I regained consciousness three days later to a throat so dry and painful that it felt as if I had swallowed razor blades.

I pried my eyes open and saw a four-poster oak bed. On the nightstand next to me, there was a Colt revolver and some half-taken medication.

Mamma was sitting by the bedside, her eyes bloodshot from exhaustion and her hair graying at the temples. She abruptly stood up the moment she saw me regain consciousness, exclaiming, "You're finally awake, Grazia! Get Antonio over here this instant!"

I weakly held her hand and shook my head. "I'm fine, Mamma."

I tasted blood in my throat the moment I spoke, and before long, a streak of it slipped from the corner of my lips.

Mamma quickly wiped the blood away with her hand while crying. "How can you say you're fine when you're like that, Grazia? You almost died! Antonio said that even the smallest carelessness could be fatal for you now…"

I knew exactly what she meant, even if she didn't finish her sentence.

There was a commotion of footsteps outside the door, and before long, Papa walked in, accompanied by Marco and Luca.

Luca was in a wheelchair with his left leg in a cast and his right leg bandaged, his back bruised from being hit with clubs. He looked as if he had been dismantled and rebuilt.

He glared at me upon entering, snapping, "You filthy bitch! You not only feigned death to implicate Serena but also dared to falsely accuse me of pushing you! You slipped of your own accord! Is this what you wanted, for me to end up like this?"

Marco agreed with a cold expression. "Serena hasn't been able to eat or sleep because she's so scared, Mamma. Grazia should apologize to Serena since she is alright now. That way, we can all put this behind us, Mamma."

Their concern was reserved solely for Serena. Toward me, the actual Principessa of the Salvatore Famiglia, their attitudes consisted entirely of disgust and defensiveness.

Mamma, trembling with rage, bolted to her feet. "You want Grazia to apologize to Serena? You people almost killed my daughter, and now you want her to apologize to an outsider! Have you gone blind, Vittorio? Grazia is your biological child!"

Papa's expression hardened. "Serena may not be our biological daughter, but we raised her for 18 years, Rosalina. She's already part of the Salvatore Famiglia.

"Grazia, on the other hand, was raised outside and developed bad habits. She had caused chaos in our Famiglia the moment she returned. She's causing all of us quite a headache here!"

I leaned back against the pillows and watched them quarrel. I suddenly felt an increasing tightness in my chest, making me part my lips in a strained effort to breathe.

Upon seeing my silence, Luca assumed that I was guilty. He lunged to get out of the wheelchair, but the bodyguard caught him, and he slumped back into it. He pointed at me, yelling, "Why are you being so quiet now? You were doing a great job pretending earlier!

"I'm telling you—I won't marry you just because you returned to the Salvatore Famiglia! Serena is the only fiancee I'll acknowledge! You're so full of spite that you aren't even half the woman she is! I'll never marry you, Grazia!"

I looked up at him silently. I began to cough uncontrollably just after taking a deep breath. It started as a mild cough but grew increasingly intense, causing my whole body to shake beneath the quilt.

Luca sneered. "You want to put on a performance again, huh? Do you really think acting sick will help you escape punishment?"

I suddenly lurched forward before he could finish his berating. I spat a thick spray of dark, clotted blood directly onto him, covering his face and shirt and leaving the whole room thick with the metallic stench of blood.

Luca cried out and tipped over in his wheelchair. He crashed onto the floor, his cast striking the wooden floor with a dull thud.

I fell weakly back onto the bed, my eyes rolling back as my breathing became shallow.

Mamma rushed forward and shoved Marco aside. "Grazia! Get Antonio over here this instant!"

She turned around, staring intensely at Luca on the floor. She then ordered, "Get this monster out of here and break his other leg!"

It was then that the bodyguards from the Salvatore Famiglia rushed in and pressed Luca down onto the ground.

Luca shrieked in a panic. "Help me, Don Salvatore! Help me, Marco! You can't do this to me! You're making an enemy of the entire Moretti Famiglia if you lay another hand on me!"

Papa stepped in to intervene. "You can't lay a hand on him, Rosalina! He's the son of the Don of the Moretti Famiglia!"

Mamma looked coldly at Papa before pulling a signet ring from her clothes and holding it in the light. That ring bore the emblem of her Famiglia, a Mafia Famiglia far older and more vicious than the Salvatores or Morettis.

"If you utter another word of protest, I'll see to it that the Salvatore Famiglia is erased from Novarra tonight, Vittorio!"

Antonio worked for two straight hours to stabilize my failing heart. He was a veteran doctor who had served the Salvatore Famiglia for two decades. He shook his head in resignation, his sighs echoing sharply through the room.

"Ms. Grazia's body is at its limit, Donna Salvatore. She already had a weak heart to begin with, and this recent trauma has worsened the situation. I don't know how much time Ms. Grazia has left, Donna Salvatore."

Antonio didn't conclude his statement. However, his meaning was understood by all.

Mamma collapsed into a chair, looking ten years older all of a sudden. She dismissed everyone and remained by my bedside, silently holding my cold hand.

Luca was restrained in the courtyard by bodyguards. His legs were broken, and his screams became increasingly piercing.

Serena was on her knees in the courtyard, crying uncontrollably. "I'm begging you, Mamma—Luca did it for my sake! You can punish me instead of him!"

Papa roared outside the door, "Do you truly intend to destroy the whole Salvatore Famiglia for the sake of a daughter who is about to die, Rosalina? Luca is the successor of the Moretti Famiglia! How are we supposed to explain your cruel actions to the Moretti Famiglia?"

I fluttered my eyes open and noticed how tired Mamma looked. I weakly tugged at her sleeve and said, "Y-You don't have to do this, Mamma. I don't have much time left anyway, so please don't fight with Papa because of me. Y-You should just let me go. I'll go away and get out of their sight, Mamma…"

Mamma tightened her grip on my hand, her eyes flashing with determination. "You're my darling daughter, Grazia. I won't let you endure a single moment of mistreatment ever again."

She then rose to her feet and threw open the door, eyeing the crowd in the courtyard. "If you believe I have no right to demand justice for my daughter, then we have nothing more to discuss. I'm divorcing you, and I'm taking my daughter back to the Vitelli Famiglia tomorrow morning.

"You and the Salvatore Famiglia are dead to me from this point forward, Vittorio."

In that instant, everyone in the courtyard went completely still.

Papa widened his eyes in shock, as though he had heard something inconceivable. "What do you mean by that? What do you mean you're returning to the Vitelli Famiglia? Have you lost your mind, Rosalina? How could you divorce me over such a trivial matter?"

Marco panicked as well. He knew that while the Salvatore Famiglia had once been one of the major Mafia Famiglias in Novarra, their influence had declined. They were now sustained mainly by the support of the Vitelli Famiglia, Mamma's Famiglia.

He understood that if Mamma were to leave, the Salvatore Famiglia would become a laughingstock among the Mafia Famiglias in Novarra, and his own future as the next Don would vanish.

He said hurriedly, "Please don't act impulsively, Mamma. I'm sure Papa was just speaking in the heat of the moment. I'm certain that all of us are devastated that Grazia is so ill, but Luca has already paid the price. Why push this to the point of no return, Mamma?"

Serena lowered her head, a ruthless glint passing through her eyes. She couldn't allow Mamma to leave as well, knowing that without the Vitelli Famiglia's support, the Salvatore Famiglia would fall—and so would her own status.

…

An eerie silence settled over the estate during the following days.

Papa and Marco made daily attempts to seek Mamma's forgiveness, only to be stopped at the door by the bodyguards.

Luca, suffering from his leg injuries, was personally escorted back to the Moretti Famiglia by Mamma.

Mamma approached Don Moretti to request the termination of the engagement with the Moretti Famiglia and also offer an apology for her sudden outburst against Luca.

Don Moretti was fuming, but because Luca was also to blame, he eventually had no choice but to accept the end of the marriage alliance.

I spent my days being stuck with needles and swallowing pills, but my health continued to fail. I could feel my internal organs aching with each injection. I managed to intercept and hide a dose of the medicine one day. I waited for Antonio, then forced myself upright to hand him the medication.

It was just as I suspected—the medication had been spiked with small amounts of stimulants. It might give a healthy person a temporary boost of energy, but it acted as a lethal toxin for someone with my failing heart and weakened state.

I didn't need to guess who was behind it. I laughed coldly to myself. I thought that since Serena wanted a game, I would participate on a significantly larger scale.

I told Antonio to hold off on telling Mamma what we had found for the time being.

It was then that a nurse walked in during dinner. "It's time for your injection, Ms. Salvatore."

I didn't resist, allowing the nurse to give me the injection.

I suddenly seized up just when Mamma was about to give me a sip of water. It wasn't long before blood began streaming from my nose, my ears, and the corners of my mouth. I was hemorrhaging from every facial orifice.

It was a gruesome sight.

Mamma immediately dropped the glass of water, which shattered on the floor. "Grazia!"

Mamma was completely overwhelmed by rage. She sealed off the entire estate and had the Vitelli Famiglia's private doctor summoned that night.

Having drawn my blood for examination, the doctor's expression immediately shifted. "There are stimulants in Ms. Salvatore's blood, Donna Salvatore. She was already in a fragile state, making this substance lethal to her heart. She's barely holding onto life now."

Mamma didn't shed a tear or raise her voice. She stood up with a chilling composure and retrieved a handgun from a drawer, checking the clip to make sure it was loaded before heading for the door.

She didn't look angry, though her eyes were brimming with killing intent. She charged straight toward Serena's living quarters.

In that instant, chaos erupted throughout the estate, but in the midst of it all, the door to my bedroom swung open.

Luca was wheeled into the room by two bodyguards. He glared at me, who was lying on the bed, with a terrifying expression and ordered, "Get her out of here."

His bodyguards hesitated. "Ms. Salvatore may not survive being moved because of her current condition, Mr. Moretti. If she dies on the way—"

Luca gritted his teeth in rage. "What the hell are you worried about? I'll take the heat if anything happens! That bitch had the nerve to frame Serena and ruin our engagement, costing me my marriage and my legs! I'm going to throw her in the cold storage, giving her exactly what she deserves!"

I kept my eyes closed and let them pull me off the bed. I could no longer feel the pain—only a penetrating cold.

They brought me to the estate's abandoned underground cold storage, where it was dark, freezing, and used specifically for handling enemies.

I was thrown onto the cold floor and instantly began shaking from the intense cold.

Luca sat in his wheelchair, looking down at me. "You can stop it with the act now, Grazia. I'll let you go if you admit that you intentionally framed Serena and agree to restore the marriage alliance between the two Famiglias."

I didn't even have the strength to open my eyes. I simply let out a weak whimper.

Luca flew into a rage when I remained silent. He ordered the bodyguards, "Give her a taste of suffering!"

I was instantly doused with a bucket of ice water. I shuddered as the cold pierced straight through to my bones.

It was then that footsteps echoed, and Serena walked in. "You shouldn't be so rough with Grazia, Luca."

Serena approached me, squatted down, and studied me closely, maintaining a smile throughout the encounter.

Luca turned to Serena and asked, "Why did you come in here, Serena? It's too cold here—I don't want you catching a chill."

"How could I not come over when you got seriously injured because of me, Luca?"

Serena then looked down at me and hissed, "You certainly are hard to kill, Grazia. You actually survived the fall from the rooftop and also the stimulants in your medication. It won't change anything, though. You're as good as dead since you're stuck in this cold storage now."

I made an effort to open my eyes and directed my gaze toward her.

Serena's smile grew smug as she gripped my chin. "Do you really think Mamma can save you now? Did you even take a look at yourself, Grazia? Papa, Marco, and Luca don't even want anything to do with you! I'm the one who put the stimulants in your medicine and ordered people to spread the oil to the rooftop.

"I'll become the sole Principessa of the Salvatore Famiglia once you're dead! I'll get all the love from Papa, Mamma, and Marco—and I'll get your fiance as well. How can a sickly person like you fight against me? You should learn your place and stay away from me in your next life, Grazia!"

She released my chin, stood up, and dusted off her hands. "It looks like Grazia is about to die, so let's leave before Mamma catches us, Luca."

Luca nodded, signaling his bodyguards to start pushing his wheelchair.

It was then that the cold storage door was kicked in from the outside, and the harsh beam of a flashlight flooded the entire basement at once.

Serena's expression froze mid-smile. She turned her head, following the direction of the light.

Mamma appeared at the entrance in a black trench coat. She held a Colt 1911 in her right hand, the barrel still emitting faint smoke. She had clearly fired the gun on her way to the cold storage.

Papa and Marco were standing right behind Mamma.

In that instant, every core member of the Salvatore Famiglia's inner circle was there, packing the entrance to the cold storage so tightly that no one could get past.

Mamma's eyes swept over the crowd and landed on me, curled on the cold ground.

She trained her gun on Luca as her eyes turned bloodshot, snarling, "You have harmed my daughter again, Luca. How do you want to die today?"