Last year, I missed my son's family day due to an asthma attack. Unfortunately, his whole class mocked him for days because of it, which shattered whatever fragile bond we had.

That was why, even after hearing those heartbreaking words from him, I still got up early the next day and dressed up. I wanted to mend the relationship with my son.

However, I had just stepped out of the room into the living room to see Lorenzo excitedly running into Sofia's arms, while Raffaello smiled at them from the side, as if they were a real family.

A moment later, Raffaello noticed me. When he saw how stunned I was, he said coldly, "You always pretend to be sick. Who knows if you'll have an asthma attack again and can't make it? I don't want my son to be ostracized in school just because he doesn't have a mother, so I got Sofia to come and help."

He added, as if granting charity, "Fine. Since you want to come along, we'll go together."

Seeing how crestfallen I was, Sofia came over with Lorenzo in her arms, saying, "Grace, did my appearance upset you? Raffaello, why don't I leave? I don't want to come in between your family…"

Lorenzo was instantly displeased. He held onto her tightly as if worried she was going to run away.

Then, he turned and glared at me. "There's a talent showcase today. I signed up ages ago, and Sofia will accompany me on the piano. You can't play the piano; you're terrible at singing. If you start singing, everyone will mock me for having a monster as a mother!"

Then, Lorenzo took Sofia's hand and led her to the garage, leaving me behind.

So, this was the truth. They never planned to include me all along.

Holding back the stinging in my eyes, I quietly followed them.

For the entire day, Lorenzo stuck with Sofia, avoiding me like the plague. I had no choice but to watch them play games and go on stage together.

During the award ceremony, Raffaello passed his phone to me, saying, "The teacher wants a photo of us hanging on the school corridors. Take a few photos of us. Seems like bringing you here today wasn't completely useless after all."

The other parents, unaware of anything, looked at me and sighed in awe.

"Are you their nanny? The employers you work for have such a great relationship. Watching them play games together today, honestly–one of the most harmonious couples I've seen.

"You must be proud and happy to work for such a family. They even brought you along to family day."

I replied with an ugly smile while taking photos of them on stage. Seeing them holding the trophy together, beaming at each other, my heart quietly shattered into pieces.

Returning home that night, I was unusually quiet. I did not light the incense for them.

After their near-death experience, both of them often had nightmares and slept badly. I had gone to a priest to ask for a calming incense formula.

I lit the incense every night, which stopped them from having nightmares.

What they did not know was that one of the ingredients of the incense was the blood from the tip of the tongue of the person who loved them the most.

Every night when I lit the incense, I had to cut my tongue to get the blood out.

Even if it hurt like mad, even if I knew that this would have hurt my already damaged vocal cords even more, I still did it without any hesitation.

They had never noticed that my tongue had been covered in scars.

At night, when it was almost bedtime, Raffaello noticed that I had not moved, so he asked, feeling odd, "Are you not going to light the incense tonight?"

I nodded, but said nothing.

Lorenzo, next to us, said in disgust, "Your incense stinks like hell! I really don't know how you could have such terrible taste. You should've stopped it a long time ago."

My heart turned cold as I saw them heading to bed.

I muttered to myself, "I won't light the incense tonight. I won't do it at all, not anymore."

No one was worth taking care of in this family anymore.

I woke up the next morning to see Sofia wearing an apron, busy cooking in the kitchen.

When she saw me, she excitedly tried to hold my hand. "Grace, I know that you don't like me to be close to your son, but in the days when you weren't there to care for them, I've always been by his side."

She added, "I'm not asking you to accept me. I just ask that you don't stop me from seeing him, okay?"

She had tears down her face, but her eyes were gleaming triumphantly.

All of a sudden, as the sound of the lock clicked and the door opened, Sofia yelped, "Ahh!

"I was really trying to apologize to you, Grace! I get it if you don't forgive me, but did you have to shove me like that?"

Sofia fell to the table, sweeping the entire table of dishes to the floor. Shards of plates and food were scattered all across the dining room.

Raffaello rushed over and helped Sofia up. "Grace! When you were out and about with other men instead of looking after our son and me, it was Sofia who looked after us! She's our savior. How could you torment her like this?!"

He shoved me to the ground, and I fell among the broken shards. My arms were instantly cut as blood spilled across the wool rug.

"Ahh! I didn't–"

I gasped and tried to explain myself when he flipped the entire table. "Enough! I don't want to listen to your excuses."

The table hit my back hard, and I felt as if my back was about to break. It hurt so badly that I almost passed out.

Raffaello said icily, "I've given in too much to your whims. You'll kneel and clean this up today! Don't you dare get up until you finish cleaning this entire place!"

While putting on her act, Sofia had been accidentally burned by the food. The back of her hand had a red patch, so Raffaello picked her up and rushed her to the hospital.

My injuries were a thousand times more serious than hers, but Raffaello could not see it at all.

After he left, Lorenzo picked up one of the shards and flung it at me. "You evil woman! If you ever hurt Sofia again, I'll get Daddy to divorce you and kick you out!"

The shard ran down my cheek, drawing a long gash. Compared to the cut on my face, my son's cutting words hurt far worse.

I began to heave as my lung spasmed in waves. I fell to the ground, struggling. My limbs started to go numb as I could not get enough air into my body.

Desperately, I fumbled through my pockets for the emergency inhaler.

Nothing.

"Looking for this?" Lorenzo's foot was on the small bottle that must have rolled away at some point.

The next second, he snickered and kicked it further away from me. I could not grab it no matter how I reached it.

"Daddy was right–you just like to pretend to be sick to gain sympathy. Let's see if you'll die here today."

Then, he entered his room and closed the door.

Tears streamed down my face, into my mouth. It tasted bitter.

I had no choice but to crawl through the shards with difficulty to get to the inhaler.

When I finally got better, I cleaned my injuries and cleaned up the mess in the dining room.

When Raffaello had returned, it was already midnight. The home was spotless once more.

When he saw the bandages on me, his eyes gleamed a little furtively. "You were the one who hurt Sofia first. I had to defend her, so you had no choice but to suffer a little."

He added smugly, as if I was a charity case, "Sofia is having a concert in a villa up on the snowy mountains three days from now. I'll bring you along to get some fresh air. Consider this me making it up to you."

Since when did travelling with them become a reward?

I bore through the pain of my lungs spasming.

Amid all this, I remembered when the three of us went camping together as a family.

Back then, Raffaello would shed his icy demeanor as the Don of the mafia, just to cook for Lorenzo and me. Lorenzo would also always feed me first, saying that I should have priority on every dish.

Everything changed after all.

I turned down Raffaello's offer, but on the day of Sofia's concert, he still dragged me along.

Lorenzo was, no doubt, irritated.

"Daddy, why are you taking her along? This is Sofia's important day! What if she spoils everything?"

Raffaello patted Lorenzo's head, soothingly saying, "I'm here. She won't dare to bully Sofia."

The temperature up on the snowy mountains was very cold. My injuries had not fully recovered yet, so I was also having a little bit of a fever.

I was so cold I could barely speak, let alone do whatever imaginary cruelty they accused me of.

However, this was not what Sofia wanted. She deliberately came up to me and said, "Grace, listen to this. Doesn't it sound familiar?"

I carefully listen to the music. Each drumbeat struck straight against my chest, stirring memories I had long buried.

Of course, I was familiar with the music.

Before my vocal cords got destroyed, I was a rather well-known singer in New Wark City. The piece that Sofia was about to perform that day was a song that I had composed for Raffaello and Lorenzo.

Before I could release the music, however, my vocal cords were damaged by the virus, and everything was shelved.

Seeing how stunned I was, Sofia said smugly in a whisper, "You're covered with injuries. Do you think you're good enough for Raffaello, Grace? Your existence will only humiliate them.

"If you know any better, you'll leave them once and for all. Your husband, your son, your wealth, will end up just like this song. It'll all be mine."

I frowned and looked at her with contempt. I grabbed her wrist, saying, "Sofia, you monster! How dare you play tricks like this! I'll expose you for who you really are!"

She flashed me a malicious smile.

Then, the next second, she screamed in pain. "Ahh! My hand! It hurts!"

A strong force knocked me back. Raffaello appeared from behind me and went up to urgently check on Sofia.

"Raffaello, don't take it out on Grace. Her voice is damaged, so she can't sing anymore… I shouldn't have invited her to my concert. It'll only dredge sad memories."

Raffaello kicked me right in the chest as I fell into the pile of snow.

My lungs started to hurt; it felt like a thousand needles pricking them all at once. It was so painful that I could barely breathe. I could even taste blood.

"I-I grabbed her gently! How could it hurt? Also, that song–"

Before I could say anything, Raffaello stomped on my hand. I heard a loud crack as my bones broke.

The next second, a sharp jab of pain coursed through my entire body, and I screamed.

I could not speak at all.

Raffaello didn't let go of his foot. He snarled, "You really should just die, Grace. Sofia's hands are what she works with. If anything happens, I'll cut yours off to give it to her!"

Sofia kept yelling about how much it hurt, so she could not proceed with the concert.

Raffaello called the helicopter to get them down the mountain. "You need to get your hand checked. Once we're down the mountain, I'll take you to the hospital."

He carefully guided Sofia into the helicopter as Lorenzo worriedly followed suit.

I was once again left behind as the helicopter could only fit three people besides the pilot.

Before entering the helicopter, Raffaello said to me icily, "You'll have to give up your spot to Sofia. Treat it as repayment for what you did to her. You get down the mountain on your own."

The helicopter flew into the sky, getting smaller and smaller until it was just a dot.

I could feel another asthma attack coming. Breathing got harder for me, and I fell to the snow listlessly. I wanted to scream for help, but I could not make a sound at all as the sound of the helicopter overpowered me.

Suddenly, a thunderous boom rumbled.

An avalanche.

Guests screamed and scattered. The experienced Underboss shouted instructions, leading people to safety.

I was forgotten.

Snow poured down like a white tide.

Every breath I forced into my lungs felt sharp as ice shards, stabbing deep into my chest.

Just before the snow buried me, I pulled out my phone with my uninjured hand.

I wanted to send Raffaello a message to call for help–but what I saw was a photo that Sofia had sent.

In the photo, Raffaello was gently holding her injured hand, blowing on it to soothe her pain.

Lorenzo had taken off his coat to keep her warm.

I chuckled bitterly and gave up the thought of asking for rescue. I let the snow bury me in.

My breathing got lighter as my eyelids grew heavier.

Goodbye, Raffaello. We would never see each other again in this lifetime.