When Julian, the true heir by blood, was finally brought back to the Family, my cold-blooded adoptive parents cast me aside. They sent me to "The Abyss"—a clandestine hellhole where billionaires and mafia bosses paid to hunt, rape, and slaughter human prey.

No matter how humiliatingly I begged for mercy, I remained locked in an iron cage, passed around as prey for those bloodthirsty beasts.

Days later, a photo of me—covered in whip marks, kneeling like a dog with a chain around my neck—made its way to my beloved fiancée, Vivienne.

Standing before the press, the untouchable Mafia Princess sneered, her voice dripping with disgust. "He’s pathetic and utterly filthy. The Valenti family would never align with such trash. I'll be marrying Julian instead."

On cue, the Russo family officially disowned me, permanently stripping me of their name.

After I was tortured to death, the wedding of the century commenced, broadcast live worldwide to celebrate the alliance between two major mafia families.

But right then, my "wedding gift" was delivered.

When the box was opened, the entire room went dead silent.

As a bodyguard presented the gift box, a wave of scoffs rippled through the guests. "Didn't he get kicked out of the Russos? The nerve of that stray dog, trying to crash the party."

"Shameless bastard. Trying to ruin the young Don's wedding day!"

My spirit hovered in the air, my gaze fixed on the gift.

I was already dead. How could I possibly send a gift?

Vivienne lowered her eyes. I couldn't read her expression.

I thought she would defend Julian as she had countless times before, but instead, she just said coldly, "Open it."

Whispers broke out in the crowd. "She must want to see what sick game he's playing, after he cheated on her so shamelessly."

Julian tried to stop her, but Vivienne firmly brushed his hand away and snapped the lid open.

Inside lay an old, blood-stained phone. I recognized it. It was mine.

There was nothing else on it, just seven videos.

The guests exchanged glances as malicious whispers swelled around them. "Is it a video of him on his knees begging? Hahaha..."

"You think he's trying to use his pathetic state to make Vivienne feel sorry for him?"

"Nothing surprising. Cassius used to be the Russos' cleaner. He's rotten to the core; there's nothing he wouldn't do."

Being dead, the words didn't sting like they used to. All I felt was a strange curiosity.

How did my phone end up here?

My adoptive mother, Carmela, stepped forward urgently, trying to snatch the phone. "This is outrageous! What the hell is Cassius playing at? It's Julian's wedding day, and he's deliberately trying to ruin it!"

"What an ungrateful piece of trash. Even his gift is cursed!"

My adoptive father, Don Carlo, was even more direct. He grabbed the phone, ready to smash it to pieces. "Throw it away! Don't let his filth taint this wedding!"

I smiled bitterly to myself. They didn't seem to know I was dead.

Or rather, the moment they threw me into The Abyss, I was already dead to them.

Just as the phone was about to hit the ground, Vivienne suddenly raised her gun, aiming the barrel at the dead center of Carlo's forehead. Frowning at my adoptive parents, she commanded: "I said, watch."

My adoptive parents froze. The guests froze.

The next second, she unlocked the phone and tapped the first video.

The screen showed the day Julian first returned to the estate.

He was wearing thin, worn-out clothes, standing there looking lost, his eyes red.

I reached out to pat his shoulder, but before I could even touch him, he clutched his chest and collapsed, sobbing and begging, "Cassius! I know you don't want me back! I'm begging you! Please stop hitting me!"

Carmela rushed in upon hearing the noise and slapped me hard across the face. "You hit Julian?! How could you be so vicious!"

The slap knocked me to the floor, my phone dropping with me. "Mamma, I swear I didn't!"

But Carmela wouldn't listen. She pointed a trembling finger at my face. "Remember this: you are just an adopted son. You're nothing but a stray we took in. Know your place, and don't you dare covet what belongs to Julian!"

Before the video even finished, my adoptive parents panicked and shouted to the crowd, "We investigated it! Cassius secretly sent men to beat and threaten Julian to keep him out of the Family! We didn't accuse him blindly!"

The video continued.

On screen, I shakily picked up the phone. My eyes were red, but I clenched my jaw, refusing to let the tears fall, and said firmly, "I really didn't do it."

Then the camera panned across my pale face, revealing several horrifying knife scars on my wrists.

In the audience, a rival boss silenced his men with a sharp glance, his eyes fixed on my wrists. "What's the story with those scars on Cassius's wrists?"

Carmela explained hurriedly, "He did that to himself! He was always playing the victim for sympathy! He just wanted attention!"

The live stream chat exploded, flooded with hateful comments likely driven by bots: "What a toxic snake! Sick manipulation!"

"Looked like a gentleman, but rotten to the core! Served him right getting kicked out!"

Julian smiled smugly and hugged Vivienne from behind right on cue, whispering in her ear, "Darling, it's our big day. Let's turn it off."

"Even though he threatened me, he's been punished. I don't hold it against him anymore."

I scoffed. Punished?

Don't you have a conscience, Julian?

Vivienne ignored his touch, her sharp eyes glued to the screen. "Is that so? I want to see exactly how he hurt himself."

She tapped the second video.

The footage showed me late at night, studying a crucial port bidding contract. I was planning to win it and present it to Vivienne as a dowry.

I didn't have Russo blood, but I'd bled for the Family for years, saving every penny. I planned to risk it all to build my own power base.

As an adopted son, I knew I had to become powerful in my own right to be worthy of her.

Suddenly, Julian pushed the door open, walking in with a guilt-ridden face. "Cassius, Papa stripped you of your Capo title on my first day back. You're not mad, are you?"

Before I could even speak, his expression twisted into a manic, mocking laugh. "You absolute idiot!"

"Can't you see Papa only cares about me? And you're still shamelessly clinging to the Russos?"

"I literally just hid a file and framed you for it. Papa didn't even blink before labeling you a rat. Isn't that hilarious?"

My chest ached, but I didn't want to fight him. I just said coldly, "It's not funny, Julian."

"I don't want what's yours. Stop coming here to tell me these things, and stop playing these pointless games."

My lack of a reaction only fueled his rage.

He violently grabbed me by the collar of my suit, his face contorted with fury. "Cassius! Who the fuck gave you the right to say you don't want what's mine?!"

"Vivienne is mine! She belongs to the true heir of the Russo Family! If you hadn't stolen my life, you never would've been her fiancé!"

"I suggest you call off the engagement right now. Otherwise, next time, it won't be a knife—it'll be a bullet!"

The video cut to black.

The venue was dead silent for several seconds before someone yelled, "What the hell?! Cassius was the one being framed the whole time?!"

"Julian accused Cassius of stealing Family secrets just to strip him of his Capo rank?!"

"So Cassius never threatened him! Julian made it all up!"

"He orchestrated the whole damn thing!"

My adoptive parents looked at Julian, their faces completely drained of color.

Julian stiffened, then grabbed their hands, explaining frantically, "You're misunderstanding! Cassius forced me to say that! He threatened me... he said if I didn't do what he wanted, he would..."

He let his sentence trail off, leaving room for people's twisted imaginations.

Don Carlo looked as if it all made sense now, nodding along. "I never knew Cassius was so calculating! This was a trap he set from the beginning!"

Carmela nodded vigorously. "He definitely recorded this on purpose to frame Julian! Julian is too kind; he's no match for a snake like Cassius!"

"He probably self-destructed because he knew he wasn't fit to be a Valenti son-in-law and couldn't stand Julian becoming one! Pure evil!"

Some guests whispered in agreement: "He really is filthy. I've seen every picture of him from The Abyss. He looked like he was enjoying it, not forced at all."

"Exactly. Giving up a Mafia Princess for that? God knows what goes through his head."

"So that's how it is... No wonder the Russos dumped him! He had it coming!"

Hovering in the air, I couldn't help but shiver, my gaze instinctively finding Vivienne.

Please don't believe them... please.

Surprisingly, Vivienne didn't express their disgust. She let out a soft, bitter laugh and said, "I also want to know what went through his head. Keep watching."

Vivienne clicked on the third video.

In the frame, I was holding up the newly signed port contract, beaming at the camera. "Vivienne! I nailed it! Am I something else, or what?"

"I'm going to use this money to buy you that pink diamond you've been eyeing! I know you've been eyeing it for a while but were too polite to say anything. It's okay, I'm going to be rich soon. I promise, once you marry me, I'll never let you suffer. I'll give you everything you want!"

In the video, my eyes were bright with joy and deep devotion.

Comments flashed across the live stream:

"He looked so in love with her..."

"Is this really the vicious, calculating Cassius everyone talks about? Am I seeing things?"

Vivienne's hands trembled slightly, her gaze complex.

Julian lunged forward to snatch the phone. "Vivienne! Cassius is in the past! I'm the one marrying you today! Turn it off, please!"

When she didn't answer, his face darkened. "There are so many people here. You're humiliating me..."

Carmela chimed in, "Exactly. Cassius took his money and is probably whoring around somewhere having the time of his life. He forgot about you a long time ago. Just stop watching."

My spirit hovered beside Vivienne, and I shook my head desperately. I wanted to scream that I hadn't forgotten her.

But I could only watch. I couldn't do a thing.

To everyone's surprise, Vivienne pushed Julian away and let the video play.

On screen, I was still eagerly planning our future.

The next second, Julian kicked the door open. "Cassius, what are you so happy about?"

He covered his mouth, feigning shock. "Wait, you didn't actually think that contract would put you back on top, did you?"

I froze. "What do you mean?"

Julian pulled out his phone and put it on speaker. "Hey, man, were you actually going to give that port to Cassius?"

From the phone came the sycophantic voice of a minor mob boss. "Of course not, Julian. Everyone knows he's just a fake taking up space. I'd have to be brain-dead to give him the port. I was just messing with him."

"You should've seen him when he signed the papers—bowing, scraping, so damn excited. Hahaha, it was pathetic."

"Zero dignity. He actually thinks he can marry into the Valentis and become a Don. What a joke."

My blood ran ice cold. My face burned.

It all made sense now. The bid was nothing but a trap Julian set up just to watch me get my hopes up and have them crushed.

I pointed at Julian, my voice trembling. "Why... why would you do this?"

Julian crossed his arms, looking down at me. "Why? Just to remind you of your place. People like you are born cheap. You don't deserve anything."

I totally lost it.

Even when my adoptive father took my Capo title, I wasn't this furious, because I knew it didn't belong to me.

But this time, I'd bled for this chance.

I clenched my fists and lunged at Julian in a blind rage.

Right at that moment, my adoptive parents burst in.

Seeing the scene, Carmela immediately shielded Julian. "Cassius, you're bullying him again?!"

Don Carlo glared at me furiously. "You have zero respect for this Family!"

I froze, not even bothering to explain this time.

Because I knew it was useless.

Julian suddenly started crying. "Mamma, Cassius just said... this house isn't big enough for the both of us. Is that true?"

"You!" Carmela shook with rage, slapping me across the face again and again. "I'm sending you away! Right now!"

Julian rolled his eyes and suggested, "I heard there's a place called 'The Abyss'. Everyone who comes out of there is perfectly obedient. Why don't we send Cassius there to learn some manners?"

The Abyss...

I knew of that place. It was a private, underground slaughterhouse and brothel where billionaires and tycoons went to torture people for fun.

"No!" I dropped to one knee, desperately clutching Don Carlo's coat. "Godfather, please! Don't send me there! I swear my loyalty to the Russos forever!"

I suddenly remembered Vivienne and yelled, "I am Vivienne's fiancé! You can't just dispose of me like this!"

His response was a brutal kick to my chest.

Don Carlo sneered. "Once you're tossed into The Abyss and passed around like a toy for men, you think the Valenti family will still want your filthy ass?"

"When that happens, Julian will be the only one fit to marry into the Valentis!"

Even in death, my chest ached with a phantom pain.

The parents I lived with for over twenty years never loved me. Not even for a second.

As the video ended, people in the crowd started questioning: "Didn't they say Cassius was partying abroad? Why was he sent to The Abyss?!"

"Nobody comes back from there in one piece!"

Julian panicked and reached for the phone again. "It's AI! It's deepfake! Cassius faked it all! He went there himself because he's a sick freak!"

Before he could touch the phone, Vivienne's bodyguards slammed him face-first onto the plush red carpet.

My adoptive parents reached for their guns, but multiple red dots from sniper lasers instantly painted their chests.

Vivienne's eyes welled with tears. Her voice choked as she said, "We are going to watch exactly what Cassius went through in The Abyss... every single second of it."