Ten years ago, Elena, my best friend and my foster brother Alexander's fiancée, was tortured to death, every bone in her body crushed.

I was the only witness, yet I chose to cover for the sadistic murderer.

From that day on, I became the Family's greatest traitor.

I accepted a ten-year prison sentence and bit off half my tongue just to keep that secret buried.

Now, Alexander has returned as the most ruthless Don in Sicily. He dragged me out of my cell and strapped me into the memory extraction chair—a machine known to turn traitors into vegetables.

As high-voltage currents tore through my brain, Alexander stared at me with eyes full of hatred and roared, "I will cut open your brain to find the bastard you’re protecting, and then I’ll send you both to hell!"

But when the true killer's face finally appeared on the big screen, Alexander went mad.

Ten years ago, Elena was tortured to death; every bone in her body was crushed, leaving no piece of her flesh intact.

She was my best friend and the fiancée of my foster brother, Alexander, yet I covered for the sadistic murderer.

Alexander personally sent me to court for interrogation, but I chose to plead guilty and enter a maximum-security prison rather than speak the killer's name.

In prison, the people sent by the Family took turns torturing me to force me to speak. To keep the secret, I bit off half my tongue.

Ten years later, I was in the terminal stages of cancer, lingering on my last breath in prison. Alexander, having firmly secured his position as the Don, stormed into the prison hospital.

The first thing he did after dragging me back to Sicily was strap me into the memory extraction chair reserved for interrogating traitors.

"Ivy, you ungrateful wretch! I never should have picked you out of that orphanage!"

"I treated you like a sister, made you the Family's most cherished Princess, and Elena treated you like her own blood. Yet you colluded with outsiders to kill her!"

"Today, I’m going to cut your brain open with this machine and see who that bastard is—the one you protected by sitting in jail for ten years and biting off your own tongue!"

But when the real killer's face appeared on the big screen, the cigar in Alexander’s hand trembled and fell to the floor, his face instantly turning pale as a sheet.

...

Alexander made a massive spectacle of my trial.

The entire underground torture chamber was packed with Mafiosi; not even a fly could escape.

Several precision instruments were set up, with a massive projection screen facing everyone.

Suffering from multiple organ failure and with only half a breath left, I was dragged onto the high platform like a dead dog.

A burly man lunged forward, choking me violently as he roared:

"Ivy, why are you protecting the killer?!"

"You animal! Elena died so miserably; her ghost won't let you rest! Why don't you just die?!"

That was Elena’s biological brother, and now the most loyal Capo by Alexander’s side.

I was choked to the point of suffocation, my vision going black.

The torture chamber instantly boiled over with murderous intent.

"It’s this ungrateful bitch! The Don picked her out of the trash and raised her like a Princess, and she killed the future mistress of the family!"

"Even though Miss Elena was the daughter of a maid, she gave her heart and soul to Ivy. She suffered inhuman torture before she died, yet this woman knew everything and said nothing."

"What's even more disgusting is that she dared to bite off her tongue in prison just to keep the secret. It makes me sick!"

Overwhelming abuse drowned me.

Alexander sat in the seat of honor, his brow filled with violence.

In this world, aside from Elena’s brother, the person who hated me most was him.

Ten years ago, I was the orphan Alexander brought home, the Princess held in the palm of the Family's hand; Elena was the daughter of the housemaid, our childhood playmate, and my best sister.

Alexander loved Elena deeply, even going so far as to defy a Family marriage alliance for her, declaring her his only fiancée.

But on the eve of the wedding, Elena was kidnapped and tortured to death.

Surveillance showed I was at the crime scene and witnessed the whole thing, yet I didn't mention a word about the killer afterward, even willing to take the blame and go to prison.

I became the accomplice in the slaughter of the Don's beloved.

And I... I did indeed cover for the murderer.

Alexander walked up to me. He looked down at me coldly.

"Ivy, for the sake of the ten years I spoiled you, I’ll give you one last chance."

"Write down the killer's name now and end your own life. It’s not too late..."

"Otherwise, once the memory extractor starts, the high-voltage current will make your nerves feel like they've been corroded by strong acid 999 times. You won't even have the chance to beg for a quick death then!"

Hearing this, my face went pale. I struggled desperately, letting out a broken rasp from my throat:

"Xander... you can't!"

"You can't look at those memories!"

Alexander grabbed my collar tight. Hearing that long-lost nickname, the disgust in his eyes deepened.

"Shut up! You don't get to call me that!"

"Scared? It’s not up to you anymore!"

"I must get justice for Elena! And I must know who made you betray me!"

I wept, trembling all over as I begged:

"Alex, please. My memories can't be made public. You'll regret it!"

Alexander sneered, his eyes red as he closed in on me.

"Regret?"

"The only thing I regret is looking at you one extra time at the orphanage entrance and bringing a curse like you home!"

Two Mafiosi immediately clamped me into the iron chair, cold metal locking my withered limbs.

Ignoring my violent resistance, I was forcibly pinned down, and a helmet connected to countless wires was buckled onto my head.

In an instant, countless probes pierced my scalp and drilled into my brain.

Immediately, I convulsed with pain, letting out a wretched scream from my throat, feeling as if my soul was being torn apart.

Even so, the Mafiosi below the stage exploded.

"Damn traitor!"

"Go to hell! Pay with your life for the Godmother!"

On the big screen, my memories began to rewind crazily.

The first memory was one month after Elena’s death, my first night thrown into the maximum-security women's prison.

Because I bore the charge of "murdering the future Don's wife," I became the public enemy of the entire prison.

In the footage, seven or eight tattooed female prisoners dragged me into the shower room and pinned me against the slippery tiled floor.

They grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the wall over and over.

"You're the one who killed that angel of a girl?"

"Beat her! Beat her to death!"

Countless fists and feet fell like rain. My ribs were broken, my face was bruised and swollen, and I curled up into a ball, shivering.

But in my arms, I deathly protected a photo—the only photo of me, Alexander, and Elena together.

The scene shifted to a prison cell late at night.

Several inmates wanting to earn credit for a reduced sentence pinned my hands and feet, holding a sharpened toothbrush handle to my throat.

"Speak! Who is the killer! As long as you say it, the Don will spare your life!"

I was pushed to the brink.

To keep that secret, to ensure I wouldn't slip up when delirious.

In the memory, a look of absolute resolve flashed through my eyes.

I suddenly opened my mouth and fiercely bit off half my tongue!

Splurt—

Blood sprayed out, staining the gray prison uniform red.

I rolled on the ground in pain, letting out beast-like whimpers from my throat, yet I forcefully swallowed that name into my stomach.

That year, with no parents, I was only 19 years old.

Alexander stared fixedly at the big screen, watching the girl in the footage with a mouth full of blood, twitching in pain. The fingers holding his cigar trembled slightly.

But he quickly sneered aloud.

"Ivy, didn't you bring this on yourself?"

"If you hadn't covered for that bastard, would you have suffered like this? You think you're the victim?"

"You are the last person on earth entitled to complain! You chose this!"

The people around him chimed in.

"She's a total lunatic! So ruthless to herself!"

"Trying to use this sob story for sympathy? Laughable! Shielding a criminal makes you an accomplice! You deserve to be cut into a thousand pieces!"

"Miss Elena's family was destroyed; what is her little bit of suffering compared to that!"

Just then, the screen shook violently, and a burst of clear laughter rang out.

"Alexander! Ivy! Come catch me!"

Elena’s innocent, pure face appeared on the big screen.

It was a sunny afternoon in Sicily, the mountains full of lemon trees giving off a fresh scent.

The three of us, young and carefree, were running through the estate.

Elena wore a white dress, looking like an angel as she threw a lemon at me.

"Take that!"

"My Elena..."

Below the stage, Elena’s mother—the old maid who had gone mad in the estate for ten years—wailed and threw herself at the big screen.

Looking at her daughter smiling like a flower on the screen, she couldn't hold back her loud sobbing.

After Elena died ten years ago, her hair turned white overnight, and whenever she saw me, she would lunge like a mad dog to bite me.

Back then, the estate had no surveillance; that night, only Elena and I were together.

No one knew what happened that night.

Except me.

The footage continued to play.

After a bout of chasing and playing, we stopped in front of an ancient statue of the Virgin Mary.

At that time, my eyes were clear. I took out a dagger without hesitation and cut my finger.

Blood dripped onto the Bible.

With the most devout faith, I swore the blood oath that only core Mafia members would swear:

"I, Ivy, swear to the Holy Mother, to remain forever loyal to the Family, to forever protect Alexander and Elena... If I break this oath, may my soul fall into purgatory forever..."

Watching the once devout me making a vow, Alexander could no longer control his inner rage.

"Ivy, you lying hypocrite! You fake, ungrateful wretch!"

He rushed forward, pointing at me through the machine and cursing:

"You have the nerve to recall our childhood! Who are you trying to disgust?"

"Ten years! You haven't told the truth once! You betrayed your oath; you don't deserve to be our family!"

Sure enough, the memory jumped to the next scene.

Elena gave me an expensive diamond necklace, saying it was a birthday gift she had saved up for a long time to buy.

In the footage, however, I had a cold face. After Elena left, I stood on the cliff by the sea, tore the necklace off without hesitation, and threw it into the deep ocean.

The watching Family members exploded.

"What the fuck? Who does she think she is! Miss Elena was so good to her, and she threw the gift away?"

"This kind of person is just an ungrateful bitch, acting one way to your face and another behind your back!"

"I heard before that she was a snake. The Godmother treated her like a sister, but she threw her heartfelt gift into the sea out of jealousy!"

"Don Alexander, this bitch isn't worth any sympathy!"

Countless curses drilled into my ears.

Alexander stood on the high platform, watching this scene coldly.

Actually, he knew the truth better than anyone.

That necklace hid a high-precision bug installed by a rival family.

We discovered it together back then.

To prevent the timid Elena from feeling fear and guilt, I volunteered to play the villain, demanding the necklace in front of her to dispose of it.

Alexander was right there; he tacitly approved of my method.

But now, seeing everyone below condemning me, misunderstanding me as cold-blooded and heartless...

Alexander just stood there indifferently.

A trace of hesitation flashed in his eyes, but he remained silent, allowing the filth to be poured onto me.

In his heart, the current me deserved to be spurned by thousands.

Accompanying the crowd's insults and urging, the memory on the big screen changed scenes again.

It was a night of thunderstorms.

In the memory, I was covered in blood, stumbling to my knees in the muddy ruins.

I held tight to a corpse that no longer looked human.

It was Elena.

Every bone in her body had been crushed, and she lay limp in my arms like a broken rag doll.

The scene was extremely gruesome; the entire hall went dead silent instantly.

In the memory, I went mad, pressing my face against hers, which was covered in blood and filth, crying my heart out:

"I'm sorry... Elena... I'm sorry..."

"Wake up! Please, don't leave me!"

"Ah—!!!"

I looked up at the sky and screamed. The despair and pain in that voice were suffocating, even through the screen.

I held her like that, crying until I fainted in the storm, my hands digging into the mud so hard my fingernails were torn back.

Seeing this, Elena’s brother—the burly man who had nearly choked me to death earlier—suddenly roared:

"Fake! She's faking it!"

He pointed at the screen, his eyes red:

"If she was really sad, why didn't she tell us who the killer is!"

"What's the use of crying over Elena? Those are crocodile tears! It's to cover up her guilt for protecting the killer!"

"Ivy, you drama queen! You make me sick!"

Alexander stared fixedly at the mutilated corpse on the screen.

That was the woman he loved.

Seeing Elena’s death so tragic, Alexander’s heart seized with pain, and his face went pale.

A trace of violent struggle and pain flashed in his eyes; he seemed touched by the extreme grief in my memory.

But the next second, Elena's brother's words reignited his anger.

Yes.

If I really loved her, why wouldn't I name the real killer?

Why would I rather go to prison than expose that person?

The only explanation was—I was an accomplice!

Intense hatred instantly crushed that tiny bit of wavering.

Alexander straightened up abruptly, the red in his eyes more terrifying than a demon's.

"Ivy, since you won't talk, let the machine talk for you!"

"Let's see how long you can pretend!"

He turned his head and roared at the terrified technician beside him:

"Increase the power! Expand the extraction range to the limit!"

"I want to see every detail clearly! I want to see how you watched her die!"

The technician pushed the lever up with trembling hands.

The red needle on the instrument slammed to the max, letting out a piercing alarm.

Longer probes in the helmet instantly stabbed deep into my brain, the sound of electric current buzzing.

"Ah—!"

In reality, my body suddenly went rigid, and I let out an inhuman scream.

Blood flowed from the corners of my eyes and nose.

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