Chapter 3

After sending that message, I tossed the phone straight back onto the bed and turned around to pack my luggage.

I pulled open the closet, and inside were only a few faded, cheap old clothes.

Over the past five years, Vivienne was always whispering those so-called mob rules into Jax's ear.

"You can't throw money at women. Guns and territory are a man's true power."

"Spoil a woman too much, and she'll forget how to be grateful."

So, as a dignified Capo of the Russo family, Jax had never bought me even a single decent dress.

It was actually convenient now. All my belongings couldn't even fill the smallest suitcase, making it perfectly easy to pack up and vanish.

Just as I was about to zip it up, someone knocked on the apartment door.

Standing outside was Vivienne.

She stood in the doorway, dressed in designer brands and glittering with jewels, her eyes full of arrogance.

"Oh Elise, you really killed the mood when you left last night. As his advisor, I had to put in quite a lot of effort to calm Jax down."

"This man of yours really can't function without my emotional support."

I thought I was already numb. But staring at the deep-sea pearl necklace resting on her collarbone, the one I had longed for, my chest still felt tight.

That was the necklace Jax once said he would buy for me, and now it was hanging around someone else's neck.

I forced myself to stay calm and replied evenly.

"What is the point of you trying so hard to stick to my man?"

"Even if you manage to climb into his bed one day, you still won't be the Donna, will you?"

Those words hit her dead center.

The smugness on her face instantly twisted. She lunged forward and violently shoved my shoulder.

"He and I are the perfect match! You're the bitch who forced her way in!"

"Who do you think you are to mock me?"

"No wonder you can't even keep a man's heart. Everyone on the streets knows your mother was nothing but a cheap hooker! Trash breeds trash. You only deserve to hide in the corner and pick up my scraps!"

Hearing her use such filthy words to insult my late mother, I couldn't hold back anymore. I raised my hand and slapped her hard.

A sharp slap echoed in the hallway.

However, that slap landed squarely on the face of Jax, who had suddenly appeared.

Realizing that Jax had taken the hit for her, Vivienne immediately put on a pitiful face, her voice choked with tears.

"Jax... I just saw she was angry last night and wanted to comfort her."

"Elise, what exactly did I say wrong? Why would you hit someone so ruthlessly?"

Jax stood protectively in front of her. He rubbed his slightly reddened cheek and sighed, looking at me as if I were a child throwing an unreasonable fit.

"Elise, your temper is getting worse and worse. Vivienne just likes to joke around in our circle. Why are you taking it so seriously? Apologize, and we'll let this go."

I stared at him and spoke clearly, word by word.

"She called my mother a cheap hooker. She deserved to be hit."

Listening to Vivienne's intermittent sobbing behind him, Jax frowned in annoyance.

Not only did he have zero intention of defending me, but he also put on the patronizing stance of a patriarch.

"Alright, alright, what's the big deal? You can never explain things about the past clearly anyway. She just said it casually, and you actually took it to heart? You're usually such a reasonable person. Why are you making a scene today, forcing things to be this ugly?"

In that moment, I felt cold to my core.

Jax was the only person who knew the bitter hardships my mother and I endured surviving in the slums together.

He knew very well that my mother had no choice but to work as a bottom-tier cleaner in a bar just to put me through medical school.

He knew very well that my mother suffered tremendously from those vicious rumors and had attempted suicide several times.

Yet he still took my most painful scar and used it as gossip to tell Vivienne, allowing her to humiliate us like this.

I stood frozen in place like a soulless shell, tears falling silently.

Jax realized he had said the wrong thing, but he just assumed I was throwing a tantrum and reached out to hug me.

I quietly dodged him.

I looked up at this unfamiliar face, and my mind kept flashing back to the day he saved me from street thugs and swore an oath in front of my mother.

That day, he protected the most vulnerable part of us, swearing more sincerely than anyone else.

"Ma'am, if anyone ever dares to bully Elise in the future, I, Jax, will skin them alive."

"I swear on my life, I will never let you two suffer even the slightest grievance again."

It was all a lie. It was poison wrapped in honey.

I forced a smile, looked into Jax's eyes, and spoke softly.

"Jax, we're done."

Jax instinctively took a step forward to grab me, but Vivienne jumped out again.

"Capo, did you forget our rules on the streets?"

"Whoever caves first, loses."

"I'm absolutely disgusted by women who use breakups to threaten a man over every little thing."

Hearing this, Jax seemed to have his male ego provoked. He pulled back the hand reaching toward me, and his tone instantly hardened.

"Fine. If you want space, you can have it. I'll humor you this time. When you cool down and think it through, call me yourself. I'm not going to coddle this bad habit of yours, bringing up a breakup at the drop of a hat."

After saying that, he shielded Vivienne, turned around, and walked away down the hallway with long strides. He let that woman's unrestrained giggles drift shamelessly into my ears.

"Isn't tomorrow your five-year anniversary?"

"It just so happens that some of the boys and I are going to have a party at that French restaurant you booked. Let's see who ends up bowing their head and admitting defeat in the end."

I slowly closed the apartment door, took out my phone, and texted Dr. Vance.

"Dr. Vance, my personal affairs here have been settled."

"Please use the organization's clearance to completely destroy all my identity and contact information left in this city. After doing the final paperwork at the French restaurant tomorrow morning, I am ready to join the team."