Chapter 2

I rode back to the manor in one of the family cars.

The moment I stepped onto the terrace, a glass of ice water came flying straight at me.

“Ah! I’m sorry, Evelyn! I didn’t know you’d come back so suddenly!”

Sophia held the empty glass. Only after she saw my hair and clothes completely soaked did she slowly lower it.

I wiped the water from my face. I did not bother responding. Instead, I merely looked up at the familiar backyard.

The white gardenia tree I had planted with my own hands was gone.

The shooting range that had once belonged to me had been transformed into Sophia’s private garden. In the center sat a white lounge chair, engraved with her name.

The cold wind swept through my soaked clothes. A tightness seized my chest, and I could not stop myself from coughing.

Lorenzo and Dario sat nearby, watching me with nothing but cold indifference.

It was as though they believed I had already started pretending to be sick again the moment I returned to the manor just to win their sympathy.

“Finally decided to come back? I thought you were planning to hide in the hospital forever and wait for everyone to come running after you.”

There was unmistakable mockery in Lorenzo’s voice.

Dario let out a laugh. “Of course she had to come back. Without the De Luca family protecting her, where else could she possibly go?”

His words stabbed straight through me.

Back then, my father had just died in a brutal family purge. To protect what remained of the Serra family, my mother sent me here for refuge.

I was so young that I was afraid to sleep at night, terrified that my father’s enemies would find me here.

Dario used to stand guard outside my bedroom door, entertaining me with an old unloaded pistol just to make me smile.

“Don’t be scared. If anyone dares come in, I’ll be the first one to protect you.”

Lorenzo had personally arranged for my room to be in the innermost part of the main house. He even had the family guards take turns standing watch outside my door.

Later, after he became the godfather, he announced publicly at a family meeting, “Evelyn is the most honored young lady of our family. Her orders are my orders!”

Back then, I truly believed that no matter what happened, they would always stand behind me.

That was, until Sophia’s father died taking a bullet meant for Lorenzo. As his orphaned daughter, she was brought into the manor.

Everything slowly began to change.

The brothers felt guilty over her father’s death, so they went out of their way to take care of her.

Sophia took advantage of that guilt to grow closer to them, constantly ‘accidentally’ damaging my things in the process.

She could wear my jewelry whenever she pleased. At family banquets, she even took seats that had originally been reserved for me.

At first, I let it go because of her circumstances. That was, until the day she took apart the pocket watch my father had left me, scattering its tiny pieces across the table.

I finally lost my patience and confronted her.

However, Lorenzo stepped in front of her first. “She was only trying to fix it for you. Why do you have to twist her good intentions into something so ugly?”

Dario frowned at me as well. “Sophia doesn’t have a single family member left. Unlike you, who’s had us protecting you all these years. Can’t you show her a little more understanding?”

I held the pocket watch that would never tick again. For the first time, the two men I had once known so well felt like complete strangers.

From that day on, Sophia slowly took my place in their hearts. Now, even the place where I rested had become hers.

If that was the case, then there was no reason for me to stay.

I walked into the main house, intending only to change out of my wet clothes and pack my things as quickly as possible. However, when I reached the second floor, I found all of my belongings piled in the hallway.

A new nameplate hung on the door to what had once been my bedroom.

It read: [Sophia]

Lorenzo approached from behind with his arm around Sophia, looking down at me as though I were beneath him.

“Sophia will be staying in your room from now on. You’ll move to one of the guest rooms downstairs. And you’re done handling the casino accounts. Sophia will take over. For the time being, stay at the manor quietly and stop causing trouble for the family.”

“Why are you doing this to me? Did I do something wrong?” I asked.

His expression hardened, leaving no room for negotiation.

“You keep targeting Sophia, so we’re going to teach you to understand your place in this family.”

I replied in a calm voice, “I’ll clear out the room. As for the suite downstairs, you can keep it for yourselves.

“And you don’t need to find another position for me either. I quit.”

Lorenzo gave a cold laugh. “Do you think threatening me with your resignation will make me give in?”

He looked down at me arrogantly. “For the sake of the twenty years you’ve spent in this family, I’ll let it go this time. But from now on, behave yourself. Stop making everyone indulge your tantrums.”

I listened quietly, offering no argument, and simply walked past him.

As our shoulders brushed, I spoke in a soft voice, “Don’t worry. I won’t cause you any more trouble.”

Then I walked away without looking back. This time, I had truly made up my mind to leave.