Chapter 3

I tossed the antique revolver onto the ammo crate.

For a traitor, a bullet was too merciful.

I took a sharp Sicilian stiletto off the torture rack. The blade reflected a cold gleam in the dim light.

That flash of cold metal caught my eye, and for a split second, I saw eighteen-year-old Lorenzo.

Back then, he was just an Associate not yet recognized by the family, wearing an ill-fitting cheap suit, standing in the rainy street.

As an outcast pushed aside by the family, he didn't even have a decent weapon.

Once, trying to reclaim a smuggled shipment for the family, he got two ribs broken and collapsed in an alley like a stray dog.

That was the first time I disobeyed my father's orders and used the family doctor to save him.

I shoved a stack of cash and a Browning engraved with the family crest into his hand.

But he stubbornly pushed the money back, his wolf-like eyes staring dead at me: "Miss Corleone, please leave me some dignity."

Since then, I just "happened" to provide him with intel and "conveniently" took care of a few hitmen watching him.

On Christmas Eve, he clutched two stone-cold sandwiches.

Amidst the church bells, he handed me a single rose, his hands covered in blood: "Elena, will you wait for me? Wait until I reach the top."

Years later, he stepped over countless corpses to become a high-ranking member of the Corleone family, eventually becoming the Underboss through my maneuvering.

That night, he knelt by my skirt and kissed the back of my hand.

"All those years living on the blade, I was terrified I wasn't worthy of your noble bloodline. I was scared you'd find out I fought in underground boxing rings all night just to buy you that rose."

It wasn't until we signed the marriage contract that he realized what a massive underground empire the name Corleone represented.

Lorenzo later told me that was the moment he understood.

"The finish line I clawed my way to was just your starting line."

To prove himself, Lorenzo became the most vicious "mad dog" in the Mafia world.

He frantically expanded territory and purged dissidents, just to stand tall beside me.

Unfortunately, the poison of power corroded everything.

The only warmth in this cruel world couldn't survive the erosion of profit.

"Are... are you really going to do it?"

Sophia's trembling voice pulled me back to reality.

I looked at the dagger in my hand, which I had only intended to use to scare her, my eyes cold.

"Since you like leaving marks on others, I'll give you one too."

I just wanted to cut her arm to teach her a lesson about the price of offending the family Mama.

However, a flash of madness suddenly appeared in Sophia's eyes.

Before I could react, she lunged at me, grabbed my wrist, and forced the blade into her own lower abdomen!

Blood instantly stained her white lace dress red.

"Ah—!"

A shrill scream echoed through the underground armory.

The next second, the heavy blast door was blown open from the outside.

Smoke cleared, and Lorenzo rushed in, radiating murderous intent.

He saw this scene: Sophia lying on the ground covered in blood, while I held the dripping dagger.

"Elena! What the hell are you doing!"

Lorenzo's roar made my eardrums ache.

Sophia clutched her wound, her face pale, weeping like a pear blossom bathed in rain.

"Lorenzo... help me..."

"She said... she said I stole your attention, and only if I died would you love her again..."

"She wants to kill me... to silence me..."

Lorenzo's pupils constricted sharply. In that instant, I saw real fear in his eyes.

He was afraid I had actually killed Sophia. He didn't trust me.

"Put the knife down, you psycho!"

Lorenzo charged at me like an out-of-control lion.

To stop the "crazy" me, he subconsciously shoved me hard.

He was too strong, possessing the explosive power honed from years of combat.

I lost my balance and fell backward, my forehead smashing heavily against the sharp corner of a redwood crate used for storing munitions.

There was a dull *thud*.

Warm liquid trickled down my forehead, instantly blurring my vision.

The pain nearly made me pass out, but I kept my eyes locked on Lorenzo.

He didn't even look at me.

He fell to his knees in a panic, carefully lifting the blood-soaked Sophia, his hands trembling.

"It's okay, Sophia. I'm here. I've got you."

"Doctor! Get the family doctor down here now!"

He roared, but when he turned to look at me, his eyes held only rage and disappointment.

"Elena, you are unbelievable!"

"Killing out of jealousy? When did you become so vicious?"

"If anything happens to Sophia, how am I supposed to explain this to the rest of the family?"

I leaned against the cold wooden crate, blood dripping onto the floor.

Watching him lose his mind over another woman, I suddenly remembered that rainy night when I was eighteen.

He was like this then, too, but back then, the person he was protecting was me.

To save me from stray bullets, he used his back to block all the shrapnel.

Back then, he said as long as he was alive, he wouldn't let me shed a single drop of blood.

I wiped the blood from my forehead and laughed coldly.

"Jealousy? Vicious?"

"Lorenzo, look closely. She stabbed herse..."

"Shut up!"

Lorenzo rudely cut me off. He had clearly decided I was just making excuses.

Seeing that Lorenzo wouldn't listen to a word, Sophia nestled in his arms, gasping weakly, and suddenly dropped the line she had prepared long ago.

"Lorenzo... save our baby..."

"I'm... I'm carrying your flesh and blood..."

"She knew I was pregnant... that's why she wanted to kill me..."

The air froze instantly.

Lorenzo stiffened. He looked down at the woman in his arms in disbelief, then jerked his head up to look at me, his eyes filled with hatred and suspicion.