Betty's slap made my head ring.

The pack she'd brought with her closed in, hurling insults nonstop.

"You filthy bitch! Bottom-feeding trash! Too lazy to work, so you open your legs instead?"

"That's right! You think you can steal my best friend's man and walk away? We're fixing that today!"

Neighbors from the surrounding villas heard the noise and gathered outside, hungry for a show.

I tried to reason with her. "You're Betty, right? You've made a mistake. I'm not the woman you're looking for."

I remembered Lucas calling her gentle—his true love. Maybe something set her off, made her jump to conclusions. For his sake, I swallowed my rage and kept my tone even.

But it only made her bolder.

"You've got the nerve to fuck a taken man, but not the spine to own it?" she shrieked. "I saw the cozy picture you posted with my boyfriend!"

Then it clicked.

The "other woman" she was screaming about… was me.

All over one photo with my own brother after years apart.

I stared at her, cold. "You're mistaken. I'm Lucas's sister. Not some side piece. Do your homework next time."

Betty looked me up and down like I was dirt.

"Sister? Don't make me laugh. Lucas's sister is a Donna. She's powerful, connected, and untouchable. You think you can compare? Trash like you survives on its back."

I decided to take that as a compliment on my looks. Otherwise, I'd have already ended her.

But none of her story was true. I never threatened her, never contacted her. It was clear she wasn't the sweet angel Lucas believed.

My voice turned to ice. "If you don't believe me, call Lucas. Ask him yourself."

I didn't expect those calm words to push her over the edge.

"You worthless slut! Who are you to tell me to call my own man?!"

Her eyes landed on the expensive necklace around my neck, and something vicious lit up her face.

"I get it now. You knew Lucas comes from money—that he's the heir—so you spread your legs for the gifts."

She ripped the necklace off and shouted to her pack, "Girls! Destroy everything this whore got from selling herself!"

Then, Betty lost it. Her friends split—some holding me down, others tearing through my home, smashing whatever they saw.

"Chat! Give us ideas and hit like! Whatever you want broken, we break it!"

The livestream blew up. Comments flooded, donations rolling in.

Drunk on the chaos, Betty and her crew went feral.

Jewelry, vases, antiques—shattered.

My couture, my bags—slashed to ribbons.

I watched my home being destroyed, and regret twisted like a knife in my gut.

All because of one foolish choice before coming home—I'd left my soldati behind to keep a low profile.

I glared at the pack of hyenas tearing through my life.

"I don't care who you think I am. Breaking in, destroying my property—you have no idea what you've just started."

Betty let out a cold, sharp laugh and hit me again.

"Still putting on airs? Let me spell it out for you—I am the future Donna of the Gambino family! My man's sister is handing him the whole organization! I can crush a bottom-feeding whore like you whenever I want!"

"Betty—"

Before she could finish, one of her girls came rushing out of my bedroom, her face pale.

"Betty! Look what we found in her drawer!"

She was holding a ring.

My ring.

The family ring passed down from my parents—the symbol of the head of the Gambino family.

The moment Betty saw it, all the blood drained from her face.

"The Gambino ring?" Betty stared at it, her hands starting to shake. Then, just as quick, her face hardened back into pure spite.

"You scheming bitch! What did you do to make my fiancé give you the family's heirloom?!"

She raised her hand, ready to slam it against the marble floor.

"Don't you dare!"

That ring was the last thing my father ever placed in my palm. With Lucas too young, I took the reins of the family first. This ring was meant to be passed on to the future Donna, once my brother came of age.

No one—absolutely no one—was allowed to destroy the last piece of my parents.

I shoved the girls off me, surging forward to stop her.

Betty just arched a brow, a cruel smirk twisting her lips.

"Oh, you want it? Then I'm definitely breaking it."

She hurled the ring to the floor and brought her heel down with all her weight.

A sickening crack echoed through the room. The band snapped. The stone split clean in two.

"NO!"

My vision went red. I watched her stare at the wreckage with triumph, and something inside me shattered.

"That is the Gambino family ring! Do you have any idea what Lucas will do to you?!"

Betty laughed right in my face.

"You're pathetic. You think just because Lucas gave you some trinket, it means anything? He's obsessed with me. You're just his distraction.

"I could put a bullet in you, and he'd still choose me. Besides, that ring should have been mine all along. If I want to break it, I break it."

"You vicious cagna!" My control snapped. My hand shot out and cracked across her cheek.

"You dared to hit me?!" Clutching her face in shock, Betty screamed to her pack, "Tie this whore up!"

Before I could move, they had me from behind, my wrists bound. Their fists and kicks landed without mercy. I felt the bruises bloom across my skin.

As I writhed on the floor, Betty turned to her livestream, her voice trembling with fake tears.

"Everyone, look at this mistress! I'm the one who's been wronged, and she attacks me! Someone needs to teach her a lesson!"

The chat exploded, a waterfall of support for Betty. Her followers skyrocketed. Donations chimed nonstop.

Reading the flood of comments, Betty's eyes lit up.

"A ten-thousand-dollar superchat!"

She looked down at my bruised, bound body and grinned, all malice.

"You wanna see this slut with nothing on?"

"Girls—strip her."

I fought like a wild thing, but they were too many. They tore at my clothes until I was down to my underwear.

"One million likes, and we finish the job! Only a hundred thousand to go!"

Betty shoved her phone in my face, forcing me to watch the likes climb.

"One hundred thousand… ninety… eighty-two… Not bad, puttana. You really pull the viewers."

In the blur of the chat, one username flashed: LucasGambino.

"Betty, have you lost your mind?! That's my SISTER! LET HER GO!"

But his message vanished, swallowed instantly by the scrolling chaos. Betty never saw it, her eyes glued to the like counter.

When it finally ticked past one million, the stream went insane.

Betty's smile was a slash of victory. She grabbed my chin, forcing my head up.

"This is what happens when you touch what's mine. After your big debut, enjoy your new life in the gutter."

One of her friends lifted a pair of shears, the cold blade sliding under my bra strap.

I shut my eyes.

BOOM!

The front door exploded inward, splintering off its hinges.

"BITCH! GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER!"

My brother, Lucas, stormed into the wreckage of my home.