Late at night, my phone buzzed with a photo.

Against a dim background, Giuliana was bare from the waist up, wearing nothing but a necklace around her throat. It was the diamond necklace Vito placed on me himself when he proposed. He told me it symbolized the Madre of the Corti family.

Below the photo, Giuliana's taunting message read, "Madre, the Don says this necklace looks better on me than it ever did on you."

My chest tightened, and my breath stopped. I remembered that afternoon years ago in this very study, when Vito lifted this necklace from an antique velvet box and fastened it around my neck.

"Gia, wear this, and you'll be the only mistress of my life."

His gaze back then was tender and focused. Now, this symbol of devotion had become another woman's weapon against me.

I gripped my phone until my knuckles turned white, consumed by one thought—I was taking it back.

I changed clothes, grabbed my car keys, and headed for the door. Two towering Soldati blocked my path.

"Madre, you cannot leave the estate without the Don's orders."

Their expressions remained blank. I studied them. These men were guards I personally selected for Vito, and now they'd become the bars of my cage.

My voice came out cold. "Move."

They didn't budge. "It's the Don's orders."

I pulled a knife from my boot. The blade flashed once before burying itself in the left Soldato's thigh. Before he could scream, I had the blade pressed against the other man's throat.

"Unless you want to lose a leg like him, get out of my way."

My voice carried a long-forgotten edge of violence. They'd forgotten that before I became Vito's Madre, I was the Corti family's most ruthless Capo.

Both of them went pale. They exchanged a glance and silently stepped aside.

I drove to Vito's usual private club. The moment I pushed open the suite door, lewd music and the sharp stench of alcohol hit me.

Vito sprawled deep in the couch cushions with a careless expression while Giuliana's dress hung half off, bunched loosely at her waist and exposing bare skin to the air. She kneeled submissively at his feet in a posture both degrading and obscene.

That expensive diamond necklace wrapped around her throat while Vito wound the chain around his fingers like a leash, pulling it back carelessly to force her head up. Instead of resisting this humiliating control, Giuliana smiled wider and obediently lifted her wine glass to his lips.

The room went silent when I walked in.

Vito's brow furrowed. "What are you doing here?"

I ignored him and walked straight to Giuliana. She shrank into Vito's arms, though her eyes blazed with defiance.

I held out my hand, my voice flat. "Give me the necklace."

Giuliana's voice turned cloying. "Madre, what are you talking about? This was a gift from the Don. If you want it, you should ask him."

Her fingers stroked the necklace at her throat with obvious satisfaction. I turned to Vito and waited for his answer.

His expression went cold. "Gia, go home."

I ignored him and moved toward Giuliana. "Take it off."

Vito's patience snapped. He surged to his feet and clamped down on my wrist with enough force to crush bone.

"I told you to go home. Are you deaf? It's just a necklace. She likes it, so I gave it to her. As Madre, don't you have more dignity than this?"

"Dignity?" I swallowed the pain and stared at this man who'd made me so many promises. A cold laugh escaped me.

"What belongs to me can rot in hell before I let trash wear it."

I wrenched free of his grip and lunged at Giuliana. She screamed and tried to scramble back, but I grabbed the necklace and yanked hard. Gemstones and pearls scattered across the floor in a chaotic, musical clatter.

Giuliana clutched her reddened throat and shrieked, diving behind Vito. Vito roared. "Have you lost your mind?"

I clutched the main diamond I'd torn free and watched Giuliana cower. Finally, I smiled.

I tossed the diamond into the trash. "Now it's garbage. If you care so much, fish it out and give it to her."

While Vito stood there stunned, I held my head high and walked out of the suite, crushing pearls beneath my heels.

To punish me, Vito replaced me with Giuliana at the Corti family's annual gala.

She wore my custom gown, looking radiant under the chandeliers, while I sat alone in the corner like an outsider watching their absurd performance.

Vito walked her around, introducing her to every guest. "This is Giuliana, my… friend."

A vague title, but enough for everyone to understand her position. The guests kept glancing between us.

Halfway through the evening, Giuliana approached me with a wine glass, swaying gracefully. She stopped a few steps away, right in front of Mamma's oil portrait hanging on the wall behind me.

I'd commissioned Emaly's most renowned painter for that piece, wanting her to watch over me always.

She raised her glass with a smile. "Madre, sitting here alone must be so dull. Let me toast you."

Just then, she stumbled. The red wine spilled from her glass in a perfect arc, splashing across Mamma's portrait. Crimson liquid slid down her gentle face.

Giuliana let out an exaggerated shriek. "Oh no! I'm so sorry, Madre. I didn't mean to…"

Apologies poured from her mouth while malice gleamed in her eyes. Rage blinded me.

I shot to my feet and slapped her hard across the face. The entire ballroom fell silent. Everyone froze at the sudden violence.

Giuliana clutched her cheek and stared at me in disbelief as tears welled up. "You… you hit me?"

I met her gaze with ice in my eyes. "Hit you? I'm going to kill you."

I lunged forward and grabbed her throat, slamming her against the wall. In that moment, I forgot everything. I only wanted this woman who'd defiled Mamma's memory to pay.

"Stop!"

The shout snapped me back to reality. Vito strode over and shoved me aside, pulling the trembling Giuliana behind him protectively.

The force sent me stumbling backward into the dining table. My wrist cracked against the corner, sending pain shooting through my arm.

"Apologize to Giuliana."

I stared at him in shock. "What did you say?"

He repeated each word slowly. "I said, apologize to her."

I looked at him, at the woman putting on such a pitiful act in his arms, and felt the absurdity of it all. I screamed. "She's the one who needs to apologize! She deliberately destroyed Mamma's portrait!"

Vito's expression darkened further. "All I saw was you acting like a wild woman at my gala, challenging my authority in front of everyone."

He swept his gaze across the watching guests, barely concealing his anger.

"Guards."

Two Soldati stepped forward immediately.

"Take the Madre to her room. No one visits her without my permission."

His words hit me like a physical blow. I couldn't believe these words came from the man I'd loved for so many years. The two guards seized my arms with bruising force.

I thrashed wildly. "Let go of me! Vito! You can't do this to me!"

In my struggle, I lost my balance and crashed into a massive marble column. Searing pain exploded in my forehead. Warm liquid trickled down my cheek.

The world spun before my eyes. In the last moment before I lost consciousness, I saw Vito's cold, indifferent expression and the triumphant sneer curling Giuliana's lips.

Darkness swallowed me whole.

When I woke again, it was deep into the night. The confinement room that held me was freezing.

My wrist hung at an unnatural angle, limp and useless. The pain was unbearable.

No one came to treat me.

I remembered years ago when Vito took a bad hit during a shootout. I stayed at his bedside for three days and nights without sleep, changing his bandages myself and helping him drink water.

Back then, he held my hand and said weakly, "Gia, I'm lucky to have you."

Now, he'd discarded me for another woman.

The agony from my broken wrist and the throbbing in my temple felt like they were eating me alive. For two full days and nights, I lay curled on the cold floor, sweat soaking through my clothes over and over.

Fever clouded my mind, but the searing pain kept dragging me back to consciousness. I couldn't even close my eyes.

On the third day, the heavy door finally opened. It wasn't him, just a doctor with a medical bag. This was Vito's version of mercy.

The man checked my wrist with an expressionless face, then set the bone with brutal efficiency. A sickening crack accompanied the wave of pain that nearly knocked me unconscious.

I bit down hard on my lip to keep from screaming. The taste of blood filled my mouth.

The doctor studied me coldly. "You waited too long. The bone already started healing incorrectly. Even with it set properly now, the nerve damage is permanent."

The diagnosis hit me hard. My voice came out hoarse. "What does that mean?"

"It means this hand is basically useless now." He wrapped the cast around my wrist with practiced movements.

"You won't be able to lift anything heavy or do delicate work. When the weather changes, the pain will keep you up at night."

Each word landed like a blow. My hand was ruined?

I stared down at my wrist encased in plaster, my vision spinning. I'd used this hand to save Vito's life. I'd used it to cool his fever through endless nights, wiping down his body when he burned up.

Now, it was destroyed because of his cruelty and indifference.

The doctor packed up his supplies. Before leaving, he delivered one final message. "Madre, the Don wanted me to tell you this is what happens when you don't listen."

The door closed. I was alone again. I stared at the gray sky outside the window and realized I couldn't feel any pain anymore.

Vito came back the next evening, reeking of alcohol as he looked down at me from his full height. "Ready to admit you were wrong?"

I didn't answer. My silence enraged him. In his eyes, my lifeless state was just me pushing my luck with whatever affection he had left.

"Gia, enough." His voice turned to ice, patience clearly gone.

I finally lifted my head and raised my bandaged hand slightly, my voice raw. "Enough?"

He let out a cold laugh. "You've taken bullets before and dug them out yourself without flinching. Now you're being dramatic over a broken wrist?

"Don't forget that everything you have, I gave you. When I get tired of you, I can take it all back."

I looked at his furious face and suddenly laughed. He'd forgotten. Without me, he would've been just another corpse floating in the harbor.

"Vito, have you forgotten who pulled you out of hell in the first place?"

His body went rigid.

I said each word deliberately. "It was me. I gave you a second chance. I put you where you are today.

"Everything you have, I gave you."