I packed my bags in a rush. However, just as I opened the front door to leave, I nearly collided with my parents and Camilla, who had just returned from the celebration.

Dad's brows furrowed as his eyes locked on the suitcase in my hand. His tone was harsh as he questioned, "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm leaving," I said coldly. "One daughter is all you need anyway."

Dad's expression darkened. In one swift motion, he yanked the suitcase out of my grip and hurled it hard against the wall, snarling, "Over my dead body! Where the hell do you think you're running off to when you're about to get married?"

Staring blankly at him, I asked, "What do you mean by that?"

Camilla leaned in with a grin, her eyes glinting with malice. "The Marra family, the one who placed the order, showed up at the celebration earlier tonight.

"They're willing to add another two million to their order… on one condition."

She deliberately drew out the last words. "That you marry into their family."

My whole body went rigid, dread coursing through me. "The Marra family?"

"That's right. The impoverished Marra family, who can't even afford to buy a decent gun," Camilla declared in feigned surprise. "You'll be marrying the infamous Lorenzo Marra."

I stared at my parents in disbelief. "Have you lost your mind? Everyone knows that Lorenzo is a violent womanizer who's killed plenty of women!"

Mom let out an insincere sigh. "Don't make it sound so bad, Elena. We're your parents! Do you think we'd harm you?

"You're already 26 years old. Do you plan on staying single forever? We'll be the laughingstock of the entire city!"

She patted my shoulder and said with false tenderness, "Behave and do as we say, unless you'd rather marry a homeless beggar instead?"

I was trembling with rage, while Camilla was laughing so hard she could barely breathe. "Don't worry, Elena. Although it's said that he likes having his way with women before killing them, isn't it touching that he's willing to spend millions just to marry you? He's showing such sincerity!"

Mom chuckled along as well. "That's right. That's probably all the money the Marras have! I wonder if they borrowed money from anyone else. Everyone knows they're barely holding on right now, but it's fine. At least they're still a family with a long history. You won't have a hard time after marrying into that family."

My fingers shook from anger as I pointed at them, growling, "That's enough! I'm a human being, not an object for sale!"

"Shut up!" Dad bellowed in annoyance. "Two million dollars isn't much, but at least it's enough to fund another production line. You should be grateful that someone wants a useless person like you. What's there for you to be unsatisfied with, huh?"

Now that I'd been reborn, I never once thought about getting married again, much less suffer the same torment because of a man.

"I'm not marrying him! I'd rather die than marry him!"

I tried to bolt for the door, but Dad gave a signal, and his bodyguards surged forward, twisting my arms painfully behind me.

"We've accepted the deal, so it's not up to you to refuse," Dad said coldly. "Lock her in the basement. She'll only be let out on the wedding day!"

"Let go of me! You lunatics! You leeches!"

I kicked and screamed with all the strength I could muster, to no avail. I was tossed into a basement room with only a tiny window. When the door slammed shut behind me, I was left alone in almost complete darkness.

From the other side, Camilla's voice rang out. "Oh. I almost forgot."

She raised her hand, which was now sporting a massive diamond ring, and tossed something in through the window on the iron door. It fell with a clang.

I groped for it, and under a sliver of moonlight, I saw what it was—a plain, timeworn silver cuff.

"It's a wedding gift from the Marra family." Camilla's mocking voice came through the door again. "Who knows where they picked up that piece of trash from?"

She cackled smugly, turning to leave as she said, "It's just like you, my dear little sister."

I clutched the cuff tightly, my tears spilling uncontrollably onto it. Strangely, it began to give off a faint bluish glow.

Startled, I brought it to my eyes and took a closer look.

Under the moonlight, the intricate carvings slowly revealed a secret mechanism in the cuff. I ran my fingers across it until I felt a tiny raised notch.

With a click, a paper-thin blade sprang out, gleaming in the light.

My heart pounded wildly. Even my breath hitched.

Was this… the forgemaster's cuff?

The forgemaster's cuff was a legendary masterpiece. It was said that only the greatest weaponsmiths could create it, for it was incredibly challenging to have both the material and the craftsmanship required to make one.

It had long since vanished from the market.

As a weapons designer, I knew better than anyone just how precious and valuable a forgemaster's cuff was.

Would a man capable of giving me a gift like this really be as useless as he was rumored to be?

…

When the light of dawn hit my eyes, I realized I'd dozed off. The door lock rattled, making me bolt upright. "Who's there?"

"Shh. It's me."

Leon's face appeared in the doorway. He snuck into the room before locking the door behind him.

He gave me that familiar smirk that he probably thought made him look charming. "I just came to check on my little Elena."

Step by step, he closed in. "I heard you're marrying Lorenzo Marra?"

"That's none of your business," I replied curtly.

"How is it none of my business?" Leon remarked before he reached out to stroke my face. "We grew up together. I care about you, too."

I swiftly turned my head away, feeling nauseated. "Don't touch me! Aren't you and Camilla engaged to be married?"

"That doesn't stop the three of us from having fun together," Leon said, his breath reeking of alcohol as it washed all over my face. "After all, you've been in love with me since you were little, right?"

I struggled to get away from him. "That's in the past. You make me sick now!"

Leon didn't care. He pushed me down and pinned me against the floor. "Stop acting like you're so chaste. You think Lorenzo will treat you better than me?"

His hands tugged at my clothes. "Rumor has it he's useless in bed. If you marry him, you'll be a widow in all but name. Why not be mine instead? At least you'll have some memories to rely on when you pleasure yourself."

"Get off me!" I screamed as I kneed him in the gut.

Leon grunted in pain, but he held me down even harder. "How dare you!"

Now that he was infuriated, he became frighteningly strong. With just a few tugs, he ripped the collar of my clothes into pieces. As I struggled in despair, my fingertip brushed against the cuff around my wrist.

The hidden mechanism sprang to life with a clack, and at the very next second, Leon's screams of agony tore through the basement.

The iron door to the basement room flew open with a loud bang, and Dad's furious roar rang out.

"What the hell? What did you do to Leon?"

Clutching the silver cuff, which was still dripping blood, I looked at the howling Leon as he writhed on the floor before looking up emotionlessly.

Mom rushed in, shrieking, "Oh, my goodness! Mr. Carbone's arm… Quick! Call a doctor!"

Camilla followed close behind, her flawless makeup smudged from the contorted expression she was now sporting. She stared fixedly at Leon, asking, "What's going on? Didn't you say you were just going out to the car to get my gift?"

Leon's arm had a gaping wound from the blade. His face was twisted in pain as he snarled, "I heard from your household staff that she'd been locked down here all night. I was worried she'd starve to death, so I came to check on her out of kindness.

"But this crazy woman tried to kill me with that damn cuff of hers because she's jealous I'm marrying you!"

My parents' eyes flicked to the cuff on my wrist, feeling a mix of both doubt and shock. However, Camilla had already bought his story. She lunged forward, her hand raised to slap me. "Have you lost your mind? You bitch!"

Not only did I not try to avoid her, but I even took a step forward, slashing the cuff in front of me.

Her raised hand froze midair. She stared at me, cowed by the madness in my eyes.

"You've gone insane, haven't you? You've completely lost your mind!" Dad roared, his finger trembling as he wagged it at me.

Supporting his bleeding arm, the ashen-faced Leon snarled, "You ungrateful bitch! Do you think Lorenzo would be better than me? He's a twisted freak because he can't even get it up! You're no longer qualified to be my mistress now. You're only worthy of being a sex slave!"

"A sex slave?" I repeated in disbelief. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

In the mafia world, a sex slave was 100 times less respectable than a mistress. A mistress could at least choose to walk away from that kind of life. However, a sex slave was treated like property and enslaved for life. Even her children would live as slaves.

Camilla hugged Leon and sneered. "You should count your blessings. Being Leon's sex slave is still better than marrying that psycho."

She turned to my parents, her eyes glittering with malice. "Why not make it up to Leon by branding her right now?"

"That's a brilliant idea!" Dad agreed before summoning his bodyguards to hold me down. "Bring the branding iron over!"

Mom's eyes flickered hesitantly, but Camilla leaned close and whispered in her ear, "Leon's the next don of the Carbone family, Mom. Our priority is to keep him happy."

Instantly, the faint hint of a guilty conscience Mom felt vanished, and she even heated the branding iron herself.

Camilla grabbed the red-hot branding iron and started walking toward me, saying with a sweet smile, "Don't be scared. It'll be over in a flash. From now on, you won't be able to go around seducing men with that face of yours anymore."

The bodyguards had twisted my arms behind me, making it impossible for me to break free. The branding iron hovered inches away from me when I shut my eyes and shouted, "Don't you want the two million dollars from the Marra family anymore?"

Dad stiffened, and Camilla stopped as well.

"The money hasn't been transferred into your account, right?" I desperately continued. "Do you think the Marras will agree to take me if I show up to the wedding with this mark on my face?"

Turning to Mom, Dad said grimly, "The money hasn't been transferred over to us yet."

"Dad!" Camilla cried out as she stomped her foot indignantly.

"Camilla, put it down," Dad commanded sharply.

Furious, she moved to put the branding iron down, but as she turned, she "accidentally" stumbled, and the branding iron flew straight at my hand.

I instinctively raised my hand to block it.

When the branding iron struck the silver cuff, a jet of gas abruptly shot out, spraying right into Camilla's face.

"Argh! My eyes!" Camilla screamed as she clutched her face, rolling on the floor in pain.

I seized this moment of chaos to rush over to a corner of the room. The bodyguards scrambled to help the screaming Camilla and the bleeding Leon. No one paid any further attention to me.

"Get them to the hospital at once!" Dad roared.

On his way out, he shot me a murderous glare. "I'll settle this score with you after the wedding!"

Once the sound of their footsteps faded, I raised my trembling wrist, searching for where the gas had come from. However, I noticed a tiny engraving on the inside of the cuff.

"For my bride—L"

My heart pounded as I brushed the letter "L" with my fingers.

Even though we hadn't even met yet, he'd already saved me twice. Perhaps marrying him wouldn't be a bad thing after all.

On the wedding day, I was roughly dragged out of the basement room.

"Get dressed, now!" a maid snapped at me as she flung a plain beige dress at my face with a condescending expression. "Mrs. Cassano said not to waste good fabric on you."

Outside the manor, a row of sleek wedding cars stood in wait, all part of Leon's convoy.

Camilla spun around in her diamond-studded wedding gown, her expression triumphant. "See this? This is how a respected bride is treated on her wedding day. As for your fiance…"

She looked me over tauntingly before continuing, "The Marras didn't even send a decent car over. I guess your new husband doesn't care much about you."

Nodding, I responded curtly, "You're absolutely right."

Pissed that her barbs weren't achieving the intended effect, Camilla scowled. "Stop pretending. Do you really think you can act all confident just because you have some stupid cuff? Leon's family is filthy rich, and I'm about to become his wife, Mrs. Carbone."

After flashing her diamond ring at me, she continued, "Not only that, but I'm also a genius weapons designer. Soon, Leon and I will become the perfect power couple, while you'll be heading off to a life of poverty and suffering."

At last, I couldn't resist laughing. "It's one thing for you to fool others, but how are you even fooling yourself?"

"What did you say?" Camilla snarled, her gaze sharp.

I calmly stared right back at her. "Ever since we were young, you've been stealing my ideas. Now that you're about to marry Leon, what are you going to rely on to fool him? Will he still love you once he finds out you're completely useless?"

"You shut your mouth!" Camilla snapped, her face pale. "Leon loves me for who I am, not what I can do!"

"You'd better hope that's true," I remarked with a shrug.

As I walked past her, she grabbed my wrist and said darkly, "Listen up. Don't assume you've found someone to back you up just because you're getting married. Lorenzo is poor and ugly. How are you going to compete with me?

"You'd better keep your mouth shut. Don't you dare run your mouth about the design schematics."

Then, her eyes flickered, and she added, "Of course, if you give me another 15… no, 20 designs a month, I'll consider protecting you, ensuring that Lorenzo won't kill you after he's had his fun with you."

"You'll protect me?" I scoffed, flinging her hand off. "Actually, I'm more interested in seeing who'd be able to protect you once Leon and the Carbones realize you're absolutely useless."

Outraged, Camilla shrieked and lunged at me. I deftly avoided her, and she ended up stumbling into the vanity table. All of the makeup crashed onto the floor.

"What's going on?" Leon's voice rang out from the doorway.

Camilla immediately took on a different attitude. She threw herself into his arms, wailing, "Leon! She stole my engagement ring, and she hit me when I asked her to give it back!"

Leon's vengeful eyes fell on me. He'd harbored resentment toward me ever since I injured him.

"Since you're so fond of being a thief, you can forget about keeping your hands."

Eyes widening, I turned to flee, but Leon clapped his hands, and two bodyguards immediately came forward to subdue me. One of them wrenched my hand backward so hard that I nearly fainted from the pain.

"Let go of me, you lunatics!"

Camilla cackled in malice, while Leon simply scoffed. Just as I thought that the bone in my wrist was about to snap, I heard the sound of a gunshot.

The bodyguard who was grabbing me howled as a bullet pierced right through the palm of his hand.

I turned toward the source of the sound and saw a tall figure slowly entering from the doorway, the light behind giving him a halo effect. His black suit accentuated his flawless figure, and the gun in his hand was still smoking.

"Touch her again, and your wedding will become your funeral."