Chapter 1

As I turned around and walked out of the church, a burst of cheering erupted behind me. They were pushing Matteo and Livia together, chanting for him to propose.

Matteo lowered his voice, saying, “Don’t talk nonsense. Serena is my girlfriend, and we’re already engaged.”

Someone laughed. “An engagement is just an engagement, but love is love. You and Livia parted ways so tragically back then. Who’d believe you’d be satisfied with marrying Serena?”

My footsteps halted on the stone steps outside the church. Inside, I heard Matteo let out a sigh.

“There aren’t that many perfect endings in this world. My heart belongs to Livia, and my body belongs to Serena. It’s all fair. Besides, Serena loves me too much. She may throw her little tantrums and cry, but she could never bring herself to leave me. She’d never let it affect my relationship with Livia.”

The other person asked, “Aren’t you afraid Serena will break up with you?”

Matteo gave a soft chuckle. “She won’t. We’ve been together for five years, and she’s loved me for five years. She can’t let go.”

Standing out there, I felt a lump in my throat. I could perfectly picture the expression on his face as he said those words—hypocritical, arrogant, and very smug. It was exactly how he had effortlessly manipulated me for the past five years.

Unable to stomach it for another second, I hurried away. A sudden wave of nausea hit me, and I had to lean against the church’s exterior stone wall, dry-heaving. As I straightened up, the silver necklace around my neck slipped out.

It was my five-year anniversary gift from Matteo. It was a very thin silver chain with a tiny red stone set into the pendant. I had always worn it, never wanting to take it off. However, when I handed Livia the bouquet earlier, I noticed she was wearing a necklace too.

It was the same design. The only difference was that hers was a solid gold chain, and her pendant was a ruby. That glint of red resting against her collarbone had looked absolutely stunning.

Mine, on the other hand, looked like a cheap promotional giveaway. No wonder Matteo kept smiling at me when he gave it to me. I thought he was just as happy as I was, but as it turned out, he was just laughing at how stupid I was.

A cleaning lady walked over, bending down to look at the chain that had fallen to the ground. “Miss, do you still want this?”

I glanced at it and replied, “No.”

She looked at it with regret. “Are you sure? It looks quite expensive.”

I offered her a faint smile. “It’s just garbage.”

Earlier that afternoon, I had accepted the transfer order to Old Port.

Three days ago, the Don’s personal assistant had sought me out and handed me a sealed document. Inside, there was only an aerial photograph of Old Port and a line of handwritten text.

“Eliminate Palma, and Old Port is yours.”

Palma was the capo of the docks at Old Port. He controlled three of the Berradi mafia family’s money-laundering channels and refused to give them up. However, out of respect for their long-standing ties, the Don couldn’t move against him directly.

The assistant had told me that whoever resolved the issue would take the seat at Old Port. So, I accepted the document and ignored all of Matteo’s messages. That very night, I flew to Genosha. In the villa of Palma’s mistress, I sent him to meet his maker with a single strand of piano wire.

The next morning, the people at Old Port reached out to me of their own accord, stating they were willing to hand over the cargo manifests and the keys to the docks. I called an online meeting and offered them a ten percent higher profit cut than Palma had, on the condition that they helped me keep the underlings in line.

After the assistant received the news, he replied with an ‘okay.’

Helen, the daughter of the Berradi mafia family’s Don and also my best friend, called me when she found out I was heading to Old Port.

“Serena, have you thought this through? If you go there, what happens to you and Matteo?”

I stared out at the gray-blue Metropolis sky outside my window. “We broke up.”

There was nothing but faint static on the line for a moment.

Then, Helen let out a laugh. “Good riddance. There are plenty of fish in the sea. Opportunities to climb the ladder in the Berradi family don’t come around often. The news that you killed Palma has spread. No one at Old Port dares to look you in the eye right now.”

She was right. I had waited five years for Matteo’s promise of marriage. In terms of sheer capability, I should have entered the inner circle long ago. Back then, I had hesitated. I was constantly considering him, fearing a long-distance relationship, worrying he’d be unhappy, and being afraid that five years of affection would be ground down by distance.

Thinking back on it now, that thought was ridiculous.