A Wilted Rose

Carlo Gutierrez pointed at the golden retriever wagging its tail by the head seat, and gave me a cold order.

"The dog sits there. You can stand."

I stared at the dog lounging lazily across the dining chair that was supposed to be mine, so happy that I almost cried.

Because I had gone back in time.

I returned to the day Carlo humiliated me in front of everyone.

Everyone knew I was the unwanted baggage the Gutierrez Family picked up from the slums.

The reason? My father had died taking a bullet for Don Vinnie, Carlo's grandfather. However, I also ended up being tethered to Carlo because of that.

Carlo was the only heir of the Gutierrez Family, the kingpin who ruled both sides of the law. Meanwhile, I was nothing but a stain on his otherwise perfect record.

Everyone thought it was a pity for Carlo, and he thought so even more.

That was why he had the golden retriever sit in my seat, while every underling and made man watched me being humiliated like some show.

"Rosa, Carlo's already being nice to you by just making you stand. If it were up to me, I would have made you eat from the dog bowl on the floor," Carlo's cousin said as he picked his teeth.

Laughter from the surrounding guests echoed around the table. Even the servants, with their heads down, were shaking with amusement.

This whole thing was a carefully staged spectacle just to humiliate me. Everyone knew how much Carlo hated me.

During my last life, I didn't dare to move a muscle. I just stood there, taking the insults one after another until the banquet ended. Eventually, I ended up collapsing from hunger and stomach cramps.

What happened reached Don Vinnie, who was recovering overseas. Later, he personally ordered that I marry Carlo.

On the day of our wedding, Gemma Moreno, the Principessa of the Moreno family, died in a shootout. She was also the woman whom Carlo loved.

From the perspective of Carlo and his underlings, it was my fault that his beloved died. The reason being? I had supposedly leaked out information.

Carlo then threw me into a basement and tried every method to torture a confession out of me to avenge Gemma. I begged him repeatedly to just kill me, but he refused with a sneer. Instead, he promised to make me suffer until the moment I die.

He cracked my bones piece by piece, then soaked me in salt water.

I endured that pain for three years.

In the end, my corpse was dumped into the sea.

But what I found laughable was that at the moment my soul was fading away, I saw Gemma return in all her glory. She didn't die at all. Instead, she had become the new Donna of the Moreno Family.

They put on a public display for the media, feigning a reunion after a tragic love story and reveling in everyone's blessings. Meanwhile, I was just the foolish sacrificial lamb in their tale of love.

Now, I was given a second chance in life. I was determined to live for myself and stay far away from Carlo.

In the middle of all the laughter, I quietly turned and went upstairs.

Back in my tiny attic room that wasn't even fit for a servant, I took off the dress that was never fit for my frame.

Everyone said I was Carlo's most loyal hound. Whenever something happened to him, I would be the first to rush in.

Carlo had complained about my voice being nothing but noise that had given him headaches while he was dealing with the Family's messy firearms business accounts, so I played the role of a mute. I stayed up through several nights and sorted out those mishandled accounts without making a sound.

He had once said that he would grant a wish for whoever managed to solve this problem for him. In my last life, I handed him the accounts and asked him to celebrate my birthday with me.

Instead, he handed my work straight to Gemma so she could shine in front of Don Vinnie. Then, he took her to Attania for a vacation.

And me? He sent me to clean up a mess after a shootout.

I barely made it out alive after getting shot in the stomach. I almost didn't make it as I lay on the operating table.

I never wanted to experience the feeling of being exploited to the point of having nothing left in me ever again.

I need to escape from Carlo's side, and I need to do it now.