Watching me writhe in pain, Rosie's voice dripped with triumph.

"Once you're dead, the title of Valachi matriarch will be mine."

I struggled, gasping for air, but every movement tore at the wound, sending waves of unbearable pain through me.

My life force drained away at an alarming rate. My consciousness blurred in a haze of fever and agony, then faded into nothing.

A few minutes later, my last breath dissipated into the darkness.

The cellar fell silent once more, leaving only a cold corpse for the rats to feast upon.

"Where is Alessia? Tell her to come and apologize to Rosie at once!"

"And have her clean up first—I don't want her stench offending Rosie."

Porter's voice was laced with disgust. The subordinate beside him bowed his head and hurried away.

Rosie, with tears welling in her eyes, tugged on Porter's sleeve.

"Porter, maybe we should just forget it. I can't expect Alessia to apologize to me. You two are engaged, and she is the Principessa of the Ricci family, after all. I'm just an outsider."

Porter placed a kiss on Rosie's forehead, his eyes shining with a doting tenderness he had never once shown me.

"Rosie, you're too kind. If it weren't for her, you never would have gone overboard. I can't bear to think what would have happened if I'd been a second later."

"Your endless tolerance will only make her worse! Don't worry—I'll get you justice."

As he spoke, his tone turned icy, as if I were not his fiancée, but his mortal enemy.

Hearing his words, Rosie threw herself into his arms, visibly moved.

I stared at them, his words echoing as a cruel joke.

That day, it was Rosie who had insisted we meet on the yacht's deck. She provoked me with intimate photos of her and Porter.

"What good is an engagement? Porter's body and heart have never been yours. Every night, after you fall asleep, he comes to me."

Before I could respond, she shrieked, staggered backward, and pitched herself into the lake.

By the time Porter and his men pulled her out, she was soaked, coughing violently in his arms.

"I just wanted Alessia to care more about you. I didn't think she would push me... Porter, I'm sure she didn't mean it."

Porter held her like a priceless treasure he had almost lost.

And I stood apart from the crowd, watching Rosie's charade with cold indifference.