“Are you insane?” Blair was the first to leap up. “Do you really want to go and get yourself killed?”

All of them looked at me with a mix of confusion and pity.

“I need to confirm something. Wait for my news,” I said, ignoring their admiring expressions as I stood up and left immediately.

So far, I was the most puzzled of everyone. After all, I was still Dante’s secret lover. Not long ago, we had been inseparable. He had once told me that I was the love of his life, and the ring had fit my finger perfectly.

Night had fallen over the city. I arrived at the luxury penthouse where Dante and I secretly met, looking up at the top floor, its windows glowing warmly. No one knew about this place except his most trusted security.

When the elevator doors opened, I used my fingerprint to unlock the apartment door. Dante was standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows, his back to me, the moonlight highlighting the broad contours of his shoulders.

Hearing my footsteps, he turned around, briefly frozen mid-motion. However, he quickly regained his composure, and his gaze softened.

“You’re here.” His voice was low. “I knew you would come.”

I looked at his tender face, still unable to believe that in my previous life, he had stabbed me to death on our wedding night. I forced myself to stay calm and gently closed the door behind me.

“Your Consigliere said you wanted to marry me. Is that true?” I asked as I stepped closer.

There was a flicker of unease on his face, but he answered seriously, “Of course. I’ve waited for this day for a long time. You’ve been with me long enough to know my heart.”

Dante approached, his movements graceful. His long fingers brushed my cheek, warm and familiar.

“I went to the Monroe family just to marry the woman I love,” he said.

I caught the subtlety in his words. He hadn’t explicitly said who his heart belonged to.

I clenched my hands, forcing a playful tone as I smiled and asked, “Who is your true love? Your Consigliere said it’s a lady from the Monroe family.”

Dante stared into my eyes in silence before answering calmly, without hurry, “Why would you ask that? You should know perfectly well yourself. Of course it’s you, Isabella. That’s why I had the ring custom-made. Marry me, and you’ll have the best life possible.”

He didn’t hedge or avoid the question. His eyes were fixed on mine, full of certainty.

“Why now?” I asked, lifting my head to meet his gaze, keeping my voice steady.

“The time is right,” he said, his hand sliding from my cheek to my neck. “I’ve cleared away all obstacles.”

Since I had become his secret lover, he had always treated me well. As the true heiress, reclaimed by the family as an adult, I hadn’t been familiar with high society etiquette, often suppressed by Catherine and ridiculed or bullied in public. He didn’t just remove my enemies; he secretly backed me up, giving me wealth and power I had never dared to imagine.

Despite being the most powerful Godfather, he had never acted distant in our relationship. He cooked for me, washed my clothes, and treated me with care. When he spoke of marrying his true love, I believed it was me. Yet, in the previous life, after happily marrying him, he had changed.

“You’re not her! How dare you wear that ring? You’re just a lowly mistress, unworthy of me! Die!”

Then, the knife plunged into my chest again and again.

Now, his fingers were sliding down to my right wrist, gently caressing it. I froze, my heart skipping a beat. It was this gesture that made me realize a reasonable truth. Could it be… He was touching my right wrist.

I tried to pull back, staring at him in disbelief. “Your true love is–”

He suddenly gripped my wrist tightly, the strength shocking me. A cold glint flickered in his eyes. “Darling, you’re asking far too many questions tonight.”

Then, he quickly regained his calm, his expression composed.

“The wedding is tomorrow. Go back and prepare, my dear,” he said.

A wave of lingering fear ran through me, sweat breaking out along my back. I quickly nodded and left.

“We have to leave.”

The moment I stepped into the living room, I heard Catherine’s voice.

She was standing by the fireplace, clutching a thick stack of documents. “I’ve contacted some old friends. The Monroe family still has a few remaining assets in Europe. If we sell them off, it’ll be enough for the four of us to start over.”

“No.” I cut her off.

Everyone turned to look at me. Then, they surrounded me with anxious expectation, as if hoping I had brought back some kind of miracle.

“Isabella?” Blair frowned. “You met the Godfather. What did he say?”

“Who exactly is his true love?” Catherine asked urgently.

I sat down on the sofa. My mind was still replaying every detail from the apartment earlier. The sense of discordance was overwhelming. Something didn’t add up. However, I wasn’t certain yet, and until I was, I couldn’t drag them into it.

“He said I’m his true love,” I said, forcing my voice to stay calm.

“If so, why are you hesitating?” Chloe burst out. “Run! You married him in your last life and still died!”

“We can’t run.” I shook my head. “The Costello family’s influence spans all of North America. Where do you think we can go?”

“Canada, Mexico, Europe—anywhere!” Blair screamed, her voice tipping into hysteria. “Anything is better than staying here and waiting for our deathbeds!”

Catherine set the documents aside, her expression heavy. “Isabella, what are you trying to say?”

I took a deep breath and said the decision out loud. Even I thought it sounded insane.

“I’m going to marry him.”

The living room fell silent.

Three seconds later, Blair jumped to her feet. “Are you insane? Has he brainwashed you?”

“Isabella, calm down.” Catherine walked over and tried to grab my hand. “I know you had a past with the Godfather, but you can’t be so reckless anymore.”

On the table lay that expensive diamond signet ring—the symbol of power of the Costello mafia family. Blair wore it and was thrown into the river to drown. Chloe wore it and died in a car crash, her body unrecognizable. Catherine wore it and had her face slashed before being thrown into a dungeon to die.

And me?

Chloe’s voice rang sharply in my ears. “Did you forget how you died the last time? You were covered in blood, stabbed so many times your wedding dress was soaked through!”

Of course, I hadn’t forgotten the agony of the hunting knife piercing my chest, the warmth of blood spreading through white fabric, and the madness burning in his eyes.

“You’re not her.”

Those words had echoed in my mind countless times.

“I have a plan.” I stood up and walked toward the coffee table, toward the ring.

“What plan?” Blair demanded. “At least explain it!”

I didn’t answer. Some things couldn’t be said until I was absolutely sure.

“Isabella!” Catherine’s voice sharpened. “We’re family. Whatever it is, we should discuss it together!”

After my father died, the four of us fought viciously over the inheritance. Catherine tried to drive me out of the house. Blair targeted me at every turn. Chloe schemed behind my back for even the smallest scraps of property. Yet, none of them had truly wanted me dead. On the contrary, the one I had loved did.

That slow, terrifying sensation of life draining away had filled me with despair so deep that even the three women who despised me couldn’t bear to look at my corpse. Now, we had a common enemy, and for once, we were standing on the same side.

“You want to know my plan?” I turned to face them. “It’s simple. I need to personally confirm one thing.”

“Confirm what?”

“The truth behind all of this.”

I picked up the diamond signet ring. The cold metal weighed heavily in my palm. The eagle crest on its face glinted under the lights, impossible to tell whether it symbolized salvation or disaster.

“Isabella, please think this through,” Chloe sobbed, tears streaming down her face. “We can escape together. Even if life is hard, it’s better than being stabbed to death!”

“I already said it,” I replied. “We can’t escape.”

I slowly slid the ring onto my ring finger. It fit perfectly, as if it had been custom-made for me.

The moment the cold metal touched my skin, a shiver ran through my body. This ring had once been everything I dreamed of—wealth, power, and love. Now, it felt like a shackle forged from death itself.

Blair tried to speak again, but Catherine stopped her. Catherine stared at me for a long time, complicated emotions flashing through her eyes.

“Are you sure?” she asked. “Do you realize you might be stabbed and sent back in a coffin? Last time, we couldn’t even bring ourselves to look at your body.”

“I’m sure.”

“Are you really the woman he loves?” she asked. “Who treats his true love like that?”

Seeing the fear and worry on their faces, I finally decided to give them something.

“When I met the Godfather last night,” I said, “he touched my right hand. In that moment, I realized who his true love is.”

“This person is indeed one of the four of us,” I continued slowly. “But the truth is… unbelievable.”

“Who is it?” all three of them asked at once.

“The woman the Godfather wants to marry,” I said, “is me.”

They still didn’t believe it, yet there was nothing they could do.

I looked at them and said quietly, firmly, “This is the only way all of us survive.”