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.

Seeing Adriana lying lifelessly on the floor of the storage room,curled up and pale,the Donna felt fear for the first time.She immediately ordered the household staff to carry her to the Family's private physician.

Thankfully,due to the timely intervention,Adriana's fever subsided.

When Salvatore was summoned to the infirmary,he was startled to the core.He never imagined things would escalate to this extent.Even now,he couldn't quite understand why he had been so furious at the time.

Yet,when he saw the look of resentment on Adriana's face,a chill had run down his spine.His thumb dragged once across his right knuckle,the hand that had once shaken on a promise to her,and he stilled it before anyone could notice.

'She's my sister.How could she look at me like I'm her sworn enemy?'he thought.

Adriana,who had always been meek and eager to please him,circling around him like a lapdog,suddenly declared,"I will never waste another ounce of emotion on a piece of garbage like you,for anything,ever again."

'What gave her the right to say that?'he internally muttered.

The Donna harshly reprimanded Salvatore,her voice low and cutting in the way only a woman who held the bloodline and the name could manage.

Gianna hurried forward,tearfully defending her brother."Big Brother didn't mean it.Besides,it was Sis who made him angry first."Her fingers brushed her collarbone,a small wounded touch,a beat too quick.

"She was upset about being promised to the Morettis and took it out on Big Brother.He's been so distressed these past two days he hasn't even eaten properly."

"Mamma,please don't scold him anymore.If Sis still won't forgive Big Brother,let her take it out on me instead.She can hit me or yell at me.I'll take it."

As she spoke,Gianna began to sob pitifully.

The Donna immediately embraced her younger daughter."Alright,alright.Adriana isn't the type to hold grudges.She'll be fine in a couple of days."Her hand drifted to the heavy mourning ring on her finger,turning it in slow,unconscious circles.

No one noticed that Adriana,lying on the infirmary cot,had already opened her eyes.She watched the scene before her with icy indifference.

The next day,the physician released her.

Although he had advised her to rest two more days,the following day was the Moretti Family's final deadline.There was no negotiating a deadline set by a Family that strong.

The Donna arranged her release.Initially,she planned to collect Adriana herself,but as she was about to leave,Gianna clung to her arm.

"Mamma,you promised to take me to have my gown fitted today.Don't tell me you've forgotten?"Gianna pouted.

"But I also promised Adriana I'd come for her today,"the Donna hesitated.

Knowing Adriana would be handed over to the Morettis the next day,the Donna felt a twinge of guilt.

"But this gown is being made by a designer I worked so hard to find..."Gianna's eyes turned red as she continued,"You always kept your promises to me before.Is it because Sis is back that I've become less important to you?"

"If that's the case,then I'll just go.After all,Sis tried to leave me in the woods back then."Her fingertips touched her collarbone again,quick and practiced.

At the mention of the past,the Donna's expression darkened.She turned the mourning ring once more,then told the driver to collect Adriana later and left with Gianna on her arm.

The Family's driver was a shrewd man who had long read where Adriana stood in the household,which was to say nowhere.After a subtle word from Gianna,he never bothered to drive out that afternoon.

Adriana waited at the infirmary gate for three hours.Finally,with a bitter smile,she muttered to herself in self-mockery,"As expected."

She had already known this would happen.After all,tomorrow she would be delivered to the Morettis,never to return.

As she was about to flag down a cab,a car pulled up in front of her.

Marco stepped out from the driver's seat.When he saw Adriana,he barely recognized her.

In just three days,how had Adriana become so frail?

"Adriana,what happened?Why are you coming out of the infirmary?No wonder I couldn't find you at the Castellano estate,"he said,his voice filled with worry.His thumb turned the Fontaine signet on his finger,around and around.

"Do you know how scared I was when I couldn't find you?I nearly put men on every road in the territory."