All of Novatia knew that Sophie Rossi was the foster daughter Soren Lucas doted on the most.

However, on her 18th birthday, he punished her according to the family's rules. It was because Soren discovered Sophie had stolen his most precious Browning pistol and inserted it into her body.

Three years later, Sophie returned with her body covered in wounds. She no longer loved Soren.

However, Soren's fiancée, Isabella Johansson, refused to let her off.

"You slut! How dare you desire your own Don?!"

Sophie tolerated the cursing and beatings, only to discover the horrible truth.

She 'committed suicide' by jumping off the cruise ship during Soren's wedding. Soren went crazy as he hugged her corpse.

In 1985, the eldest son of the Lucas family, Soren, killed his uncle, who had betrayed the family. Soren was only 25 then.

He stood at the edge of the cliff as he prepared to jump. Soren had had enough of murder and betrayal.

However, the Don of the Rossi family, Anthony, stopped him and took him back to the villa to recuperate and heal.

Anthony's daughter, Sophie, was eight that year. She followed Soren everywhere he went. When Soren was busy, she would bring him warm milk. Whenever he got injured, she would bandage his wounds. If he had nightmares, Sophie would kiss the frown on his forehead.

In 1995, Anthony was killed in an enemy ambush.

Soren became Sophie's Don in name.

To protect Sophie, Soren took over the Lucas family and treated her like a princess.

On Sophie's 18th birthday, she wore a pink diamond necklace that Soren had personally flown to Ronico to mine for her. Even when his fingers had bled from it, he had not minded it. All he wanted was for her to be happy.

When Sophie casually mentioned that she liked a certain Italian designer, Soren moved the designer's entire family to Novatia just so he could make her a birthday dress.

Even the most inconspicuous interior decorations, like the carpet and curtains, were made of the most expensive material.

Soren had invited every powerful elite and member of high society to celebrate his Principessa's 18th birthday party.

It was a grand party, indeed. Everyone could tell that Sophie was the apple of the Don's eye.

Soren had given the best of everything to Sophie, but he forgot to teach her one lesson. It was to never fall in love with him.

After the party, Soren's yacht continued floating out at sea. He stood on the deck while playing with a pistol. It was a Browning.

It was the pistol he had used the first time he killed someone. It was also the first toy Sophie had inserted into her body.

The security footage on his phone showed Sophie inserting the pistol inside her. She was sitting on a chair while fondling her breasts with one hand. Her other hand slowly pushed the pistol into her. She moaned as it went inside.

Sophie called out, "Soren."

Soren pretended to be calm, but in his pants, he was hard.

Sophie's expression when she moaned and her sultry body was all he could think of. He imagined Sophie's legs wrapped around his waist as her hands caressed his chest.

"Don Lucas." The family's Consigliere, Isabella, approached him. She was calm, elegant, and ruthless. She was the perfect candidate for the Donna. "If word of this gets out, the Lucas family will be a laughingstock."

"Sophie has unwanted desires." Soren's voice was husky. "I treat her as my daughter, but all she wants is to sleep with me."

Isabella smiled. "She's a girl with dirty thoughts."

Soren flung the pistol viciously into the river. "How horny can she be to get so hot and bothered with a pistol? Send her to St. Maria's College."

Soren closed his eyes. "They'll teach her that it's wrong to fall in love with her Don."

"Are you sure?" Isabella raised an eyebrow. "That place is not for the weak."

"She needs to experience pain." Soren turned away. "Pain will wake her up. It'll teach her that falling in love with her Don is wrong! But don't go overboard. She's… my foster daughter, after all."

Isabella said softly to the back of Soren's head, "Of course. I'll make sure the college takes 'good care' of her."

…

The next morning, Sophie was awakened by the noise of a helicopter.

When she headed downstairs, she saw Soren tearing up her admission letter to Covino University.

She screamed, "Soren, that's my dream!"

"Your dream is wrong." The look in Soren's eyes was cold as he slapped Sophie. "I love you like a daughter, but I ended up raising a slut who wants to sleep with her foster father!"

Sophie's cheek was swollen. "Soren, I…"

"Pack your things and leave right now!" He called for two of his henchmen. "Take the Principessa up the chopper to St. Maria's College."

St. Maria's College was in the suburbs of Borto. It was used specifically to punish women who betrayed the family and girls who had 'indecent thoughts'.

The helicopter soon landed at the college. The college dean was a nun called Maria Ferrari. She was a 60-year-old Itolian woman with vicious eyes.

"Ms. Rossi," Maria awkwardly greeted Sophie. "Welcome to the land of the pure."

Soren pretended not to hear Sophie's crying and begging as he watched her be taken to a chamber. The door closed, and Maria took down a metal bra covered with thorns from the wall.

She smiled as she said, "Your first lesson is to remove the dirty desires from your heart."

Sophie's screams could be heard from the helipad. Soren stood next to the helicopter as his fingernails dug into his palms until they started bleeding.

The pilot spoke up in a small voice, "Don Lucas, do you want to take a look at her?"

"No need." Soren got into the helicopter. "She'll take things the wrong way if I give in to her."

When the helicopter took flight, he looked back at the college. He remembered how he had hugged Sophie the entire night back when she was young because she was running a fever. She had snuggled in his arms and said, "I'm scared of the dark, Soren."

"Don't be scared." He kissed her on the forehead. "I'm here."

Back at the present moment, Soren suppressed his worry for her.

"The Principessa can't fall in love with her Don…" He closed his eyes and snuffed out his anguish.

Three days later, Soren received a video from Maria.

It showed Sophie tied up naked on a cross. Ten men took turns splashing holy water on her, but the water had been infused with chili peppers.

Soren destroyed his study in anger, only to hear Isabella ask, "Isn't this the pain you wanted her to experience?"

Sophie learned to be silent in the first year. Her voice was ruined in the first three months from all the screaming. She could no longer say a word and could only make noises.

Maria was happy with the result. "Look. The Lord has seen her repenting and has punished her."

Torture at the college was systematic. Monday was designated for purifying one's sense of taste. Sophie had to kneel and drink holy water mixed with glass shards at 5:00 am. In the afternoon, she had to swallow earthworms alive because they were supposed to consume everything dirty in one's soul.

Wednesday was for purifying one's sense of touch. Sophie would be stripped naked and tied to a metal table. The nuns would use rollers covered in thorns and roll them from her neck to her legs. Every time the roller turned, Sophie had to chant, "I'm a sinner who wants to sleep with my foster father."

Friday was for purifying one's sense of smell. Sophie would be locked up in a basement filled with rotting corpses for 24 hours.

Every month, she would need to meet with 'special guests'. They were the enemies of the Lucas family.

These people would pay Maria a handsome fee to defile the body of Soren's foster daughter.

"Think about it." A rival laughed lecherously as he fondled Sophie's body. "We're having fun with Don Lucas' daughter. Look at how much this sluts demands to be satisfied!"

He hit Sophie's bouncing breasts. "How about a few moans for us, Don Lucas' little slut?"

Sophie never fought back because her retaliation would only result in being electrocuted.

In her second year, Sophie learned to obey. She had been trained to act like a robot. She would kneel within three seconds the moment a man walked in, promptly removing his belt to start satisfying him.

In her third year, Sophie learned to give up. She started harming herself and carving on the wall with her fingernails.

Initially, she carved the words 'Save Me', but it eventually became 'I Hate You, Soren', and at the end, it was 'Let Me Die'.

Maria recorded everything and emailed it to Soren every week.

In the first three months, Soren would smash and destroy everything. After half a year, he would delete the videos after three seconds of watching them. A year later, he did not even bother looking at them.

Isabella sat in his lap while saying softly, "See? Time will heal everything. You've learned to let go."

Soren kissed her, but she did not get him as excited as the video of Sophie masturbating.

In the winter of 1998, Sophie was finally released.

Maria gave her a rare smile. "Congratulations, Sophie Rossi. You've graduated."

Sophie could not recognize herself in front of the mirror. She had lost so much weight that she was only 70 pounds now. She had lost half her hair, and her back was covered in scars. Her left eye was wounded, and she could no longer see clearly. Three fingers on her right hand were contorted.

However, she had learned one important lesson—never love Soren Lucas again.

When the helicopter came for her, it was snowing. Sophie was wearing a thin dress and standing barefoot in the snow, but she did not feel cold.

When the helicopter landed in Lucas Villa, she saw Soren staring at her. He said in a soft voice, "Welcome home, my little Principessa."

Sophie placed her hand on her chest when she heard Soren's cold voice. Her heart was beating wildly, but it was not because of love. All she felt was hate.

…

After her return to the villa, Soren would watch Sophie through the cameras in his study every day at 3:00 am.

He always saw the same look flash across Sophie's eyes—hatred.

Soren knew that look very well. He had seen it in the eyes of every person he had killed. He could not take it, and he got drunk several times because of this.

That was until one day, Isabella appeared wearing the same lingerie as Sophie's. Soren thought Sophie had come to him. He made love madly to Isabella, mistaking her for Sophie. It just made him thrust harder.

Soren choked Isabella, as if trying to vent his anger, but when he saw her orgasming, Soren looked away.

Sophie would never look at him that way. That was when his mind suddenly cleared. The woman under him was not Sophie.

The more time stretched on, the more horrible Soren felt.

One late night in July, he finally pushed open Sophie's door for the first time. She was still awake and sitting by the window.

"Sophie," he called out to her.

She turned to look, and something broke inside her. Sophie slipped off the bed and knelt in three seconds. She started to remove his belt.

Soren stiffened. He grabbed her wrists and saw the scars on the back of her neck caused by electrocution.

"No." His voice was husky. "I'm not here to…"

He was not here to do something like this.

Soren pushed Sophie away, then turned from her in a fluster. He used the harshest words to cover his guilt. "Put on your clothes, you slut! Tomorrow night, you'll come downstairs for the party."

He heard a soft grunt from behind him. However, Soren did not look back.

…

Halfway through the dinner party, Soren was summoned into the study by his father.

The old Don, William, flung a document at him. "Isabella is pregnant. The family needs an heir."

Soren flipped the document open and saw that it was a pregnancy report. He remembered the night he got drunk a month ago. Isabella had been wearing Sophie's lingerie, and her eyes had looked a little like Sophie's.

"Yes, Father." Soren heard himself answer.

…

The next day, they had a wedding rehearsal on a cruise ship.

Isabella was holding Sophie's hand on the deck. She leaned in close to Sophie's ear and asked, "What did you do to Soren last night?"

"Nothing."

"Liar." Isabella gripped her wrist harder. "You wanted to sleep with him, didn't you? And you removed his belt."

Sophie turned pale from the pain, but she did not make a sound.

"Looks like the college forgot to teach you dignity." Isabella suddenly released her hand. "Do you think Don Lucas will like a whore like you who has ridden a thousand men?"

Before Sophie could reply, she said, "Let's play a game."

She backed away from Sophie while smiling strangely at her. "Who do you think Don Lucas will believe? You or me?"

With that, Isabella turned and jumped into the sea.

"Help! Sophie pushed me! She's trying to kill me!" she screamed.

Soren came running out of the cabin and immediately jumped into the sea to save Isabella.

Sophie watched this happen with one thought in her mind—'If I jump into the sea right now, would anyone save me?'

It took her only a second to know the answer. No.

After Isabella was saved, she said to Soren in the hospital, "Sophie said she wanted to be the only woman in your life. She threatened to kill me and then commit suicide if I refused to leave you."

She played a voice recording, and Sophie's voice came through at the next second. "Soren is mine, Isabella."

Soren turned pale. The words Sophie had been forced to repeat in college would end up causing her life.

…

Soren dragged Sophie to the basement after taking her back to the villa.

"Kneel!" he ordered.

Sophie knelt. Her knees touched the ice-cold metal floor. It was the position she was most familiar with back in college.

He took the whip from the wall. It was covered with glass shards.

"I took care of you for ten years." His voice dripped with pain and misery. "I doted on you and protected you! I treated you like my daughter!"

The first lash hit Sophie on the back.

"How dare you have such dirty thoughts about me?"

Then, the second.

"How dare you try to kill my fiancée?"

Then, the third.

"Do you want me all to yourself?"

Sophie trembled, but she clenched her teeth and did not make a sound. Back in college, her screams would only excite the people hitting her.

"Say something!" Soren flung the whip away. He crouched and grabbed her throat. "Say you're wrong!"

"I'm wrong." She sounded calm.

Soren saw that the back of Sophie's shirt was drenched in blood from her old and new wounds. He released Sophie and backed away. "Why didn't you fight back?"

"Fighting back would only make it hurt longer." Sophie looked up, but her gaze was empty.

He rushed over to her and tore her clothes open. Soren saw the wounds criss-crossed on her back. There were even tiny needle holes all over her chest.

Electrocution marks, knife wounds, burn scars… Every part of her skin was damaged.

"Who did this?" His voice trembled.

"You," Sophie replied. "Isn't this what you wanted when you sent me to that college?"

Soren stumbled backward, knocking into a shelf of torture tools. "I had no idea. I just wanted them to discipline you, not—"

"Discipline me?" she interrupted him. She picked up a piece of torn cloth to cover her body. "I learned well, Don Lucas."

She turned to leave, but he grabbed her wrist. "Let me check your wounds."

"That's not necessary." She pulled her hand away.

Soren watched her lonely figure disappear up the stairs. He was once again filled with fear. He was not afraid of Sophie hating him. He was afraid that Sophie no longer cared about him.