The Principessa’s Return

When I took a bullet for Theo Moretti, the bullet grazed my temple, compressing the optic nerve and causing blindness in both my eyes. He kneeled by my hospital bed, pressed the family crest to his chest, and swore:

“Sophie, I will be your eyes for life. If I break this oath, may I die a horrendous death.”

I believed him.

However, the day my sight returned, I saw Theo through the bedroom door, naked on our marital bed with the maid, Isabella.

He gripped her waist and thrust violently, his voice hoarse in a way I had never heard, growling, “Bella… you really are the most seductive woman in all of Sicily…”

“Theo, who else besides me could satisfy you like this in bed? Divorce that blind woman already!”

Isabella nibbled his earlobe. “After all, I’m the one who truly understands you.”

“Wait a little longer,” Theo panted. “I need time… Don Lucas just handed me control of the docks. If I divorce now, I’ll be left with nothing.”

Rare snowflakes rained down outside.

I walked barefoot out of the estate in a thin nightgown and sent an encrypted message to my father.

“Father, send someone to pick me up in three days. I’m coming home.”

Don Lucas, my father, never expected that the boss he had personally promoted would dare betray his daughter.

He replied with a single sentence: “For daring to betray you, Theo’s dead.”

What I did not know was that this message would ignite a storm that would sweep across all of Sicily.

In three days, Theo Moretti, the man I had risked my life for and I had personally helped rise to power, would lose everything he held dear, including me.

Sophie's Point of View

That night, Theo Moretti spent three hours making love to Isabella on our marital bed.

I had just regained my sight and watched as Theo buried his mouth against her chest.

His other hand lifted her leg so he could push in deeper.

The room was filled with the stench of sweat and their panting. It was so disgusting that I almost wanted to vomit.

Just as I was about to turn and leave, Theo suddenly picked Isabella up and walked toward me.

I lowered my gaze, but I could still tell he had stopped right in front of me, gripping Isabella’s butt as the two of them stayed lost in passion.

‘Three days. I just need to endure three more days.’ I repeated to myself, my fingertips digging hard into my palm.

Before regaining my sight, I never imagined Theo would betray me.

After all, the Lucas family had strict rules. Even the lowest soldati wouldn’t dare openly humiliate their partner on the marriage bed.

However, I was wrong. Dead wrong!

When I returned to the manor at two in the morning and felt my way into the bedroom, I heard a woman moaning lewdly on the bed.

Theo said to Isabella in Russian, “Keep your voice down, you slut. Before Sophie hears!”

I saw Isabella’s legs wrapped around Theo’s waist, and the sound of their bodies colliding came from where they were joined.

“What are you afraid of?” Isabella smiled provocatively. “She’s blind. She can’t see or understand Russian. Besides, doesn’t this make it even more exciting?”

I froze.

Russian was something I had taught him.

To help him read encrypted messages from Russian arms dealers, I had corrected his pronunciation one word at a time.

Now, the secret language that once belonged only to the two of us had become the cover for their affair.

Theo had already forgotten everything we once went through together.

“We’re out of condoms,” Isabella said in a teasing, syrupy voice. “Should Sophie bring more, or should I go get them?”

After a moment of silence, Theo suddenly spoke, his voice so controlled that it almost twisted.

“Sophie, my throat hurts. Could you bring me the white medicine box on the coffee table?”

The white box was only thirty centimeters from my hand. Printed clearly in Russian on the front was one word: Condoms.

My lover, Theo, wanted me to hand condoms to his mistress.

I clenched my fist, my nails digging into my flesh. The sharp pain kept me clear-headed.

Then I slowly reached out and pretended to be blind, fumbling through the air. When my fingers brushed the box, I accidentally knocked over the glass beside it.

The crash of breaking glass rang sharply in the quiet night.

“Careful!” Theo called out, his voice full of false concern.

I groped for the box and inched my way toward them.

With every step, my heart felt as if it were being sliced open by jagged blades.

Isabella sat half-dressed on Theo’s lap, and I, the pitiful blind woman in their eyes, was personally delivering the tool for their pleasure.

“How did you catch a cold? Are you alright?” My voice trembled. I could barely pretend to be calm anymore.

“It’s nothing. I’ll just take some medicine and sleep,” he said quickly, snatching the box from me. I could feel the slight tremor of his fingers when they brushed mine.

It wasn’t guilt. It was excitement.

This boss, who wouldn’t blink even if he chopped off someone’s finger, was trembling because I obediently handed him and his mistress a box of condoms.

He must have forgotten that when we fought side by side, I had been the best code-breaker in the Lucas family Intelligence Unit.

I could hear hidden frequencies and read meaning from scattered symbols. How could I not hear the abnormality in his voice?

“Go rest. I’ll sleep in the guest room, so I don’t pass the cold to you.”

Before he finished speaking, he picked Isabella up again and buried his face in her chest. He tore off the underwear hanging on her body, quickly walking toward the guest room at the end of the hallway.

His footsteps were soft and cat-like, a habit formed from missions when he needed to infiltrate enemy territory.

Now, he used the same skill to sneak another woman into my home.

When the door closed, my nose stung, and my tears finally broke through.

I had been blind for so long, drowning in the illusion of happiness.

Now I could finally see the true face of this home.

The lipstick stains on Theo’s shirt, the wrinkled blanket on the sofa, and the overly sweet perfume hanging in the air all mocked my stupidity.

I picked up my phone and dialed a number I hadn’t touched in years.

“Father,” I said, no longer able to control my tears. “I’m willing to come back and take over the family intelligence network.”