My black veil was so long that it covered even my shoulders as I stood before Damiano’s coffin.

I nodded at those who came to pay their respects and occasionally forced out some tears.

“Is everyone here?”

Seeing that all of the family’s trusted members had arrived, I clapped my hands and had them surrounded.

Before they could even react, I had a tied-up man thrown before them. I pointed at him and said, “This man is a traitor to our family. I found a letter in his secret room.”

Then, I grabbed him by the hair and forced him to look up.

“It was his betrayal that gave away Damiano’s movements.”

The men instantly became enraged and began to chatter about what was happening.

“Doesn’t Don Vestri trust him a lot? How could it be him?

“Why not? So many of our brothers are dead because of him!”

I proceeded to stomp on the man’s face. “Now, everyone, tell me how we should deal with this traitor.”

“Kill him! Make him pay with blood! Avenge our brothers!”

I smiled and crooked a finger. In response, everyone pulled out their guns.

“If there’s treachery in our inner circle, there must be more than one traitor. Everyone is to shoot him. Whoever doesn’t dare to do so must be his co-conspirator.”

With a bang, I shot the traitor in the leg.

My eyes were sharp as I scanned through the crowd. I was glad to see that everyone had looks of approval and awe.

The noise of gunshots and pained screams filled the air. I knew that Damiano would not reveal himself for this person he supposedly trusted.

Nevertheless, I still had more aces up my sleeve.

Everyone shot the traitor. Then, it was Wendy’s turn.

The gunshots petered off, and she trembled as she held her gun. It looked very much like she was too afraid to shoot.

I walked up to her and gathered her in an embrace. Then, I coerced her to point her gun at the traitor.

“What is it, Wendy? Are you unwilling to spill blood because you’re pregnant? Or are you involved with him somehow?”

When the traitor looked at Wendy, there was a glimmer in his eyes.

He was trying to send her a message and ask her to save him.

However, I had already poisoned him so that he could not speak.

Wendy became teary-eyed, and she stammered, “N-No… I’m not involved with him. I’m just scared.”

Right then, Damiano’s parents—David and Victoria—finally stepped forward.

“Magdalena, Wendy’s just a kid. You can’t expect her to shoot someone. In any case, she’s our foster daughter. There’s no way she would betray Damiano.”

I smiled and said, “I’m only asking her to shoot him, not kill him. Of course I’m aware that she has a good relationship with Damiano. But if that traitor fathered her baby, keeping it alive would mean keeping a threat in our family.”

Seeing the unease in David and Victoria’s eyes, I came to a realization.

It was clear that they knew about Wendy and Damiano’s torrid affair.

They were previously not part of the family. I only allowed them to join because of Damiano, and they rose through the ranks to reach their current positions.

It seemed that they had been living too good a life and had forgotten who was in charge.

Wendy began to panic, and she glanced over at a corner.

Following the direction of her gaze, I smiled.

The person she looked at quickly ducked his head and found another place to hide.

I suddenly pressed hard on Wendy’s belly, and it startled her so much that she cried out.

David and Victoria immediately shielded her. “Don’t go too far, Magdalena. We raised Wendy, and she’s family to us. You should trust her,” Victoria said.

I laughed. “I know you dote on Wendy, Victoria. But I can’t protect her in front of everyone.”

Everyone started to grow restless. “That’s right. Even if she’s Don Vestri’s adoptive sister, you can’t defend her from this!”

“It would be a bigger crime for her to betray Don Vestri as his adoptive sister. Donna Bianchi has to avenge Don Vestri!”

Victoria fell silent. She was too afraid to do more than just say, “Don’t be scared, Wendy. I believe that you’re innocent. But it’s true that we have to avenge Damiano.”

In reality, Wendy was not afraid of shooting someone. Rather, she had another unspeakable secret.

However, she lost her chance to make up her mind in the next second.

I nodded at one of my trusted men. Then, he dragged out those who had hesitated on shooting the traitor.

They were all Damiano’s men.

As she heard their bodies fall, Wendy finally raised her gun and aimed it at the traitor.

This time, a hint of fear appeared in the traitor’s eyes.

I gave the traitor the antidote, which allowed him to speak again. Then, I leaned in and whispered into his ear, “Look. Don Vestri is right over there, but he would rather let his lover kill you than save you. As for Wendy, she would rather kill you herself.”

The traitor gritted his teeth. He did not believe that the people he trusted would refuse to save him.

“Just watch and see if they’ll save you.”

I held the muzzle of my gun to his temple and clicked off the safety.

There was a bang, and the traitor closed his eyes.

I chuckled. “It was a blank. You’re very lucky.”

He finally accepted that Damiano would not save him and broke down.

He went around me and crawled toward Wendy. “Wendy, save me! I’m your brother! We’ve survived together for so long, so how could you watch me die?”

“What? Isn’t Wendy the sister of Don Vestri’s dead best friend? Who’s this brother now?”

“Did this man join us from another family? Why has he never mentioned that he’s Wendy’s brother? There’s something fishy about this!”

“Brother? More like lover! He must be her baby’s father!”

I wiped away the blood on my face and had the traitor tied up again. This time, he was also gagged.

“You really are connected to this traitor, Wendy,” I said with feigned shock.

“Tie her up, men. She’ll pay for what happened to Don Vestri.”

Damiano was in disguise at the edge of the crowd. When he heard this, he frowned.

Meanwhile, David and Victoria both went white. They were both in the dark about Wendy’s brother.

However, it did not matter whether they knew or not; they would never admit to it.

David and Victoria looked anxious as they fell to their knees before me.

“Donna Bianchi, there must be some kind of mistake here. The traitor’s spouting nonsense!”

One of my trusted men said, “What mistake can there be? He said it himself. Are you two trying to protect the traitor as well?”

Everyone echoed his sentiment, “That’s right! Wendy’s been hesitant about shooting him. If she wants to feel pity for this traitor, shouldn’t she pity our dead brothers more?”

“What a shame that you’re defending this woman now. You’re his parents, and even you have betrayed him.”

“Donna Bianchi, we should tie them up and make them pay for Don Vestri’s death as well.”

I shot a round into the air to get everyone to calm down.

Then, I looked at David, Victoria, and Wendy. “If you insist that these speculations are wrong, I’ll give you one chance to prove it.”

After that, I threw my gun before them.

“Kill the traitor.”

The traitor kept struggling violently.

Wendy was so scared that her hands shook as she picked up the gun. However, she did not take aim for a long time.

The men around us were growing more impatient and displeased. David and Victoria became anxious and snatched the gun from her. They were going to kill the traitor on her behalf.

“No!” Wendy instinctively pushed them away.

The moment she yelled, she knew that she had made a mistake.

The crowd rumbled, “She really can’t shoot him!”

I waved my hand coldly and ordered someone to take their weapons away.

Of course Wendy could not shoot him. The traitor was indeed her supposedly dead brother.

I had investigated these two thoroughly after discovering Damiano and Wendy’s illicit affair.

That was how I learned that they had been together for a long time. Damiano and Wendy really were a couple. Her brother had also faked his death and undergone plastic surgery to assume a new identity. That way, they could openly place Wendy by Damiano’s side.

Meanwhile, I was a fool for not discovering their affair earlier. I had allowed them to sneak around right under my nose.

My angry men soon tied them up.

Wendy was sobbing as she said, “Stop! I’m carrying Don Vestri’s baby! I’m Damiano Vestri’s woman! You can’t touch me!”

I chuckled and slapped her.

“Your ‘adoptive brother’ is faithful to me. You’re saying that your baby is his? What do you think will happen to it?”

Wendy’s face twisted in horror. She knew that she was in trouble and quickly stumbled back. She began moving toward the spot where Damiano was hiding.

However, I aimed my gun at her belly. Frightened, Wendy cried out, “Damiano, save me! Save our child!”

Everyone then looked at the person she was crawling toward.

Damiano tried to duck and slip away. But he could not escape because he was surrounded.

“Is that Don Vestri?”

“That’s impossible! He doesn’t look like Don Vestri at all. He must be Wendy’s lover!”

“Don Vestri is dependable and loyal. He rushed into the path of an explosion to save a member of the family. Even if he survived that, there’s no way he’d be completely uninjured!”

“If he didn’t die, wasn’t that hunt for the traitor just a show? How could Don Vestri send so many of our brothers to their deaths?”

“Tie this man up and kill him along with Wendy. We have to avenge Don Vestri!”

As Damiano listened to the members of the family argue vehemently, he lost his cool.

He never expected himself to trip up just because of Wendy.

I watched as Damiano grew increasingly anxious. Wearing a concerned frown, I softly asked, “A-Are you really Damiano?”

In reality, I was scoffing inside.

If Damiano admitted the truth, it would imply that his death had been a scam from start to finish.

As members of the Mafia, death was a familiar companion. Therefore, a meaningless death was unacceptable to us.

Damiano had tricked me, tricked the family, and caused the deaths of numerous members. Moreover, he had done all of this to be with his mistress as she waited to give birth. It took him many years to gain approval from the family’s inner circle. That would instantly go up in smoke.

However, if he refused to admit it, he would die as Wendy’s illicit lover under these circumstances. He would lose any chance of coming back and reclaiming his position.

He would also lose everything and be dead to the family forever.

“Don’t tell me you’re too afraid to tell us?”

A hint of mockery shone in my eyes even as I faked anticipation in getting his answer.

Damiano clenched his fists as anger filled his gaze.

Meanwhile, Wendy was whining and moaning nearby. She was doing her best to ensure her survival.

“Damiano, it hurts! Just own up and save me!”

I knew Damiano did not want to do that. At the same time, Wendy was not going to just give up and die.

She wanted to give birth to her baby. Once she managed that, she would be cherished and cared for, and her child would not be illegitimate.

She also did not want to be a mistress any longer and be hidden away in secret.

However, Damiano would be in even more hot water if this happened.

“If he still isn’t admitting it after so long, he’s got to be a fake. How dare you use Don Vestri’s name to fool us? That’s unacceptable!”

“But what if he really is Don Vestri?”

The tension was getting to a breaking point. Seeing Damiano stuck between a rock and a hard place, I could not help but scowl.

Since he could not make a decision, I would make it for him.

I clapped my hands and signaled for Damiano’s coffin to be brought over.

Then, I prostrated over it and started to cry pitifully.

“Damiano’s corpse is completely unrecognizable. I’m still hoping that he might be alive. He’s always been so courageous, and he’s done so much for the family. He sacrificed himself for us, so there’s no way he wouldn’t admit it if he’s still alive.”

Once again, I looked at David and Victoria.

“We’re close, but we’re not related by blood. As his parents, I’m sure you can recognize your own son.”

Everyone shifted their focus to David and Victoria as well.