No More Saving You

It was our wedding anniversary. But my husband's precious childhood sweetheart just had to go bungee jumping. Even though I'm terrified of heights,my husband forced me to come along to the edge of the cliff with the two of them. Nobody saw it coming when the main safety cable suddenly snapped. In my last life,I risked everything to tackle my husband,Dominic,just as he lunged forward to save her. With no one to catch her,Vanessa plummeted onto the jagged rocks below and ended up paralyzed. That was the start of my living hell. Dominic's revenge was brutal and bloody. In the end,he locked me inside a dark basement freezer at twenty below,freezing me alive into a solid block of ice. Now,I'm back at the exact second crisis strikes. Just like before,Dominic lunges toward Vanessa without a second thought. This time,I smile. And I let go. I'll let their pathetic "true love" rot in hell. Chapter 1 The wind at the top of the cliff was strong enough to tear a person apart. A horrific screech cut through the air as the steel floor of the bungee platform under Vanessa broke completely! "Dominic, save me!" Vanessa's shrill scream echoed through the gorge. My husband, Dominic—the second-in-command of the Rossi mafia family—didn't hesitate for a single second. He lunged wildly toward Vanessa as she dangled in midair. In his eyes, no one else existed except her. In my past life, the exact same thing happened. Back then, I fought with everything I had to grab his tactical vest. My fingernails snapped off in the buckles as I dragged him back from the brink of death. But Vanessa slipped, fell off the cliff, and ended up in a vegetative state. That was the day my life turned into hell. Dominic called me a cold-blooded killer. He blamed me for ruining the love of his life. He tortured me with mob justice, locking me in a dark basement for a whole month to force me to sign over all my assets to make up for her. Finally, Dominic locked me inside a dark basement freezer at twenty below. I will never forget the agony as my blood froze and my organs cracked inside me. I'll never forget the cold, disgusted look in Dominic's eyes through the freezer glass. "Vanessa, don't be scared! Hold on to me!" Dominic screamed at the top of his lungs. Right now, half his body hung in midair, his arms wrapped tightly around Vanessa's waist. All his attention was locked on her pale face. He didn't give me a single glance. He just blindly reached back with his free hand and snapped at me: "Sienna, pull me! Hurry up!" In his mind, I was just his disposable lapdog. He thought if he snapped his fingers, I'd risk my life to save him. Looking at him risking everything for the woman in his arms, my heart remained dead silent. Last time, you blamed me for ruining your savior moment with your precious girl. This time, I'll let you two be together. I immediately reached out and grabbed his tactical vest, pretending to pull back with all my might. Just like in my last life, I was only an inch away from dragging him back. But this time, with a sharp SNAP, the vest buckle broke apart. The momentum slammed me hard onto the rocky ground. The rough stones ripped my palms open, leaving a gruesome, bloody mess. "Dominic! NO—!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs, sounding completely heartbroken. Without the vest to support his weight, Dominic instantly lost his grip and slid fast down the ledge! Only then did he finally whip his head back around to look at me. In free fall, his eyes went wide with sheer terror and disbelief: "Sienna? You—!" Before he could react, the overloaded safety railing collapsed completely. Clinging to Vanessa, Dominic fell like a heavy stone straight into the pitch-black abyss below! A few sickening thuds of breaking bones crashing through tree branches echoed from the bottom of the cliff. Then, dead silence. I lay flat on the ground, blood dripping from my palms. I lowered my head, tears streaming down my face. But inside, I felt strangely calm. Dominic, you love your childhood sweetheart so much, right? Go love her in hell. Five minutes later, a dozen men in black suits sprinted onto the platform with guns drawn: "Ma'am! What happened? Where is Boss Dominic?" My face was deadly pale as I collapsed on the ground, trembling violently. After a long pause, I shook uncontrollably and pointed a bloody hand toward the edge: "The rope snapped…I tried to hold him…but the buckle broke…They both fell!" The men looked at my bloody hands, then at the collapsed platform. They didn't doubt me for a second. Their faces turned ghost-white. In the Rossi family, if the second-in-command died on his own turf, all hell would break loose. The whole platform erupted into chaos. Radios screamed with frantic orders for rescue helicopters and trauma teams. I leaned against the hard stone wall, putting on a perfect show of pure panic and grief. Moments later, the lead mobster timidly held out an encrypted phone to me, his hands shaking like leaves: "Ma'am…it's Carmine." Carmine—Dominic's ruthless, high-and-mighty mother who ruled the family's inner affairs. In my last life, she stood by and watched me get locked into the freezer, calling me a useless slut who didn't deserve the Rossi name. I took a deep breath, pinched my throat to force a desperate sob, and answered the call. "Sienna!" Carmine's shrill, screeching voice exploded through the speaker, nearly piercing my eardrums: "How the hell did Dominic fall?! Where were you, you useless bitch?! If my son loses a single hair on his head, I will skin you alive!" Chapter 2 "Carmine…it's all my fault…" Clutching my bloody palm, I sobbed hysterically: "The platform collapsed too fast! I held onto his vest and pulled with everything I had. My hands are torn to shreds…but the buckle snapped! Dominic…he held Vanessa so tight, and they went right over the edge…" The harsh voice on the other end went dead quiet. Through the static of the wind-blown radios, only Carmine's heavy, agonizing gasp remained. "Bitch…just you wait!" CLICK. She slammed the phone down. Forty minutes later, two black mob helicopters roared over the rocky beach at the bottom of the cliff. When the paramedics rushed out with stretchers, the mobsters behind them all gasped in shock. Vanessa's luck was sickeningly good. Dense tree branches halfway down caught her, leaving her with only light scratches and a broken left wrist. She lay on her stretcher, trembling in fear. Dominic, who acted as her human shield, was a bloody pulp. Branches tore his skin open everywhere. Thick blood covered his face. His legs twisted in horrifying, ninety-degree angles. Even in a deep coma, his lips twitched, weak murmurs rasped out of his mouth: "Save…save Vanessa first.leave me…" The mobsters carrying the stretcher exchanged weird looks. "Boss Dominic is half dead, and he's still crying out for Vanessa." "Our lady shredded her own hand trying to pull him up, but Boss Dominic didn't care about her at all…" The harsh whispers reached Vanessa's ears. Her face drained of all color. She sobbed, trying to defend herself to the men: "It's not what you think. Dominic and I are just childhood friends—he's just used to protecting me!" Nobody bought her weak excuse. The men looked at her with pure disgust, seeing her as a homewrecking curse. When I stepped into the medical helicopter, I even pulled off my jacket and gently draped it over Vanessa's shivering shoulders. "Don't listen to them, Vanessa. I'm just glad you're safe." My eyes held fake tears, my voice soft and flawless. Vanessa went stiff. She stared at my bloody, torn palms, her throat caught, unable to utter a single word. The helicopter sped off, landing on the helipad of the Rossi family's private hospital. Black-suited guards completely sealed off the top floor of the ER building. The stretcher wheeled fast toward the OR doors. Vanessa limped behind, gritting her teeth, trying to force her way inside: "Let me in! I need to stay with Dominic!" I stepped forward, blocking her path. I gently caught her hurt wrist, my voice calm, yet loud enough to echo down the hall: "Vanessa, your left wrist is broken. You need to go to orthopedics right now.Besides, Dominic is fighting for his life.You are not his legal wife. You'll only get in the doctors' way." The dozens of family lieutenants standing in the hallway went completely cold. "A childhood friend with a broken wrist trying to push into Boss Dominic's surgery room?" "She really doesn't know her place. Who does she think she is, the lady of the Rossi family?" The harsh whispers hit Vanessa like sharp slaps. Her face flushed red, then turned pale. She stood frozen in place, unable to step forward or back, tears welled up in her eyes. Right then, fast, heavy heels clicked down the far end of the hallway. Carmine rushed over, surrounded by cold-faced bodyguards. She wore an expensive black mink coat. Her well-kept, cruel face burned with wild rage. "Sienna! You damned jinx!" The second Carmine reached us, she didn't even glance at Vanessa. She raised her hand and swung it hard at my face! "If my son dies in there, I will take your worthless life!" In my past life, I would have dropped to my knees, crying and begging for mercy. This time, I didn't even blink. I watched her hand swing at me with cold eyes. BANG! The emergency room doors burst open. The lead surgeon ran out covered in blood, cutting her slap off short: "Who is the family?! The patient lost too much blood! Multiple internal tears, crushed legs, and his heart rate is dropping fast! Sign the critical condition notice now!" A blood-red paper went straight into Carmine's hands. The rage on Carmine's face vanished, replaced by sheer panic and pale terror. "Critical…how is he critical?!" Her knees went weak, and she almost collapsed. I gave the bodyguards a look, watching cold-eyed as they held up the shaking woman. The hallway lights shone cold and harsh. The red emergency light flashed silently above our heads. I leaned back against the hard wall, running my thumb over the dried blood on my palm. I watched Carmine drown in fear, and Vanessa stand there utterly hopeless. In my last life, you locked me in that freezer and watched me die. Now, it's your turn to choke on that terror, piece by piece. Just then, the red ER light snapped off. The surgeon walked out with a heavy face. Chapter 3 "Mrs. Rossi, please calm down…" Seeing Carmine, the lead surgeon rushed out with his assistants. He bowed his head deeply, his voice trembling in fear. "How is my son?!" Carmine snapped, grabbing the doctor by his collar. "The surgery took seven long hours. We saved his life," the doctor stammered, sweat dripping down his face. "But Boss Dominic's spine and pelvis are shattered. His spinal cord is severely damaged. In the worst-case scenario, he will be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life." "Paralyzed?!" Carmine shrieked. Her eyes rolled back, and she passed out cold, slamming onto the floor! The hallway erupted into pure chaos. I watched cold-eyed as bodyguards scrambled to revive Carmine, quietly backing into a corner. For seven hours straight, I didn't touch a drop of water. I didn't shed a single tear. I organized every single medical bill, handed hot coffee to every family lieutenant waiting in the hall, and secretly saved all of Dominic's diagnostic records on my phone. The way many mobsters looked at me started to change. The next morning, outside the ICU on the top floor of the family hospital. Vanessa tried to force her way in with her mother, her eyes red, holding a flask of homemade soup. However, the Rossi elders and guards at the door showed no mercy. They didn't even give her a single glance. In the mafia, a woman who made the family heir lose his legs was nothing but a curse. "Sienna,how is Dominic?" Vanessa asked, her voice shaking as she took a tentative step toward me. "Still under observation in the ICU," I rasped out, rubbing my temples with an exhausted look. "Your wrist is still hurt. Why aren't you resting?" Vanessa froze. My flawless, gentle attitude stung her, leaving her utterly embarrassed. Just then, a nurse threw the door open and rushed out in panic: "Ma'am! Boss Dominic is awake!" Carmine, who had just been wheeled over with an IV in her arm, didn't care about her weak body. She ordered her men to push her inside right away. The elders and I followed right behind her. On the hospital bed, Dominic was pale as a ghost, covered in tubes. He shifted his gaze with great effort, opening his cracked lips. His first words weren't about his own injuries, nor were they for his mother. Instead, he rasped out with weak, obsessed desperation: "Vanessa… is Vanessa okay? Is she hurt badly?" Standing by the bed, Carmine and the elders turned deathly quiet, their faces dark as night. Dominic didn't notice a thing. He turned his head toward Vanessa: "As long as you're safe… why are you still hurt? Don't worry about me. As long as you're okay, it's all worth it." Beside the bed, Carmine shook with pure rage. "Dominic! You almost lost your damn life, and the first word out of your mouth is about an outsider?" Before the man could answer, the lead surgeon walked in. He put on sterile gloves, pulled back the blanket, and jabbed a sharp pin into the skin of Dominic's toes and calves. Once. Twice. "Feel any pain, Mr. Rossi?" Dominic froze. He tried with all his might to move his lower body, but from his waist down, there was only dead silence. "Why… why can't I feel my feet?!" Dominic frowned. "Is the anesthesia still working?" Looking at the pity in everyone's eyes, the brutal truth hit him. His confusion turned into shock, then melted into a full meltdown. "What the hell did you do to my legs?! I am the heir of the Rossi family! How could I be a cripple?!" He wildly knocked the metal tray of medical tools onto the floor. The tubes attached to him shook violently. Vanessa broke down into heavy tears. She threw herself onto the bed, holding his hand: "Dominic! Don't be like this! No matter what happens to you, I will stay by your side forever!" Seeing Vanessa, the terror in Dominic's eyes instantly turned into wild malice. His glare pinned strictly onto me. The hatred and toxicity in his eyes threatened to swallow me whole. "Sienna! Was it you?!" Dominic roared in a hoarse, brutal voice. "My vest was right next to your hands! Why didn't you pull me up?! Did you do this on purpose?!" The air in the room froze solid. Everyone snapped their heads around to look at me. I scoffed inside my head. Look at that. This is the man I loved with all my heart in my past life. He ruined himself to save his precious girl, and the first thing he does when he wakes up is throw mud at his own wife. My eyes turned blood-red in a second. Big tears fell like broken beads down my face. I didn't argue. I just silently lifted my arm and pulled back my sleeve. The deep purple bruises and bloody scars carved into my arm by the vest buckle—along with the scabbed, torn flesh on my palm—were laid bare for every family elder to see. "Dominic, what are you talking about?" I sobbed, my voice trembling. "To pull you back, my hands almost got ripped off in those metal rings… But you only wanted to save Vanessa! How could I hold the weight of two whole people?!" I turned to look at Carmine: "If I hesitated for even a second, how could I get my skin torn off like this? He is my husband… but his heart was only set on saving Vanessa!" Carmine looked at the terrifying bloody scars on my arm, then looked at Vanessa crying fake tears by the bed. Her eyes turned completely cold. SLAP! Carmine turned around and hit Vanessa across the face with a brutal slap! "Get the hell out!" Carmine pointed toward the door, her eyes cold as ice, looking at her like a piece of trash. "Starting today, don't let me ever see you near the Rossi family again!" Vanessa crashed onto the floor, holding her burning cheek, screaming in disbelief: "Aunt Carmine! Dominic and I are clean!" "I said GET OUT!" Carmine roared with pure fury. Dominic lay there frozen in shock, unable to believe his mother, who had always favored Vanessa, could be this ruthless. Cold-faced guards dragged the screaming Vanessa out of the room. Carmine turned around, taking my hands into hers. Her voice was softer and more reliant than ever before: "Sienna, you've suffered so much. From now on, this family needs to rely on you." Right now, Dominic lay flat on the bed, his face pale as death, his eyes fixed on his paralyzed legs. I lowered my head, hiding the bone-chilling smirk in my eyes. Don't be in such a hurry, Dominic. The punishment of your fall into hell has only just begun. Chapter 4 "Take your damn wine and get the hell out!" The glass bottle shattered at the hospital room door, expensive red wine splashing all over Vanessa's legs. On the tenth day of his hospital stay, Vanessa took advantage of a guard shift change to sneak in. Banned by Carmine from visiting, she brought a bottle of top-tier wine from her family's vineyard, trying to spark their romance again. Too bad she picked the absolute worst time. On the bed, the once arrogant second-in-command of the Rossi family was emitting a foul smell of human waste. Because his lower body lost all feeling, Dominic had lost control of his bowels. Before the nurses could change the sheets, Vanessa pushed the door open. Even though she tried her best to hide it, the twitch of her eyebrow at the sour smell and the tiny half-step she took backward were caught by Dominic instantly. At first, Dominic's face held a touch of warmth. But that half-step crushed the very last bit of his dignity as a mafia boss. "Dominic,I just wanted to see you!" Vanessa paled, clutching her dress, trembling before the shattered glass. "Are you deaf?! GET OUT!" Dominic's eyes turned blood-red. Like a toothless beast going mad, he grabbed everything on the nightstand and threw it at the door. Standing in the hallway shadows, I watched Vanessa run away in disgrace, a cold smile curling on my lips. From that day on, Dominic threw himself into self-torturing rehab. Every day, painful roars and the loud crashing of equipment echoed from the rehab room. He couldn't accept becoming a cripple. He couldn't stand the pity or coldness in people's eyes. His temper grew wilder and darker. He even held a gun to a nurse's head just to keep everyone away. A month later, in the rehab room. "I don't need help! Back off!" Dominic shoved two trembling nurses away. Veins popped on his forehead as he gripped the bars of the standing frame. He tried to stand up on his own strength. One second. Two seconds. He shook violently, his face turning from red to pale. His paralyzed lower legs hung like boiled noodles, utterly unable to hold his broad frame. A heavy crash shook the room. Dominic slammed onto the cold floor, collapsed in a ridiculous, ugly pile. "Dominic!" A gasp came from the doorway. Vanessa had snuck back again. She stood at the door, her mouth wide open, her eyes filled with shock and cruel pity. That look stung worse than a gun pressed to his head. Dead silence filled the room. Dominic lay flat on the floor. He lifted his head in shame, meeting Vanessa's eyes—eyes full of fear and disgust. The man she once idolized as a savior was now a helpless cripple who couldn't even crawl. That contrast crushed Dominic's soul into dust. "Had enough of a show?!" Dominic snapped completely, grabbing a piece of rehab equipment and throwing it hard at her feet. Plastic and metal buckled with a sharp noise as it hit the floor. Vanessa shrieked in terror, backing up three steps. She didn't even have the courage to reach out and help him up. "Didn't you say you'd stay with me no matter what happened to me?!" Dominic lay on the floor, propping his upper body with his hands. His eyes burned with thick toxicity, his teeth grinding together: "Since you're so madly in love, then marry me!" The words echoed wildly through the empty rehab room. Every nurse, bodyguard, and bystander in the room stopped breathing. Thick awkwardness and suffocating pressure covered the entire room. Vanessa froze on the spot, her fake mask shattering to pieces. Only sheer terror and disgust remained on her face. Being the fiancee of the mafia's second-in-command was one thing. Being a caretaker to a permanently paralyzed, incontinent cripple was a completely different story. "I…" Vanessa's lips trembled violently, unable to get a full sentence out. Watching this circus, pure delight filled my heart. Watching them turn on each other was pure ecstasy. The circus was officially underway.