"The engagement banquet ends now!"

Alessandro's sharp voice was heard across the chaos of the banquet hall. There was a series of indescribable emotions in his eyes.

When he entered the hall, the first thing his eyes caught was the woman lying on the floor with her exposed weak body. Initially he could not recognize it was his mother but then everything made sense.

"Who did this?" He growled, terrifying everyone standing there.

As a boss of the Bianchi Mafia Family, his words weighed heavy and that violence had to stop immediately.

Within no minutes, his mother's frail eyes turned to Isabella, standing frozen in shock.

"Alessandro…stop…," Isabella whispered, gasping for breath.

Without delay, his hands reached to his waistband. A metallic gold weapon came into light. The next moment, he pointed that gun in her direction and asked, "It's you, right?"

Beads of sweat covered her forehead, Isabella was trembling by seeing the undeniable wrath in Alessandro's eyes. She opened her mouth twice but no words came out.

"If anything happens to her," Alessandro growled, his voice stern and commanding. "I, the boss of Bianchi Mafia Family won't leave a single one of you standing here. You'll wish you would have never crossed me."

At that moment, Elizabeth's vision blurred with tears. She never thought that her son's wedding would turn into such a nightmare.

......

After working endlessly under the shadows abroad, Elizabeth Bianchi had returned to Rome to support her son, Alessandro who was going to get engaged to his girlfriend of two years, Isabella Morettis, daughter of a rival Mafia family.

"I thought this union would finally end the long-standing feud between the two families," he whispered under his breath, raking his fingers in his hair.

"But things aren't that simple," he added further.

The night before the engagement banquet, Alessandro had taken his mother to a luxurious restaurant for dinner. There they had a great conversation and later on, he posted a photo with his mother, Elizabeth along with a heartfelt caption.

You have been by my side all the way. Thank you, the most important woman in my life. Love you!

Elizabeth wished that her presence would convey her approval and acceptance of her son's choice. But little did she know that her bonafide intentions were about to trigger a storm.

Since her husband died, the sole reason for her survival was her son, Alessandro. But at that time, the responsibility of Bianchi's Family business fell on her shoulders. And she had no choice other than flying to New York City and taking care of it.

But now after so many years, she decided to show up. She dressed up most stunningly so that her son wouldn't be embarrassed in front of his in-laws.

Later that night, she heard Alessandro shouting frustratedly at his phone.

"I will kill that woman, Alessandro." The voice came from the other end of the device. "I, Isabella Morettis, is your fiance, mind that. I won't tolerate another woman in your life."

Before he could respond, the line was cut. The other moment, Alessandro threw the cell phone on the floor. Seeing that, Elizabeth ran in his direction.

"What happened?" She asked in a worried tone.

"Isabella, she is making senseless assumptions," he said angrily. "She wants to kill my mistress. How could I, Alessandro Bianchi, have one?"

Since the time he became the boss of the Bianchi Family, Elizabeth had rarely interfered in his relationships but that time, she cleared her throat and advised, "Marriage is always a union between two people. Right now, you are sitting on your father's chair, Alessandro. He was the most loyal man and so you should be."

She paused and then continued, "If I found out that you dared to cross Isabella, then I will teach you a lesson!"

"You know I can be anything but disloyal," Alessandro replied.

"You better not be. I don't care how many women you were associated with in the past. Since you have chosen Isabella now, cut all your ties with them," Elizabeth warned him.

She never expected that Alessandro and Isabella would fight over an unknown woman a day before their big day.

Mentally, she made a note that she was going to meet Isabella personally. At that moment, she would eventually give a present- a $17 million villa as a token of support and acceptance to her.

The next day, Elizabeth was preparing for the banquet very carefully. The beauty salon was a place where she was going to decide her final look for the grand occasion.

It was not just the engagement banquet but a place where she was finally going to be introduced as the mother of the Boss of the Bianchi Family.

Just when everything was ready and she was about to go, the door of the room opened.

She saw Isabella walking inside angrily along with her friends.

"What a surprise!" A smile adorned her lips as she started moving in her direction to greet and meet her in advance.

But before she could take a step ahead, Isabella's voice filled the air. Her tone filled with venom.

"So this is where you have been hiding?"

Before Elizabeth could respond, a hand landed on her face. The sudden slap ruined Elizabeth's meticulously applied makeup and left her in a daze and pain.

Before she could react, Isabella grabbed her wrist with rough hands and asked, "You think you can just come and seduce Isabella Moretti's fiance?"

"Listen to me…" Elizabeth started but Isabella stopped her.

"Do you know who my father is? She paused. "The second most powerful mafia of this country!"

"Isabella…" Elizabeth tried to speak but Isabella pulled the end of her hair and yanked her back.

"Shut up!" Isabella shouted and gestured to her girlfriends. "I will make sure that you won't seduce another man. Girls, show her what happens when somebody crosses me."

Seeing that, Elizabeth was bruised and shocked, lying on the floor of the beauty salon. Her face stung from the earlier slap.

But that physical pain was nothing in front of the humiliation that she was feeling at that moment.

She, Elizabeth Bianchi, the mother of Alessandro Bianchi, the head of the Bianchi Mafia Family was being treated like a common whore.

"Even at this age, she is quite adventurous. Seducing other men and doing such shameless things."

"Those innocent eyes are just a facade."

Women who were witnessing the whole scene started whispering those insults. Tears threatened to fall from the edge of her eyes.

She took a deep breath and opened her mouth but Isabella's friends stepped in and pushed her down again.

The constant blows in her stomach knocked the air out of her lungs. She took a deep and long breath. While gasping for air, her body curled in on itself. Afterwards, more blows and slaps were aimed at her.

"Whore," Isabella snapped, standing over there with a victory smile. "You thought you could sleep around my fiance. And then I would let you go so easily."

At that moment, Elizabeth's vision blurred, not from the pain but from disbelief.

How had things turned into this? She came to Rome to help her son to help him bring peace between two warring Mafia families. Now how did she end up in the hands of a jealous woman who wanted nothing but her blood?

"Isabella, there's a misunderstanding. I am not …"

Within seconds, Isabella pressed her shoes on Elizabeth's chest, stopping her. "Misunderstood? I don't want to listen to your lies." She shouted.

"Do you think I'm stupid? I can see through your pathetic games. You are just another whore trying to climb onto his bed."

Elizabeth winced as Isabella pushed her heels onto her ribs. The pain was unbearable but she kept her eyes open as she didn't want to give satisfaction to Isabella.

"You're nobody," Isabella whispered. "Once I am done, even Alessandro will know that it's only me who is worthy of his name."

Elizabeth's heart skipped a beat. A group of women surrounded her. She was terrified as they weren't content with beating her. They wanted to humiliate her, to break her completely.

The world of Mafia families was ruthless, but there was an unspoken rule. You are never allowed to disrespect the mother of a Mafia Boss.

However, even being a daughter of the Mafia Family, Isabella and her friends broke that cardinal rule.

"Rip her dress off," one of her friends said. "Let's show everyone what kind of woman she is."

The laughter and encouragement filled the air. It was chilling. Elizabeth tried to normalize her breath.

The next moment, they grabbed her dress and started tearing the delicate fabric. In no time, the dress which she got specifically designed for her son's engagement banquet ripped off.

Her skin was exposed to the unforgiving stares of the people present there. Instinctively her hand tried to cover her chest but she was too weak to hide it.

Each string of shredded fiber felt like a piece of dignity being stripped away.

"She is nothing but a lowlife mistress," someone mumbled, "Getting what she deserves."

A month ago, when Alessandro showed her, his and Isabella's pictures, Elizabeth was extremely happy.

The delicate and innocent look of Isabella wanted her to protect her. Little did she know that it would be her who would need protection from her.

"I have to make it to the engagement banquet. Alessandro needs to know what kind of woman Isabella is!" She whispered under her breath.

She had no idea about what would happen if her son would have married someone like Isabella.

Amidst that pain and humiliation, Elizabeth forced herself to speak, "Isabella…I am not Alessandro's mistress."

Then Isabella bent down and painfully dug her fingers into Elizabeth's shoulder.

"Oh! You are," She said, "I will make sure that Alessandro will never see your face again."

Afterwards, Isabella took out her phone and positioned it just over Elizabeth's shoulder.

"Let's take some pictures, girls. Let's show the world what kind of woman she is."

Hearing that, Elizabeth felt bile rise in her throat.

Pictures. Isabella wanted to capture her in the most embarrassing situation. Furthermore, she wants to ruin Elizabeth's forever in the mafia world.

She couldn't let that happen. But before she could move, another blow struck her, that time across her face, knocking her back to the ground.

At that moment, Isabella raised her phone and ordered, "Smile for the camera, you pathetic whore!"

But Elizabeth couldn't take it more, every ounce of her strength left. She ended up screaming, "I am Alessandro's mother."