Once They Chose Her, I Chose Myself

On the night my family got wiped out, someone had hidden me behind the barrels inside the wine cellar.

The gunshots kept going off the entire night outside the cellar. I could only curl up between the barrels while listening to unfamiliar voices cursing in Etarino. All I could do was gnash my teeth together in order to not make any sounds.

At the break of dawn, the wine cellar's door was opened from the outside. Two people could be seen standing in front of the pouring light.

The first person was Antonio Corleone, a 15-year-old teenager who was also the oldest son of the Corleone family. He was still holding a gun, which had smoke wafting from its barrel.

The second person was Matteo Corleone, Antonio's younger brother. His clothes were stained with blood that didn't belong to him.

Antonio crouched down before draping a coat over my body.

"Don't be scared, Elena," he said. "From today onward, I'm your family."

Matteo squeezed Antonio away before stuffing a warm slice of panettone into my hands. With red-rimmed eyes, he said, "My brother is right. I'll kill whoever has the guts to hurt you."

It was Christmas Day of 1999. Back then, I was ten years old.

For the next 20 years, I grew up in the estate located in Vosaro and became an essential part of the Corleone family. At the same time, I also grew up to be the woman both Antonio and Matteo have a crush on.

The entire family has noticed their obsession and love for me.

Antonio and Matteo help me exact vengeance on the people who killed my family. They even buy a football team and name it after me.

Everyone thinks that the brothers are head over heels in love with me. They patiently wait for the news when one of them will marry me.

Even I also think the same.

But on the night before my 30th birthday, when Don Corleone asks the brothers who among them wishes to marry me, Antonio snuffs out the cigar in a crystal ashtray.

"Father, you should know that I'm terribly busy with the family's affairs, so I have no time to marry anyone."

Matteo swirls the whiskey in his glass while wearing a flippant smile. "Father, I'm only 33 years old, and I'm not done having fun just yet. Besides, marrying Elena is just a joking promise that I've made when I was young. I'm not going to follow through with it."

The next day, the brothers decide to propose to my enemy's daughter, Sophia Volpe, at my birthday banquet which I have painstakingly prepared. They even force me to drink the entire bottle of grappa despite the fact that I've been suffering from stomach issues for ten years just to please Sophia.

When I get carted into the ambulance after suffering from stomach bleeding, Antonio and Matteo immediately cover Sophia's eyes with their hands while claiming that I'm just faking my illness.

The moment I feel blood rising from my throat, I've made up my mind.

On the day I'm set to get discharged, I dial a phone number. "I will get married to the heir of the Rossi family."

The wind sweeping through New Catella in early March still carried the biting cold from the Alantico Ocean.

My surgery had just ended. My phone started ringing when I stepped out of the hospital.

Antonio Corleone's voice echoed from the receiver. He didn't ask about my condition. Instead, he immediately started interrogating me.

"Where the hell are you, Elena Zanelli? Do you think that you can shirk your responsibilities by pulling a disappearing act? Come back right now and apologize to Sophia."

I could hear Matteo Corleone's voice in the background.

"You made Sophia cry for the whole night by pretending to be sick. She grew up in the slums, and she has a weak constitution. She couldn't stomach any food for the last few days because of you."

I stood on the steps outside the hospital. I lowered my head and looked at my reflection on the glass door.

I was currently 91 pounds, having lost eight pounds after being hospitalized. My complexion was pallid, and I was extremely thin, reminiscent of a walking skeleton.

The scar from my stomach surgery a decade ago throbbed slightly.

For the past few years, Antonio and Matteo had made my meals their top priority. I had to eat on time every day, and the ingredients had to be fresh. I was also not allowed to consume any alcohol.

I remembered being ambushed during a discussion at Vosaro's pier on a winter day.

Antonio had run three blocks while carrying me because my old stomach injury started acting up. He had then personally rushed me to the emergency room.

Meanwhile, Matteo led his men to abduct all the underground doctors in Vosaro to the hospital, forcing them to treat me.

"Elena's life is worth more than the lives of everyone here," he had said.

At the time, I truly believed that no one else in the world cared for me more than the Corleone brothers.

However, everything changed when Sophia Volpe showed up.

Sophia was the daughter of the man who killed Papa. She had big, innocent eyes that suggested she could do no wrong. In the span of six months, she managed to snatch the things that supposedly belonged to me because I wasn't brave enough to voice out my desires for the past two decades.

I hung up and called Mamma.

"I've made up my mind, Mamma. I'll marry into the Rossi family."

It was silent on the other end of the line for a few seconds.

"This is a big decision to make, Elena," Mamma said softly. "Are you sure?"

Papa was murdered two decades ago, leading to the annihilation of the Zanelli family.

Mamma had hidden me in her best friend, as well as Antonio and Matteo's mother, Maria Fortino's car. She sent me out of the city while she stayed behind to deal with the assassins. She then spent the last two decades building a small empire in Las Mirabella.

Last year, she finally established a relationship with the Rossi family, a family that was older and more powerful than the Corleones.

However, compared to restoring the Zanelli family's glory, Mamma was more concerned about my happiness.

Although the lady of the Rossi family, Gloria Trentini, immediately decided she wanted me to be her daughter-in-law, Mamma had left the decision to me.

In the past, the thing I cherished the most was the relationships that I shared with Antonio and Matteo. It was why I had hesitated to make my choice between them for so long.

However, at that moment, I finally understood that I had been just a toy for them to pass the time with over the last two decades.

Just then, Sophia uploaded a new post to her Instagram.

She was sitting on my couch in the photo, showing off two different diamond rings that sparkled brilliantly on her fingers. She was wearing a tailored suit and glass heels.

I recognized her outfit to be the same one that Antonio and Matteo had specially ordered for my birthday half a year ago.

The caption that she attached to the photo read, "This is true love. Only an old hag would scheme to seduce men."

I blocked her before saying, "I'm being serious, Mamma. I want a child. The doctor said that my injuries are quite severe this time. If I don't have a child soon, I might lose my chance for the rest of my life."

I wasn't young anymore. I didn't have much time left.

"Va bene," Mamma said, her voice turning firm. "Mrs. Rossi has already set a date. She wants to meet you next Wednesday. I'll handle the rest if you return."

She paused before continuing, "Remember to give Mrs. Corleone a proper goodbye, Elena."

"Va bene."

I looked up at the cloudy Mellino sky.

The doctor had said that I needed to rest for a week after the surgery.

I would use these seven days to bid a proper farewell to the last two decades.