Chapter 1

After Charles left the study, I remained frozen for a long time.

A complete set of documents was spread across the table, including a new passport, a new bank account, and photographs of the private island in North America.

The water in the photographs was crystal blue. A white villa stood halfway up the mountain, and aside from the ocean surrounding it, there were no other buildings anywhere nearby.

Charles had even prepared a new name for me, Ellen Rossi.

Thirty-four years old, widowed, with no children and no ties to Sicily.

My personal assistant Ivy turned to the last page, and her expression became increasingly grim.

“He’s even decided what your name will be?”

I closed the file and said, “It saves me the trouble of coming up with one myself.”

“This isn’t funny, Helen.”

Her eyes turned red.

“Are you really planning to go?”

I didn’t answer.

There were seven days left until the port banquet.

Seven days later, an explosion would “kill” me.

Charles’s people would prepare an escape route on the western side of the banquet venue beforehand. Once the explosion happened, I only needed to leave through that route.

Within three minutes, a car that was not registered under the Vison Family would pick me up, and after that, I would leave by helicopter.

Then I would become Ellen Rossi.

Charles had arranged every step of the plan in great detail.

The documents even contained information about the brand of coffee I liked, the dishes the island’s chef specialized in, and the temperature my bedroom should be kept at.

He had always known me this well.

During the first year of our marriage, I was awakened in the middle of the night by gunshots from the estate’s training grounds.

By the next morning, the entire training ground had been moved to the other side of the estate.

Later, I learned that Charles had done it because of a casual complaint I had made.

Everyone in Sicily knew how ruthless he was.

A Capo who betrayed his Family could still sit across from him and drink coffee in the morning, only to disappear completely from the harbor by afternoon.

But I was the exception.

That was why, last night, when my mother and father were trying to persuade me to accept the plan, I was still waiting for him to change his mind.

I thought he would say, “Enough. Helen doesn’t have to go.”

But in the end, he had gently yet firmly arranged another life for me, one where I would disappear from Sicily forever.

Footsteps sounded outside the door.

Ivy had just put away the documents when Sandra pushed the door open.

Two armed bodyguards followed behind her. They were originally part of my security team.

I glanced at them, and Sandra noticed it as well. She immediately explained, “Charles said things aren’t safe outside right now, so he asked them to stay with me for the time being.”

“Okay.”

She stood there for a while. Seeing that I didn’t get angry, she seemed even more uncomfortable.

“Helen, I know I caused trouble this time, but I really didn’t mean to kill her.”

I looked at her expressionlessly.

“So the gun just went off by itself?”

Sandra’s face went pale.

“She insulted me first!”

“She said the Vison Family wouldn’t turn against them for my sake, and that I had no right to throw my weight around.”

“So you pulled the trigger.”

She bit her lip.

“I only wanted to scare her.”

But bullets did not care about intentions. The rival Don’s wife died on the spot.

Within twelve hours, one of the docks controlled by the Vison Family was bombed.

The next day, a cargo ship was ambushed while leaving the harbor.

By the third day, the two Families were forced to sit down at the negotiation table.

The other side wanted only Sandra.

My father refused, and my mother cried until she fainted right there.

In the end, the rival Don cast a pointed glance at me.

“Then I’ll have to find another way.”

He smiled and said, “I’ll make Charles feel what it’s like to lose his wife.”

That night, we received the intelligence.

The other side planned to strike again at the port banquet seven days later.

Charles decided to turn their plan against them and let everyone witness my death in that explosion.

Sandra walked up to me.

“I’m sorry.”

I looked at her and asked, “If Charles asked you to fake your death, would you agree?”

She froze.

At that moment, my mother’s voice came from the doorway.

“Helen.”

She had clearly heard what I said. My mother quickly walked in and pulled Sandra behind her.

“She already knows she was wrong. Why do you still have to pressure her?”

I found it absurd.

“I’m pressuring her?”

My mother frowned.

“She’s never known hardship. If you really send her alone to North America, how is she supposed to survive?”

“You’re different. You’ve always been smarter than her, and you’re more independent.”

Again, those same words.

Because I was more capable of taking care of myself, I was naturally the one who should be sent away.

When Charles returned that night, I was drinking alone on the balcony.

He took the glass from my hand.

“Don’t drink on an empty stomach.”

I looked at him, my eyes filling with tears.

“You’re still going to send me away?”

He paused.

“I’ll keep you safe.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Charles fell silent.

Without him saying anything, I already knew the answer.

And deep inside, I had already made my own decision.

Seven days later, I would take this chance to disappear from Charles’s life and my parents’ lives forever.