzo holding my hand throughout the movie without falling asleep impatiently like he used to last time. Around dawn, while walking past a 24-hour convenience store, my gaze had simply lingered on the hot cocoa option for a short while, but Vincenzo noticed and immediately went in to queue up and buy it for me. I stood at the side of the street, watching his tall, lean figure mingling in the crowd, looking just like a regular boyfriend. I felt a dull ache in my chest. It would have been great if only all of these were real. It would have been great if I had never heard their conversation in the office the other day. Just then, someone slung their greasy arm over my butt and breathed alcohol all over me. "Hello, precious. Wanna come drinking with me?" I screamed and tried to run away from him, but the drunk pervert grabbed me by my wrist and refused to let go. He was so strong that I simply couldn't shake him off, no matter what I did. The passers-by all turned to look at us in shock, but nobody stepped up to help me. Just then, Vincenzo rushed up toward us, kicking the drunkard off and shielding me behind him, his eyes cold and fierce like a predator. "Stay away from my darling!" The drunkard then got into a huge fight with Vincenzo, but he was no match for him. However, the drunkard suddenly grabbed a brick from the roadside and struck Vincenzo in the head with it. Blood gushed out immediately, and some of the warm, sticky blood even splatted onto my face. Vincenzo fell to the ground at once. Chapter 6 "Vincenzo!" I dashed over to hold him up. His arms hung limply by his side, and his eyes were tightly shut. I immediately hugged him in my arms and screamed at the crowd of onlookers around us. "Call the ambulance! Call the ambulance at once!" By the time the ambulance arrived, my clothes were already half soaked through with Vincenzo's blood. I followed him into the ambulance, my arms shaking so hard the entire time that I couldn't even hold on to his hand. I kept telling myself again and again that Vincenzo was a liar. He was the one who had put me in this predicament, and he wasn't worth my concern or my emotions. However, I still couldn't stop myself from getting frightened. I was so frightened that he would just die on me like this. … The emergency room light was on for a long time. It stayed lit up for so long that I thought it would be morning soon, but then it finally went off. The doctor said that Vincenzo was out of critical condition now, and he just needed to stay for a night for further observation. I heaved a sigh of relief and felt my legs turning to jelly, nearly dropping to my knees. I never slept that whole night. Instead, I sat next to his hospital bed and watched his peacefully sleeping face instead. Vincenzo's face was a literal carbon copy of Lorenzo's. I'd been seeing Vincenzo for three years, but this was the very first time I had ever observed him so quietly like this. He had thick eyebrows, long eyelashes, and chapped, dry lips because he'd lost too much blood. I reached out, wanting to touch him on the cheek. However, just as my fingers were about to touch him, I suddenly drew them back. I told myself that I would only let this go on for tonight. I would just pretend tonight that this man, now lying in the hospital bed, was really Lorenzo, the same man I'd been loving for three years, and he also loved me back. When it was almost dawn, I quietly made my way out of the ward, thinking of grabbing him some breakfast for when he woke up later from the shops downstairs. Ten minutes later, I returned with some hot chicken noodle soup. The ward door had been left ajar. I could hear Vincenzo inside, chatting on the phone with a smile in his voice. "Damn it, you don't have to worry about a thing, Lorenzo! I was the one who arranged for this to happen so that I could save her like a damsel in distress. "I was the one who hired the drunkard. He's a professional stunt actor and knows just how hard to hit me so it looks convincing enough. I'm not going to die." I froze at once, my feet refusing to take another step forward. The container of piping-hot chicken noodle soup immediately dropped to the ground, spilling soup everywhere, but I didn't even notice that it scalded my hands. "I only did this because I don't know what the hell Eliana's gotten into these days. She just won't let me fuck her anymore. She should be all fixed after this incident now, don't you think? "Honestly speaking, Lorenzo, she has a mole on her boobs in the exact same location as the one on Fiore's body. I won't get in between you and her, but I'll just have to satisfy myself with Eliana as her stand-in." He continued speaking afterward, but I could no longer hear another word he said. It was smack in the middle of summer here in Deyork, and the sun was shining down brightly on me. However, I felt so cold and chilly that I shivered and shuddered with every fiber of my body from the roots of my hair down to the toes of my feet. So, even Vincenzo saving me from the drunk pervert was fake after all. I didn't know how I got back to the apartment after that. I sat down on the couch and stared at the sky outside the window as it got lighter and brighter as the sun rose without moving a single muscle. The door then opened, and Vincenzo strode right in. His head was still wrapped up in gauze. When he saw me, he came up to me with a smile and wanted to pull me into his arms and kiss me like he always used to. "Darling… Won't you give me some? I'm hungry…" I refused to move. Instead, I used up every ounce of strength in my body and shoved him off. "Fuck off," I said in a cold, chilly voice. Vincenzo staggered backward and nearly fell. He was completely caught off guard as he stared at me. Then, his eyes lit up in fury. "You fucking ingrate, Eliana Torre! I nearly got killed last night while saving your life! And this is how you repay me?" He grabbed his coat from the couch and left, slamming the door loudly behind him. I sat alone in the darkness and finally broke down in sobs. I cried until my tears went dry and my voice went completely hoarse. I couldn't produce another drop of tears anymore. I didn't want anything Lorenzo or Vincenzo owed me anymore. I just wanted to leave them forever. Chapter 7 There was a team-building dinner held at a three-star Kitchelin restaurant on the last day before I left, and Lorenzo was the one who'd be footing the bill. Nadia tugged on my sleeve and looked at me with sparkly eyes. "Eliana! We should go together! This is going to be the last team-building dinner for us, and since the Don's the one paying for everything, it would only make sense for us to attend!" I looked at Nadia's excited face and ultimately nodded, agreeing to go. This was going to be the final time I would ever see these people in this city anyway. That night, I walked into the luxuriously decorated Kitchelin restaurant and immediately caught sight of Fiore in the center of attention, with Lorenzo next to her. I froze in my tracks at once, suddenly wanting to turn and leave. However, my other colleagues had already begun to surround both Lorenzo and Fiore, bombarding them with curious questions and asking if there would be any good news from them very soon. Fiore was surrounded by the colleagues' questions, blushing hard as she shook her head in denial, yet the delight in her eyes was unmistakable. I sat alone on the couch like an outsider, watching as Lorenzo escorted Fiore to her seat and began cutting up her steak for her. I watched him drape his coat over her exposed legs and switch out her whisky for apple juice so that she wouldn't be obliged to drink. I recalled how, over the past three years—whenever I accompanied him to such drinking parties or events—he wouldn't even bat an eye, no matter how much I was coerced to drink by the others. He never even offered me a glass of water, telling me instead to get used to it for the good of the Famiglia. I had put up with it for three years. But now, I only found out that it wasn't that he couldn't switch out my drink for me—he just didn't want to do it. After dinner, someone decided to liven up the atmosphere with a game of Spin the Bottle and Truth or Dare. The first person the bottle landed on was Fiore. Someone immediately shouted, "Make her do a dare! A dare! I dare you to kiss someone of the opposite gender in this restaurant!" Fiore stood there like a deer caught in headlights. She then turned to look at Lorenzo, her eyes red-rimmed. Lorenzo immediately got to his feet and said, "If you don't mind, Ms. Marotta, you can go ahead and kiss me." Then, they both kissed with everyone else clapping and cheering them on. They even deepened their kiss, pressing desperately against each other's lips as if they didn't want to let the other go. I lowered my head and gripped the glass in my hand until my knuckles turned white. My secret boyfriend was kissing the woman he loved, with everyone from the company witnessing them. Meanwhile, I could do nothing but stay in the corner and pretend that none of this had anything to do with me. Just then, a waitress appeared with a scalding hot cup of caramelized onion soup. While walking past me, she suddenly slipped, and the entire bowl of soup came crashing toward me. I shut my eyes on instinct. However, the scalding pain didn't happen. Instead, I heard Fiore's blood-curdling scream. I opened my eyes and saw that the waitress had spilled the whole bowl of soup all over Fiore's thigh. Her skin turned bright red at once and began to blister. Everyone was completely taken aback. Loreanzo was the first one to react. He immediately picked her up and rushed out of the restaurant, comforting her. "Don't be afraid, I'm right here. I'll bring you to the hospital at once. I won't let you scar!" He didn't even bother to look back at me, who was originally supposed to be the victim of this harrowing accident. I stood rooted to the ground, still shocked out of my wits. I had caught the waitress' movements clearly just now. She had abruptly changed the direction in which the soup was spilling at the last possible moment. In other words, that hadn't been an accident—she had done that on purpose. This accident was something that Fiore had staged herself so that she could make herself out to be the pitiful victim instead. However, I was just too exhausted to think about anything of the sort anymore. I bid my colleagues goodbye and went back to the apartment. After washing up, I'd only just lay down in bed when the bedroom door was suddenly kicked wide open with a bang. Lorenzo stood at the door, his eyes bloodshot, his furious aura nearly burning me alive. I was able to tell that it was Lorenzo, and not Vincenzo. "What is it?" I asked him calmly. He stormed up to me and grabbed me so firmly by my wrist that I thought he was going to crush my bones. He growled through gritted teeth, "How could you be such a vicious, jealous bitch, Eliana Torre! "How dare you bribe the waitress into throwing that soup all over Fiore just because she lost a game and I volunteered to kiss her to get her out of the awkward situation? "Do you even know how badly injured she is? The doctor said that she would need a massive skin graft at once!" I laughed so hard until tears streamed down my face. As expected, he didn't even bother finding out the truth before concluding that I was the one who did it. After all, I was indeed such an evil and vicious woman who would do something exactly like that. "It wasn't me!" I said, struggling against his grip. "I was in the VIP room the whole time. I never had any opportunity to do anything of the sort!" However, Lorenzo wouldn't listen to me. He continued dragging me out of bed and out of the apartment. "Fiore cares the most about her appearance! And skin grafting requires her head to be shaved so that the doctors can get the scalp for transplant. But since you're the one who did this to her, then you're going to be the one suffering instead!" I was then forcefully dragged to the hospital and pinned to the cold operating table. Two nurses held me down, with Lorenzo standing beside the operating table, looking down on me as I wept. His eyes were completely devoid of all emotion. The razor blade glided across my scalp, and just like that, the long hair I'd grown out for three years fell to the floor in tufts. He used to tell me that he liked it when I had long, shiny hair draped across my shoulders like a silk scarf. But now, he was the one who had cut it off with his own hands. There was only one thought in my mind as I began drifting into unconsciousness. My hair was all gone, and so was the pathetic, pitiful bit of fate that connected us together. There was no going back anymore. Chapter 8 I was lying in a hospital bed when I woke up. I was completely bald, and my scalp was also throbbing with a tearing pain. The beeping of the medical equipment hooked up to me wouldn't cease, and the strong stench of disinfectant hung in the air. The door opened, and Lorenzo walked in. He looked at me with a slight hint of unease in his eyes. "You're awake. You bribed the waitress to burn Fiore, so the skin graft is what you owe her. But since what you did was also a crime, you'll be sent to prison for a few days as punishment." He was calm when he said all of that, as though he was just commenting about the weather. "I've already brought the salve. Take care of yourself in prison." I stared at him with wide eyes as though he were nothing but a stranger. "I didn't do it, Lorenzo Caputo. You're framing me. That is illegal detention!" He ignored me and clapped his hands together, summoning two strong bodyguards as they entered my ward, carted me off the bed with one on each side, and started dragging me out of the ward. "Let me go! I didn't do it! Let go of me!" I wouldn't stop screaming and struggling, but nobody paid any heed to me. Passersby would stare at me in shock, but when they saw the two intimidating bodyguards next to me, they hurriedly averted their gazes and hurried off without another look. I was shoved behind bars. There was the metalling clank of the door slamming shut behind me before it was locked and bolted in place. The next five days were the darkest days of my entire life. The other inmates with whom I shared a bunk room snuffed out their cigarette butts on my head, one after another, until there was the putrid smell of burnt flesh in the air. It hurt so much that I couldn't stop shuddering in pain. They also made fun of me and mocked me for being a bitch and a slut. They sliced into my still-recovering scalp with tiny blades, writing derogatory words on my head. Blood flowed down my face and blurred my vision. Every day was like a living hell for me. After the fifth day, the door finally opened for me early in the morning, and I shuffled out of the prison like a zombie. I'd only just reached my apartment and was walking past a surveillance camera blind spot when a hand suddenly reached out. They clapped over my mouth to stop me from screaming, and someone threw a sack over my head. I was then carried off like a sack of potatoes and thrown into a dark place with the door locked from the outside. I ripped the sack off my head at once and instantly felt a chill running through my entire body. This was an abandoned basement, teeming with rats. Their eyes glowed red like they'd been starving for days as they swarmed around me. They didn't seem afraid of humans as they started crawling up my pant legs, gnawing through the fabric, and sinking their razor-sharp teeth into my skin. "No… No…" I kept retreating until I was backed into a corner, trembling like a leaf. Then, a rat bit right into my foot, and a sharp pain shot through my entire body instantly. I screamed out loud and kicked it away at once, but more rats just swarmed up and continued biting me everywhere. I pounded on the door, screaming loudly for help, but nobody came. Just as I was on the verge of passing out, I suddenly heard Vincenzo's voice outside the basement door. "So what if Lorenzo has already punished her? That's on him. Fiore was terribly bullied, and as her biggest fan, of course I also had to do something on her behalf! Since Eliana caused Fiore so much pain, I'll make sure to return the pain to her tenfold!" So, that was the truth after all. Even this sudden hellish nightmare was nothing more than their punishment toward me for Fiore's sake. I didn't know how much time had passed after that, but when I woke up again, I was lying in the hospital once more. My entire body was covered in tiny wounds, all stinging and throbbing very painfully. Still, it wasn't a life-threatening or fatal kind of pain. They just wanted me to constantly be in pain and continue suffering for as long as they wanted me to. They wanted me to be afraid, to be intimidated, and to make me wish that I were dead. I struggled to get out of bed and went down to the front counter. I saw Lorenzo and Vincenzo in the hospital lobby, one on each of Fiore's side as they showered her with care and concern while she was in her wheelchair. The concern and tenderness they were showing her were something that I had never experienced from them for the past three years. I inhaled deeply and realized that my heart didn't seem to be hurting anymore. They said that there was no greater sorrow than a broken heart, and perhaps I was experiencing it right now. I no longer harbored any hope for either Lorenzo or Vincenzo anymore. Just then, my phone buzzed with a call from Claudio, who told me that my resignation procedures were complete and that I was free to go. Meanwhile, I also received a text message from the airline company reminding me of my flight and boarding time soon. I smiled. Finally, I could leave now. I paid the hospital bills, went back to my apartment, grabbed the suitcases I'd packed up earlier, and headed straight for the airport. I got past security and boarded the plane. The plane slowly taxied onto the runway before soaring into the sky. I looked out the window, watching as the city of Deyork grew smaller and smaller until it became a blurry dot and vanished into the clouds. I leaned against the glass window and muttered, "I hope we never meet again for the rest of my life, Lorenzo, Voncenzo, and Fiore."