The new Consigliere wanted to restructure the Mafia family’s affairs by sinking her claws into me. My boyfriend, who was a Mafia Don and wildly in love with me, wanted to get revenge on her for me. He planned to raise her status to the skies and make her suffer a horrific downfall when the right time came.

He kicked me out of the family and gave all my responsibilities to the new Consigliere.

She received luxury cars and jewelry from him as gifts, but he told me to tolerate it as part of the plot.

When my younger brother's kidneys started to fail, I begged my Don boyfriend for the surgery fees, which he agreed to give me.

On the day of the surgery, I waited from daylight to daybreak for the money, but nothing came. That was when I saw an Instagram post from the new Consigliere, taunting me.

"My family's Don is such a wonderful man. Someone who was kicked out of the family was brazen enough to ask him for money. What if she can't repay us? I had to stop the money transfer. I hope this woman will find a better excuse the next time she tries to scam him."

The mess ended with my brother dying. My Don boyfriend called me later in an attempt to cajole me.

"Don't be mad. Joey can have his surgery later. I'm just tolerating Rosetta to encourage her to become full of herself. The higher she climbs, the harder she'll fall. Don't worry! Her birthday will be in a few days. I'll humiliate her, then make her lose everything. We'll have our wedding after that. That will cheer Joey up!"

However, I knew that his so-called plot was the start of him falling in love with another woman.

That was when I no longer wanted him.

My boyfriend, who was a Mafia Don and wildly in love with me, kicked me out of the family and caused my younger brother's death because of the new Consigliere. I decided to leave once and for all.

"Are you sure you want to join us, Eva? Well, then it's a deal. We leave in three days."

On the other end of the phone call was the agitated voice of the Carloni family's Underboss. They were the top Mafia family in the United States.

The Carlonis were legalizing their businesses and were interested in my expertise in money laundering. To convince me to join them, their Underboss came to Italy under a pseudonym to persuade me to accept their offer. He waited three years for the first opportunity to poach me.

"I'm sure."

It was dead silent in the hospital's morgue.

When I saw my eight-year-old brother's lifeless face again, I was numb as I signed the contract for the purchase of his graveyard plot.

While in the doctor's office, the doctor informed me that I had to pay for the plot in advance.

I had used almost all my money on Joey's treatment when he was in the last stages of uremia.

For the last few years, I had been fighting for the family by Caesar Lupino's side. I lost all my friends, and when Caesar kicked me out of the family, I was shunned by everyone.

I had no idea what to do. My future was bleak.

Out of habit, I touched the necklace around my neck.

It was called 'Heart of the Diamond'. Caesar had bid a billion on it at an auction just to give it to me.

He told me that I was priceless to him and that everything he ever did for me was worth it.

Before the operation, I wanted to sell it at auction, but the auction house only offered 500,000 dollars. It was far less than the surgery fees required for Joey's kidney transplant.

After long consideration, I decided not to sell it.

It was probably fated that some things were never meant for certain people.

As I was rushing out the door to the auction house, I was knocked to the ground by bodyguards who had barged into the hospital.

My palms brushed against the ground, which was instantly stained by my blood.

When I looked up, I saw Caesar pushing Rosetta Neroni, who was in a wheelchair, hurriedly into the hospital. A massive group of bodyguards and hospital personnel followed them.

Caesar looked extremely worried as he gently and adoringly cajoled her.

When he looked around, he saw me sitting on the ground, looking disheveled. He turned away without hesitation.

As a nurse passing by helped me up, I heard the whispers of people close to me.

"How lucky some people are! Her boyfriend got the entire hospital's medical experts together just to treat the superficial cut on her leg. Somewhere else in this hospital, a young boy is suffering from late-stage uremia, who can't even afford his surgery fees. All he can do is wait for his time to run out."

I leaned against the wall, about to thank the nurse who helped me.

Before I could, a pair of hands grabbed my arms. It was a grim-looking Caesar, who had turned back for me.

He dragged me to the stairwell on the second floor.

It was a quiet place, and I could hear his angry breathing very clearly.

"Why did you come here?"

Caesar realized how stern and cold he sounded after questioning me angrily, so he softened his tone.

"Rosetta's leg was cut by the office's new banknote scanner on the floor. I'm accompanying her to take care of the wound.

"You followed me here because I didn't transfer the money to you, right? I'll give you the money now. Go back immediately. Don't let Rosetta see you, or she’ll misunderstand."

Caesar did not even realize there was an adoring and gentle look in his eyes when he mentioned Rosetta. Even his tone sounded soft and sweet when talking about her.

There was once a time when he looked at me and treated me the same way, with love and tenderness.

When I suffered from a cold, he stayed by my bedside the entire day, and he even burnt himself while trying to cook something for me in the kitchen.

Now, the same person was flinging a hundred-dollar bill at me impatiently.

"Rosetta is worried that the family's finances will be misused, so she’s implemented strict control over cash expenditure. Take this hundred dollars, buy Joey something nice to eat, and take good care of his health."

Caesar held my hand and pressed the money into my palm when I stayed silent.

We had been in a relationship for years, and I was his bride-to-be, who would soon marry him in church. However, I was the one being treated like a mistress, as if I were his secret lover.

As he reached out for the door's handle at the stairwell, I placed the bill back into his hand.

Caesar stopped in his tracks, finally realizing that he did not handle things well between us. He turned back to look at me.

"You need to be patient with this, Eva. I'm preparing Rosetta for a big downfall after I boost her self-esteem to the skies. This is all to help you get revenge. To do that, we need to make this believable. She has to believe that she has everything. Once she loses all of this and falls hard, she'll be destroyed. She will regret everything she has done, and I'll have helped you get back at her.

"It may feel horrible now, but just hang on. I promise she'll receive her comeuppance!"

Caesar's words were like a knife to my heart. Why did it feel like I was the one who lost everything and the one getting destroyed?

When Rosetta first became the family's Consigliere, she announced that she would be restructuring the entire company. Rosetta ruined the deal I had painstakingly negotiated with the largest arms dealers in the area, costing us close to two billion.

The deal that took me six months of bloodshed to win and was supposed to be our big break went down the drain, just like that.

When Caesar found out about it, he plotted Rosetta’s downfall. He wanted to build her up and knock her down hard to help me get back at her.

He started by heaping praises on Rosetta in every meeting. Every time he did that, he would raise an eyebrow and throw me a knowing look. It felt sweet at first when I went along with him in the act. I would always pretend that Caesar’s betrayal hurt me. Eventually, Rosetta became full of herself.

After that, the acting seemed to become something real.

Caesar initially pretended to admire Rosetta, but his purposeful taunts eventually became sincere praises.

We started spending less and less time together, and Caesar eventually grew distant.

Half a year ago, they kicked me out of the family.

Joey spotted his future brother-in-law being intimate with another woman while buying jewelry half a month ago. It angered him so much that it triggered his uremia.

He had a kidney match and an upcoming surgery with a low failure rate, but his useless sister was not able to get enough money for the surgery, which led to his early death.

Now, my Don boyfriend, who was standing in front of me, no longer had a place in his heart for me.

My heart was barren.

"Caesar, we should…"

I was about to say the words 'break up'.

That was when the doors to the stairwell suddenly opened.

I could not see who it was because of the blinding lights behind the door. All I saw was Caesar rushing forward to that person.

When the door closed, I saw Rosetta leaning close into Caesar's arms.

He was cajoling her tenderly and adoringly.

"Your leg is still injured. Why did you come running here? What if you hurt it again?"

Rosetta looked at me standing silently in the corner. A malevolent, taunting smile appeared on her face.

"What are you doing here, Eva? Did you follow us here because you wanted money from Caesar?

"I thought you were principled and had a backbone. Why are you still begging for money from your ex-boyfriend?

"You've been kicked out of the family, and he's no longer your boyfriend. Why are you still here, asking him for money and making him take care of you?"

Rosetta showed her dominance over Caesar by using a sickly-sweet tone with him. "You didn't give her any money, did you?"

When Caesar stayed quiet, Rosetta's eyes turned red. Tears welled in her eyes as she used a tone as soft and delicate as silk to berate Caesar.

"My Don, I've been trying my best to control the internal expenditures of the family to prevent any funds from being misused. I'm doing all this for you, but you're privately using money on her and allowing her to leech off you.

"Is this for old times’ sake?

"If it is, what's the point of my coming here to treat my leg? You might as well let it rot!"

With that, Rosetta made a show of leaving.

The ruthless Don, who was known as the ‘Black Plague’, who struck fear in everyone's heart, and who was merciless and headstrong in his ways, did not even dare say another word against Rosetta. He went right after her.

However, he paused in his steps when he suddenly remembered that I was still there.

He came to me and patted my shoulder gently.

"There are only three days left, Eva. Just hold on for a little longer. I'll make sure to give you a grand wedding after this."

This was how Caesar liked to comfort me. There was a point when I became addicted to this comfort whenever Caesar did something wrong. I was drunk in his show of tenderness to me, and I always chose to forgive him.

However, I felt nauseous now as he tried to comfort me. I was filled with disgust, and all I wanted to do was throw up.

I was about to dodge his touch when he suddenly turned quickly to run after Rosetta.

All I felt was numbness as I watched this unfold. I reflexively wiped my shoulder where Caesar had touched me.

Three days’ time?

That was the same day I promised the Underboss of the top Mafia family in the United States, the Carlonis, that I would leave Italy.

It was time for me to go.

I did not want Caesar anymore.

It was time to say goodbye.

I never wanted to see him again.

I got a taxi to the auction house after leaving the hospital. I used the money to buy a plot for Joey right next to our parents' graves.

When I got home, Caesar was not back yet.

I received an update from him for one. He messaged saying that Rosetta's leg hurt so much that she needed someone to take care of her. He had to stay the night at the hospital.

It had been a long time since I last received any messages from him, so it was a surprise when I saw it.

We had been together for five years, yet my 20-inch luggage still had plenty of room after I packed.

The next day, I woke to the sound of knocking at the door. It was Caesar's bodyguard. He raised an eyebrow when he saw my luggage. He asked, "Miss Eva, is this…"

"It's for a vacation." I sounded tired as I replied.

He did not ask any further questions.

"Don Lupino sent me to pick you up."

I did not want to go, but his bodyguard was adamant. He brought me to an Italian boutique branch of a designer I usually frequented. There were numerous unique wedding gown designs in the store.

Caesar came up to me with a smile.

"I got them to pick you up specially. I know this is your favorite bridal boutique."

He held my hand while taking me into the dressing room.

Caesar held this year's latest limited-edition gown in his hand. He helped me put it on and pulled up the zipper behind my back intimately.

I was momentarily in a daze when I saw how tender and careful he was through the mirror.

When Caesar claimed he was plotting against Rosetta by putting on an act, he told me he had to trick himself first if he wanted to trick the enemy. Since then, he had never been intimate with me.

"Where's the necklace?"

Caesar's question pulled me out of my reverie.

"I…" Before I could answer, he interrupted me.

He said with a smile, "Did you leave it in the jewelry box again because it's too precious to wear?

"Oh, this gown is perfect!

"Eva, it was made for you. It looks so good on you!

"It'll only be a few days before you finally become the most perfect, happiest Dona!

"Our wedding is all set. We'll be having it at Black Mass Villa, your favorite place. It will be the most elegant and romantic Italian wedding.

"We'll get Joey to be our little flower boy. He'll be your guardian angel. How does that sound?"

Caesar was gentle and considerate, but it felt like a knife slicing every inch of my skin.

My fingers dug deep into my palms.

All I could see was Joey tearing up before he died while speaking softly to me.

"Why isn't Caesar here yet?"

It reminded me of how Caesar used to dote on him, as if he were Caesar's own brother. He always showed concern over Joey's condition.

Caesar once put a lot of effort into sourcing the perfect kidney match for Joey. When Joey could not sleep due to intense pain, he would stay by Joey's side the entire night.

Marrying Caesar had been my dream. It was what I thought about day and night.

However, that was no longer what I wanted.

"Caesar, about the wedding…"

"Shh!"

He put his finger to my lip and smiled.

"Our plan is about to come to an end. It's Rosetta's birthday party in two days. I will announce in front of the family that she will be kicked out of the company.

"All the cars and jewelry under her name will be returned to us.

"She has been leading a luxurious life, detached from reality for the past few years. She won't accept any luxury cars or jewelry worth less than a million. Be prepared for a good show, and watch for yourself how the family will take care of her once I take back her assets and power. She won't dare to step on your toes ever again!"

Suddenly, the door to the dressing room was pushed open violently in the middle of Caesar’s speech.

Caesar was about to berate his bodyguard for intruding.

That was when he saw Rosetta standing there. His forehead was instantly covered in a cold sweat.

She was leaning against the door, her eyes red. They started to tear up at just the right moment when she confronted Caesar.

"Caesar, I thought you got someone else to help me try out my gown for my party because you were worried about my aching leg.

"If Miss Eva hadn't told me to drop by for a good show, I wouldn't have any idea that you had been plotting against me from the very start. I was wrong to have had feelings for you.

"You don't need to wait until the day after tomorrow. I'll return everything that you’ve ever given me right now."

As tears fell from Rosetta's eyes, she took off her bracelet, tore the ruby necklace worth millions off her neck, and flung them both at Caesar.

She threw her car keys in my face. They scratched my face, and blood dripped from my cheek.

Caesar seemed to forget that I was there. He stared at Rosetta and did not wince or dodge from the jewelry thrown at him.

My heart sank when I saw the look on his face.

That was the way he used to look at me during those years when he was still in love with me.

I just rejected the offer from the Carlonis back then so I could return to Italy and help him until he became the Don.

To ensure his position as Don was secure, I was wounded in numerous bloody fights and sent to the emergency room plenty of times.

In that short moment, I could see Caesar hugging me again. He looked at me with a pained expression as he spoke to me adoringly.

"I'll never let you get hurt again."

That loving look in his eyes was no longer for me. It was now reserved only for Rosetta.

"Let's part ways now, Caesar. I wish you and Miss Eva all the best."

Rosetta went straight for the door after saying this with tears in her eyes.

Just as she stepped out, she suddenly clutched her chest and fell backward.

Caesar quickly ran up to her and grabbed her before she fell. He quickly took out some pills he had on him.

"Rosetta! You can't get agitated because of your weak heart. Take the pills!"

"I don't need your concern. Just let me die!"

Rosetta's lips were turning blue. She turned to walk away weakly, still acting stubborn.

Caesar ran after her.

I quickly grabbed Caesar's arm to explain. "I had no idea you were bringing me here to try on wedding gowns. How could I have informed her about this in advance? You've got the wrong…"

Before I could finish, Caesar flung my hand off violently.

He glared at me with disappointment and hate.

"Why are you so impatient, Eva? Why would you do this when there are only two days left? You're such a disappointment."

His cold voice continued, "I'll make sure you go to Hell if anything happens to her."

I was stunned and felt a chill in my heart.

This was the love I earned for accompanying him through showers of bullets. He did not hesitate when it came to killing me for another woman.

I stopped and did not go after him.