"Don't worry,it's a very small request.You'll definitely agree,"Adriana said flatly.

Salvatore was about to retort,but the Donna silenced him with a look.

Her health had long been failing,yet the entire Castellano Family had risen from the bloodline her own parents built.Even now,every child of the house carried her name,not her husband's.So her word still landed heavier in that room than Vito Romano's ever could,married in as he was.

Looking at the daughter who had grown so unfamiliar to her,the Donna felt a pang of bitterness in her heart.Her thumb moved slow against the heavy mourning ring on her finger,turning it once,twice.

She drew a deep breath."As long as you're willing to go in Gianna's place,I'll give you whatever you ask for."

Hearing it,Adriana scoffed inside.So all these years,the family love she had so desperately sought had been nothing but a cruel joke.

She bit her lip,said nothing more,and quietly left the room.

Gianna had been successfully pulled back from the edge.

For a short while the room filled with sobs and soft words of comfort.

Even Romano,who carried himself with the cold composure of a man who'd clawed up from the streets,hurried to Gianna's bedroom the moment the last guests had been seen out,his face thick with concern for his beloved youngest.

When he crossed paths with Adriana at the corner of the hall,he did not spare her a single glance.

Caught off guard,Adriana lost her balance and fell to the floor.Her ankle swelled fast.

The night air off the estate grounds stung her skin,and she couldn't help but draw a sharp breath.

"Adriana,are you alright?"

Marco appeared in front of her without warning,reaching down to help her up.

As he leaned in,she caught the faint scent of gardenia on him.Gianna's perfume.

Gardenias had once been her favorite.Marco used to go out of his way to find her every kind of gardenia-themed gift.But not long after Gianna was brought into the Family,every one of those gifts had been broken under one excuse or another.

When Adriana had confronted her over it,Marco had stepped between them."Gianna didn't mean it.In the end they were just trinkets.If you like,I'll get you more."

She had believed him then.Nothing else ever came.

Instead,only weeks ago,Gianna had waved a bottle of gardenia perfume under her nose."Adriana,you're so useless.Your own blood doesn't want you,and now not even your betrothed wants you."

Adriana felt a pang in her chest and stepped back,forcing herself upright without Marco's hand.

His hand hung awkwardly in the air.His face soured."Adriana,I know you're upset about going to the Morettis in Gianna's place.But I've already promised to marry you.What more do you want?"

"Gianna is your sister.What's wrong with helping her?Do you have to be so small about it?"

The anger rose in her and she couldn't hold it down.Her voice turned sharp."Being forced to stand in as the scapegoat and take her punishment.Am I supposed to be grateful for that?"

Marco's voice climbed to meet hers."Gianna didn't do it on purpose.And besides,it's just a visit to the Moretti house.What's the big deal?"

"If it's no big deal,then why can't Gianna go herself?"Adriana shot back.

Marco fell silent,his face darkening.His thumb worried the Fontaine signet on his finger,around and around,the token of a pact made before either of them was grown."You're being unreasonable.There's no point talking to you."

In the end,Adriana went back to her room alone.

Calling it a room was generous.It was worse than where the help slept.

Against Gianna's bright,spacious princess suite,hers was a stark thing.A damp,lightless basement walled in bare cement,no windows.The bathroom sat so far off that every night she carried a flashlight and crossed a long,unlit corridor just to relieve herself,nerves drawn tight the whole way.

Because her swollen ankle hurt so much,Adriana walked slowly all the way back to the narrow cot in the basement,the floor above her head creaking with the footsteps of men who never came down here,and only then did she finally wipe away all the tears from her face.

In the dim light,Adriana carefully packed up everything in her room.

When she was done,she realized just how little she owned:a few pieces of clothing,a handful of books,a bloodline portrait,and a necklace.

The portrait was taken before Gianna came to live with the Family.Her parents had brought her and Salvatore out to a field of sunflowers,far from the estate's iron gates,for the photo.In it,Adriana's small figure nestled in her mother's arms,her tiny hands tightly wrapped around the Donna's neck,radiating deep attachment.

Her father,the man who had married into the Castellano name and never owned it,stood to the side with his usual stern expression.Salvatore,however,smiled with arched brows,posing like a knight protecting her.His right hand,half-hidden,was cheekily tugging at the corner of her dress.

It was the only thing Adriana had taken with her when she was banished to the distant outpost.

For years,this portrait had been her token,the proof she clung to in order to convince herself that her parents and her brother still loved her.Someday,they would be a happy famiglia again,just like in that picture.

But now,that dream was utterly shattered.

Adriana took the portrait out of its frame,ripped it into tiny pieces,and tossed them into the trash.

As for the necklace,it was a gift from Marco.A small,unremarkable trinket from a market stall in some forgotten village.The pearl had long since faded,and the chain was tarnished and dull.Yet Adriana had treasured it like a precious heirloom.

She held onto it because when Marco gave it to her,he had declared with unwavering conviction,"This is our pact token.Adriana,wait for me.I promise to make you the happiest bride in the world!"

Perhaps because the necklace was so old and cheap,it was the only thing that Gianna hadn't bothered to destroy.But now,Adriana didn't want it anymore.

She slipped the necklace into her pocket,thinking that no matter how worthless it was,it was still a gift from Marco.Since she didn't want it anymore,she should at least return it to him before she left.

With that thought in mind,Adriana fell into a restless sleep.

When she woke up,Salvatore's furious face was looming over her."Adriana,you did this on purpose,didn't you?"

Her leg had throbbed all night,leaving her with a splitting headache.She had no energy to deal with him.

Her silence only fueled Salvatore's anger.He grabbed her and dragged her out of bed,hauling her up the stairs and all the way to the dining hall.

Once he roughly threw her to the floor,he shouted again,"Look at what you've done!"

Adriana glanced at the empty dining table,the long mahogany expanse where the Family took its meals,utterly baffled as to what he was so enraged about.

Just then,Gianna walked in wearing a pretty princess dress,covering her mouth in mock surprise."Sis,why didn't you make breakfast for us?"

Ah,so that was it.Adriana thought.

In the past,Adriana had bent over backward to earn her place in the Castellano household.She had carefully studied everyone's preferences,waking three hours before dawn every morning to prepare breakfast for them.

But today,she hadn't done it.

Gianna pouted,pretending to be upset,her fingers brushing her collarbone a beat too soon."But I love the breakfast that sister makes the most."

While comforting Gianna,Salvatore turned his fury back on Adriana."You know perfectly well that Gianna loves the breakfast you make,yet you deliberately didn't cook today.How could you be so cruel?"

So it was all about breakfast.Something entirely inconsequential to anyone in this house,anyone who held a name and a seat at that table.

Adriana couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh?But in five days,no,four now,I'll be handed over to the Morettis to settle the Family's debt in blood.Will you drag me back from there just to cook your breakfast?"Adriana said,her voice flat as the underworld's coldest pact.

At that instant,the dining hall fell into a sudden,oppressive silence.Even the help froze near the sideboard,eyes lowered,hands folding into aprons as if to bury what they'd heard.

After a moment,it was Gianna who broke the quiet,her voice trembling as she sniffled."Sis,you're not skipping breakfast because of the Moretti thing,are you?If that's the case,then I'll go and take the punishment instead!"Her fingers fluttered to her collarbone,a touch of wounded innocence delivered a beat too soon,before the room had even decided to blame anyone.

With that,she turned to run for the door.

Salvatore caught her,pulling her into a comforting embrace."If someone has to die under the Moretti roof,it should be Adriana.How could it ever be you?"

The moment the words left his mouth,Salvatore froze,stunned at his own cruelty.His thumb worried at his right knuckle,the hand that had once shaken on a promise to his sister.

She's my blood too,he muttered inwardly.

Instantly,Adriana's eyes turned ice-cold,as if looking at a sworn enemy."Salvatore,I will never waste another ounce of emotion on someone as vile as you for the rest of my life."

Her words shattered the fleeting guilt in Salvatore's heart.His face twisted in anger."Fine.Adriana,you're really something."

He grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the storage room off the kitchen,slamming the heavy door shut.

Before locking it,Salvatore spat out his final words,his voice trembling with rage."Adriana,you can stay there until you come to your senses and agree to make breakfast.If not,then rot in there for all I care."

With that,he turned and left,taking Gianna with him.Before going,he gave the household staff their orders in the clipped tone of a made man who expected obedience."Don't let her out until she admits she was wrong and cooks breakfast."

What Salvatore didn't know was that Adriana was already running a high fever.

Her sprained ankle,untreated from the night before,had swollen grotesquely.On top of that,her skin had scraped against the rough floor as she was dragged,leaving raw,bleeding wounds.

The searing pain on her scalp from having her hair yanked was now the least of her worries.

At first,Adriana banged on the door and screamed for help.But before long,her strength gave out,and she collapsed unconscious.

The household staff,following orders,ignored her silence.The door stayed shut.In a house ruled by omertà,even the help knew that hearing nothing was the safest thing to hear.

It wasn't until the Donna casually asked after her that the truth came to light.

Since losing her youngest heir,the Donna had suffered from chronic headaches,which had only worsened over the years.But things had slightly improved after Adriana returned from her ten years of exile in the remote outpost.

Although Adriana stayed cautious and distant within the Castellano estate,the Donna had noticed her daughter often stealing glances at her.

When Adriana discovered her mother's headaches,she began secretly learning massage techniques during her spare hours.Without anyone to teach her,she studied what tutorials she could find on her own.

She filled four or five notebooks with detailed notes and practiced late into the night for two months straight.

To make certain her skills would work,she tested the techniques on herself again and again before shyly offering that she might ease her mother's pain.

Looking at the daughter she had barely raised,the Donna couldn't bring herself to refuse,and reluctantly agreed.

By sheer luck,Adriana's massages actually eased her mother's headaches.

When she saw her mother's furrowed brow relax,Adriana's joy was beyond words.

From that day on,she faithfully tended to her mother every evening.

But two days had passed without Adriana appearing.

Suspicious,the Donna turned the heavy mourning ring slowly on her finger,then sent someone to find her.

They found Adriana locked in the storage room,her entire body burning with fever.By the time they carried her out,her breathing was faint and uneven,as if she were clinging to life by a thread.