Isabella came down with a slight fever that night.

Cecilia stayed with her past midnight. When Isabella’s temperature finally dropped, Cecilia returned to the study and continued sorting through her assets and documents.

She needed to get everything in order before she left.

When she reached the family trust under Isabella’s name, she suddenly stopped.

The numbers did not match.

The old Don had personally set up an education trust in her name. The terms clearly stated that no one could access the funds in advance. Yet within just a few days, most of the money had been withdrawn. The approval signature was Lyon’s. The funds had been transferred into a newly established film production company.

Cecilia stared at the transaction records. A chill spread down her spine.

She did not need to investigate to know who the company was meant for.

She did not go to the family building, and she did not go to the harbor to find him. She drove straight to the pre-marital apartment in Mahattan’s Upper East Side.

It was her property. It was the place Lyon used to visit most often when he was chasing after her.

She had always believed that, at the very least, this place would remain untouched.

The moment the fingerprint lock opened, an unfamiliar fragrance rushed toward her. She understood that she had been wrong.

There was an unfinished bottle of champagne on the coffee table in the living room. A woman’s shawl lay on the couch. Low, hushed laughter came from the bedroom.

When she walked in, Gianna stood by the window. She wore one of Cecilia’s silk robes while holding a glass of wine.

That robe had been custom-made for Cecilia in Nilam. There was only one like it in the world.

Lyon stood nearby. He had just finished fastening his cufflinks. He did not look the least bit embarrassed at having been caught.

“How did you find this place?” he asked as he looked at her. His tone was calm and almost indifferent.

Cecilia did not answer. She threw the trust transaction records onto the table.

“Did you touch Isabella’s money?”

Gianna’s eyes turned teary, and she said, “I’m sorry. This is all my fault. That film project was originally meant for me, but the contract suddenly required a large guaranteed investment. Don Melville only wanted to help me! I didn’t expect it to make you this angry.”

Cecilia looked at her. Her gaze was cold as ice.

“Help you?” She turned to Lyon. “You used your daughter’s money to buy your mistress a role?”

Lyon frowned, as if her words were unpleasant to his ears.

“It is just a temporary transfer,” he said. His tone remained steady. “At the end of the month, a batch of payments from the port will come in. I’ll put the money back.”

“That’s Isabella’s trust! It’s not your cash pool.”

“Cecilia…” Lyon’s voice turned cold. “Don’t make it sound so ugly. Company projects and family accounts are often used to cover each other. I know what I’m doing.”

Cecilia looked at the man in front of her. It all felt like a cruel joke.

In the past, no matter how far he went, he had never touched anything that belonged to Isabella.

Just to please a woman, he had dared to use the protection the old Don had left for his granddaughter.

“Fine!” She gave a slight nod. “What about this apartment? Is this place also something you can use however you like, just to please someone?”

Lyon looked around. It was as if he had just remembered where he was.

He took out a checkbook from his inner pocket and wrote a string of numbers. He tore out the check and placed it in front of her.

“This is the rent,” he said. “I added an extra cleaning fee. If you think this place is dirty, have someone clean it.”

He spoke as if he were dealing with a hotel suite.

Cecilia looked at the check. At that moment, all her anger drained away.

She did not look at them again and did not argue. She folded the check and put it into her bag. She said indifferently, “Fine. Then, I’ll charge at market rate. I’ll charge you for every day you stay.”

She turned and walked out.

When she reached the door, Lyon seemed to grow impatient. He lowered his voice and said warningly, “Don’t drag my mother into this. You’ve already made enough of a scene lately.”

Cecilia did not stop.

The familiar decor faded from her view. She vaguely remembered that she and Lyon once shared a few good moments here.

After all these years, those memories only made her feel nauseous.

The next day, Lyon sent a gift to the villa as an apology.

It was a set of diamond jewelry and an unsigned check.

Cecilia did not look at them. She told the housekeeper to lock them in the storage room.

She did not ask about the trust again and did not get angry about Gianna.

Lyon seemed to take her silence as a sign of compromise.

He stopped paying attention to the household. He spent his time wrapped up in Gianna’s world. Gossip about them appeared everywhere.

Gianna had risen from a struggling, small-time actress to the very top. News of her rise spread through gossip magazines and the family’s business circles. Nightclub managers, port agents, and a few longtime Melville associates whispered about how long Gianna could stay famous and how much her limited advantages were really worth.

But more than that, people remembered how Lyon had pursued Cecilia. He cleared every other woman from his life, settled disputes over her collections, and handed her the cleanest properties and accounts. Everyone in the Melville family knew that when Lyon loved someone, he bet everything. When he walked away, he left nothing behind.

The comparison struck Cecilia. It unlocked memories she had not expected.

She froze for a moment.

When Lyon had pursued her back then, he cut off every messy relationship. All of New Yorke had known that he loved her completely.

He raced through the streets for her and fought with people from rival families. He gave her everything he had.

So, when Margaret saved her mother and suggested that she marry Lyon, she had agreed.

Margaret said that only she could keep Lyon’s heart grounded. Cecilia had believed she was the exception. She believed she was the safe harbor that could finally give the wandering Lyon a place to stay.

Looking back, that seemed laughable.

She turned her focus back to her career. She returned to the private art consulting firm she had founded before her marriage. The firm handled antique restoration, private appraisals, and collection management for high-end clients.

In a few days, she would co-host a charity preview auction with a long-established Mahattan auction house.

This was the firm’s most important project of the year.

Cecilia had spent six months preparing for the preview. She flew to Rondon to secure authorizations from collectors. She invited museum curators and a highly respected actress from the collecting world to attend the event. Everything was meant to establish her firm in New Yorke’s high-end art circles.

That evening, the preview opened under the cold white light of the crystal chandeliers. After the host finished the opening speech, someone walked up the red carpet to the main stage. It was Gianna, dressed to the nines.

Cecilia froze for a moment. Her face went cold.

She could not storm the stage and interrupt the event.

Lyon was there too. He stood at her side while holding a glass of wine. Two family bodyguards, usually assigned to casino security, followed behind him.

Cecilia understood immediately whose plan this was. Her voice was cold as ice. “Lyon, why did you replace the opening guest I selected?”

“It’s just a preview. Anyone on stage can speak.”

He swirled his wine. His tone was calm and almost arrogant. “Gianna wants to raise her profile. The art world suits her better than a movie premiere. Letting her have a moment at your event is nothing. I already had the accounts at the Booklyn docks adjusted to cover the trust funds. Don’t make a scene and try to damage the Melville family’s reputation.”

Cecilia felt her stomach churn. She took a deep breath to hold back the impulse to confront him immediately.

The room was full of collectors, agents, and auction directors. She could not allow the preview she had spent six months preparing to collapse in front of everyone.

When it came time to introduce the key pieces, Gianna appeared uneasy.

She stammered through the description of a nineteenth-century oil painting and a bronze pocket watch. She could not even get the basic introduction right.

When a reporter asked about the restoration process, Gianna panicked and rambled, “Uh… I guess you just make it look old and then refresh it… It just has to look fancy…”

The audience immediately erupted in whispers.

A few experienced collectors looked at each other in disbelief. The auction director’s face went nearly red with anger.

The next moment, Gianna tried to cover up her mistake. She reached for the antique pocket watch in the display case. She fumbled and knocked over a glass of champagne that a server had just handed her.

The liquid ran across the display and soaked the corner of a classical oil painting that had just been restored. Chaos broke out instantly.

“Is she insane?!”

“Who let her touch the restored pieces?!”

“She can’t even tell the difference between valuable items! How could the firm let this person speak on stage?”

Gianna froze, and her face turned pale. Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked at Lyon. Lyon had the bodyguards escort her off the stage. Then, he turned to Cecilia. His voice was calm, almost indifferent. “It’s her first time in a setting like this. Mistakes happen. I’ll cover the loss on that painting. The finance team will take the funds from the profits of the underground casino and the nightclub. Don’t make a scene.”

The plan to use this preview to connect with high-end clients was completely ruined.

Cecilia’s phone started buzzing nonstop.

The first message was from the auction partner. They accused the firm of violating the consignment agreement.

The second message was from the insurance company. They warned of increased risk and requested a new assessment of the damaged items. Soon after, several collectors she was negotiating with texted her saying that they wanted to reassess their cooperation.

Finally, her assistant sent her an urgent report. Three clients had requested to withdraw their collections. Two partner institutions wanted to terminate their agreements and reserved the right to take action.

Cecilia gave Lyon no chance to argue.

She sent the auction house’s accountability letter, the insurance company’s estimated losses, and the restoration team’s written report straight to his email. She also copied the two Melville family Consiglieri in charge of finance and legal affairs. Each loss was documented clearly, like she was handling a business claim with no emotion.

Lyon glanced at the emails. His face darkened. “I said I’ll cover the costs. You didn’t need to send these to the family Consiglieri.”

“This is my project, not a training ground for your mistress.”

Cecilia looked at him. “You used the Melville name to boost her fame. When something goes wrong, it naturally has to follow the Melville family’s process.”

Lyon frowned and turned toward the small terrace to make a phone call.

Gianna lifted her head and looked at Cecilia. She had no fear or remorse on her face, only smugness.

“See?” Gianna said in a low voice. Her eyes shone with triumph. “All I need to do is say just one word, and Don Melville will take your firm and put it under my name. Everything you built, your connections, collectors, and reputation, is worth less to him than the dress I’m wearing tonight. Cecilia, you’re insane. You held Donna’s position for too long, and yet, in the end, you still lost.”

Cecilia looked at her arrogant, triumphant face and smiled.

“Yeah, I guess I lost my mind before. Since you know I’m insane, why do you challenge me like this?”

Cecilia raised her hand and slapped Gianna squarely in the face.

The sharp smack echoed through the lounge.

Gianna stumbled back. She covered her face and stared in shock. She clearly did not expect Cecilia to hit her.

At almost the same moment, Lyon finished his phone call and turned around.

He saw Cecilia’s hand strike Gianna, and then Gianna fell to the floor.

“Cecilia!”

Lyon’s expression darkened. He pushed Cecilia aside with all his strength and caught Gianna in his arms.

Cecilia was caught completely off guard. The force sent her stumbling backward. Her side hit the sharp corner of a display table. Pain shot through her waist, and cold sweat soaked her back instantly.

Lyon did not look at her pale, hurt face. He checked to see if Gianna was hurt.

Then, he looked up at Cecilia. His voice was icy and terrifying. “Cecilia, enough!”

Cecilia gripped the edge of the table and endured the pain. She said coldly, “Enough? You used my daughter’s trust fund to fill her gaps. You used my preview to prop her up. You covered for her on my own project. Lyon, do you know what you look like right now? You look like a dog on a leash being led around by Gianna!”

Lyon’s chest heaved with rage. He swung and slapped Cecilia hard across the face.

“Don’t cross the line!”

After that, he pulled Gianna close and walked out in long strides.

Cecilia pressed her hand to her face. The burning pain grew stronger. She suddenly laughed.

She laughed bitterly at herself for being so naive and for ever believing this man’s promises.

She laughed at herself for acting like a madwoman all those years, just to repay a favor.

Some time later, the phone rang, breaking the silence. It was Margaret.

Cecilia took a deep breath and tried to make her voice sound normal. “Madre.”

“Cecilia,” Margaret said apologetically, “the paperwork will be fully completed in five days. You can rest assured. I know Lyon betrayed you. The assets that belong to you have already been sorted out by the lawyers. I’ll never let you or Isabella lose anything.”

“Thank you.”

“There’s one more thing,” Margaret continued after a pause. “In a few days, there’ll be a memorial mass for the old Don. By family tradition, there’ll also be an afternoon luncheon. The old Don liked you very much while he was alive. Would you help me one last time and make sure both the mass and the luncheon are organized properly?”

Cecilia was silent for a few seconds. The old Don had indeed treated her kindly. This would be her final farewell to the family.

“All right. I’ll take care of everything.”