Today, several other mafia families had come to headquarters for negotiations and discussions.

Most of the ongoing handover work still needed me to handle it personally.

I led them into the lounge to settle in first.

The moment the group walked in, they immediately noticed Luca and Gianna sitting together on a sofa in the corner.

He was supposedly “feeding” her fruit, but it looked more like flirtatious teasing.

Gianna leaned against the armrest while Luca held a strawberry out to her with a fork.

She turned her head away stubbornly instead of eating it, so Luca leaned closer and whispered something to her. Instantly, Gianna blushed and finally took a bite.

The mafia members from the various families were all professionally trained, so they quickly looked away.

Still, I could hear their whispers drifting into my ears.

“I heard long ago that Don Luca got engaged to Miss Isabella years ago. I didn’t expect them to be so loving.”

“Right?! Did you see that? He fed Miss Isabella with his own hands. Don Luca!”

Yeah. Ever since we got together, I had taken care of everything for him.

I personally served him every meal and ironed every piece of his clothing.

Him, however?

Not only had he stood me up and postponed our wedding, but he was now flirting openly with another woman.

Eventually, the admiring voices around me reached the two of them as well.

The moment Gianna saw me standing at the front of the group, she immediately complained in a spoiled tone.

“Isabella, look at Luca! He keeps forcing me to eat. I’m getting fat because of him!”

Luca didn’t even glance at me. Instead, he gently wiped the corner of Gianna’s lips.

“Be good and eat more fruit. It’s good for your health.”

The discussions around us instantly stopped.

I met everyone’s awkward gazes and maintained my smile as I guided them to their seats.

After arranging everyone properly, I took out my phone and continued organizing my plans for leaving the country.

At some point, Luca appeared behind me.

When he saw my screen, his brows immediately furrowed in confusion.

He asked coldly, “Leaving the country? Who are you arranging that for?”

Before I could think of an answer, he suddenly grabbed my hand. His voice overflowed with shock.

“Isabella, where’s your ring?! Don’t tell me you accidentally left it at home!”

I knew why he reacted that way.

For the entire eight years of our engagement, my ring had never once left my finger.

His own ring, on the other hand, had never once appeared in public.

When he saw my expressionless face, a flicker of unease clearly passed through his eyes.

He gripped my hand tightly and stared directly at me.

“Answer me!”

I was planning to tell him the truth.

However, at that moment, Gianna suddenly let out a scream.

“Ah! It hurts so much, Luca…”

Everyone immediately turned toward the sound.

Gianna had fallen on the stairs, and there was a bleeding cut across her open palm.

Luca shoved me aside and immediately rushed over to pull her into his arms.

“My God, how were you this careless?!”

Tears streamed down Gianna’s face as she hid in Luca’s arms. Then she glanced toward me several times, looking frightened and wronged.

“I don’t know either… Isabella should’ve checked everything last night… I really don’t understand why there would be such a large piece of broken glass here… Luca, it hurts so much…”

Luca’s gaze landed on the bloodstained glass shards scattered across the floor, and anger immediately appeared on his face.

The next second, he turned toward me and roared furiously.

“Isabella, have your schemes really gotten so vicious that you’re hurting people now?!

“Get over here and apologize right now!”

Ignoring the contemptuous looks everyone else was throwing at me, I walked over to them.

“I didn’t do it.”

“Who else could it have been? Everyone knows how controlling you are. Haven’t you always personally handled and inspected all family affairs yourself?!”

Luca stared into my eyes and lowered his voice. “You’re truly disgusting.”

Then he turned to the men beside him.

“Teach her a lesson.”

Right after speaking, he raised his gun and fired at the glass nearby without hesitation.

The glass exploded instantly.

A sharp shard scraped across my cheek, and warm blood immediately slid down my jawline and into my collar.

Luca held the frightened Gianna tightly in his arms.

For the first time, I saw nothing in his eyes except cold disgust. There was no room for forgiveness.

The entire room fell silent.

I raised my hand and pressed against the bleeding wound, my fingertips smearing red.

I looked at Gianna, who was curled up in Luca’s arms while secretly peeking at me ‌over his shoulder.

Suddenly, all the years I had spent holding on felt like a ridiculous joke.

I didn’t apologize, nor did I defend myself.

I simply wiped the blood from my face and looked directly at Luca.

“If you’ve already decided it was me, then there’s no point in anything I say. How do you plan to punish me?”

Luca’s breathing suddenly faltered. His brows tightened further, and he opened his mouth as if he wanted to speak.

However, Gianna whimpered softly in his arms and shrank closer to him, and he immediately swallowed his words back down.

Grinding his teeth, he ordered the men beside him, “Force her hand onto the glass.”

The two bodyguards hesitated before stepping forward and grabbing my arms.

I didn’t struggle and simply allowed them to drag my hand down onto the shattered glass scattered across the floor.

Both of my hands were instantly covered in blood as countless shards embedded themselves into my flesh.

“You need to learn! Clean this place up with your own hands, and nobody is allowed to help her!

“I’ll wait for you to reflect on your mistakes. You can come apologize when you’ve figured things out!”

His voice wasn’t loud, but everyone in the lounge could hear him clearly.

Dozens of eyes were fixed on me.

Some looked pleased by my humiliation, while others turned away, unable to keep watching.

Gianna stood behind Luca, covering her eyes as her voice trembled.

“Luca… isn’t this too much…”

Luca didn’t look at her. He only stared at me.

“If this place isn’t cleaned properly, you can deal with the consequences yourself.”

After saying that, he picked Gianna up in his arms and left without looking back.

Gradually, the crowd dispersed.

My eyes burned uncontrollably, and my vision slowly blurred.

Tears fell one by one onto the shattered glass beneath me.

My wounds hurt terribly, but the pain in my chest was even worse, so painful I could barely breathe.

When I lifted my hand to wipe my tears away, my gaze accidentally landed on the Cupid statue beside the fountain.

Luca had specifically taken it to a church for a priest’s blessing when he proposed to me.

It still looked just as intact as before.

However, I knew some things had already shattered.

After finishing the cleanup, I went to treat the wounds on my hands.

As I passed a corner in the hallway, I vaguely overheard two family elders speaking in low voices.

“Don Luca went too far today. Isabella is still his fiancée, after all.”

“Haven’t you noticed? Don Luca no longer wants to go through with this marriage. That girl… Gianna has been receiving a lot of his favor lately. Isabella has neither family backing nor Don Luca’s affection anymore. I doubt this wedding will happen.”

I stopped walking and leaned against the cold wall, suddenly feeling incredibly foolish.

Actually, the ending had already been written long ago, in the endlessly postponed weddings and every illness he ignored.

I had only been clinging to those pitiful old feelings, deceiving myself for eight whole years.

I quietly sniffed back my emotions and didn’t go in to greet them. Instead, I silently walked away.

When I passed through the main hall, Luca was entertaining guests while holding Gianna’s hand.

Luca looked confident and charismatic as he moved through the crowd with Gianna at his side, looking almost like a married couple.

Not long ago, I had accidentally overheard someone asking him, “Isabella worked herself to exhaustion as your secretary for so many years. She’s both your partner and your fiancée. Why don’t you let her be your date for the gala?”

Back then, Luca had answered with clear disdain.

“She comes from an ordinary background and has never attended any high-end events. Wouldn’t bringing her along just embarrass me?”

My thoughts returned to the present.

Gianna stood beside Luca on stage, smiling brightly.

Under the lights, the two of them really did look well-matched.

At that moment, my phone notification suddenly rang. My travel approval had officially gone through.

Halfway through packing my luggage at home, Luca returned.

He tossed a half-used bottle of brown antiseptic solution toward me.

“Here. Brought you some medicine.”

I picked up the bottle.

It was the exact bottle I had seen Gianna privately showing off to her friends, saying proudly, “Luca personally treated my wound for me.”

However, I was allergic to iodine.

Back when Luca was eighteen and had just started getting involved in family affairs, his talent and leadership had already made him stand out among everyone else.

Some members of rival mafia families had grown jealous because of it and deliberately hired people to cripple his hand.

Back then, I had risked my life and stood in front of Luca to protect him.

Although I had only suffered minor injuries, the family doctor accidentally used iodine to disinfect my wound.

I went into anaphylactic shock immediately and was rushed to the hospital. The surgery lasted almost an entire day and night before they finally saved me.

I heard from others that while I was in critical condition, Luca stayed outside the operating room the entire night. They said his eyes had been frighteningly red.

Later, when we returned home, Luca had flown into a rage. He threw away every bottle of iodine in the family estate and even established a rule banning it completely.

But now, he himself had broken that rule.

Lowering my gaze, I tossed the bottle into the trash can.

When Luca saw that, he merely let out an indifferent scoff. “Use it or don’t.”

Just then, Gianna called him.

The moment he answered, his expression softened again as he spoke gently into the phone.

“Baby, remember not to let the wound touch water. And watch what you eat for now. Once you recover, I’ll take you out for something good.”

Perhaps because he found my silence strange, Luca glanced at me several times from the corner of his eye.

Finally, he couldn’t help speaking first.

“What happened today was only meant as a warning to others. You know how many dirty things happen within the family.

“Punishing you like that was to warn everyone else. And the reason I’m caring for Gianna now is also so people won’t gossip about you.”

I nodded without arguing or explaining anymore. “I understand.”

Luca visibly froze.

A strange feeling slowly spread through his chest.

He looked like he still wanted to say something else, but by then, I had already walked into the bathroom to pack some toiletries.

In the most visible corner of the bathroom counter sat a lace panty that didn’t belong to me.

At the same time, Gianna’s voice message played through Luca’s phone outside the door.

“Luca, I think I accidentally left my underwear in your bathroom this morning when I was getting ready… It’s my favorite pair. Can you bring it back to me? Also, I really loved the suit you wore today. Wear it only for me from now on?”

So that was why Luca had worn the white suit he usually never touched. It was because Gianna liked it.

He really did listen to her.

While listening to the voice message, Luca hurried toward the bathroom.

The moment he walked in, he saw me standing there beside the underwear.

His gaze shifted awkwardly.

“Gianna wasn’t comfortable earlier, so I let her come here to clean up and change.”

“Okay.”

I didn’t react much. I simply stepped aside for him.

Luca packed the underwear away and was about to leave when he suddenly stopped.

“If this is going to make you overthink things, I just won’t bring it to her for now.”

I waved my hand casually to show I didn’t care.

Luca hesitated for a moment, but then Gianna called again to urge him.

After hanging up, Luca said to me, “I’ll come back after I deliver this. You should prepare too. Tomorrow, we’re going to the church for the wedding.”

With that, he left in a hurry.

Once I finished packing everything, I took one last look at the home I had lived in for so many years.

Right then, a text from Luca came through.

[Something came up unexpectedly, and I can’t make it back. Tomorrow’s wedding is postponed.]

Looking at the message, I actually laughed.

This was already the ninety-ninth canceled wedding.

I didn’t reply.

Instead, I picked up the packed suitcase and closed the door to the home I had lived in for eight years.

As the car drove out through the gates, I turned back for one final glance.

The entire estate was lush and beautiful, yet not a single piece of land had ever truly belonged to me.

I once thought this place was my home, having spent eight years of my youth helping Luca manage everything around him.

I had blocked assassination attempts for him, cleaned up his messes for him, and helped turn him from an inexperienced young man into a feared mafia don.

But in the end, I was nothing more than an outsider staying here temporarily.

Not long after the car drove away, Luca called me.

I watched the screen light up and darken without answering.

Then another text came through, carrying his usual unquestionable certainty.

[Once I’m done handling this situation, we’ll have the wedding. I promise. Just wait for me a little longer, okay?]

I stared at the message for half a minute before blocking his number and deleting every way he could contact me.

As the plane took off, I watched the city slowly disappear beneath the clouds.

I touched the scar on my face that hadn’t fully faded, then looked down at the bandages wrapped around my hands.

There was no reluctance, only relief.

Ninety-nine canceled weddings were enough.

This time, I wasn’t waiting anymore.

I was going somewhere that truly belonged to me, where I could finally live my own life.