Chapter 1

I turned to leave. Part of me expected James to come after me. He didn't. He went straight back to the party. A wave of helplessness washed over me, cold as ice.

James used to tell me that countless men would kill for the chance to marry the heiress of a mafia family. Since God had given him that chance, he had to take it.

While I worked long shifts washing dishes at a restaurant, James spent a month's worth of my pay buying clothes for Mina. "Don't be so petty. Keep her happy and she'll give me a project. Once I make it big, I'll buy you as many new clothes as you want."

Another night, I waited for him alone in the snow. He was supposed to pick me up. Instead, he called and said the roads were too dangerous. "Just walk home. Take it slow."

So I did. It took me two hours. By the time I got home, I was freezing. James was at home, but Mina had complained that her power had gone out. Without hesitation, he drove straight to her place.

He was gone all night. By the time he came home, my fever had knocked me unconscious. Only then did he rush me to the hospital. The doctor said any later would have been too late.

Even when his mother was bedridden, I took care of her. I first met Mina while caring for her. I'd just finished emptying her bedpan when Mina stopped by.

From then on, she assumed I was hired help and no threat to her. Soon, all of James's friends treated me like his doormat.

I stood at the church door as his friends mocked me.

"Dude, why did your doormat follow you here? She doesn't think she can compete with the princess of the Vance Family, does she?"

"Mina's going to be furious when she sees her. Does she even know who she's dealing with? Mina's a princess, and she was nice enough to say hello earlier. A lowlife like her can't possibly compete with someone like Mina."

Mina stood at the center of the crowd, beaming. "Hey, cut that out. My family may be powerful, but poor girls deserve respect too. Once I take over the Family, I won't let lowlifes like her anywhere near us."

The Vance Family? Since when did I have a sister I wasn't even related to?

Vance was the name of the peninsula's first mafia Don—my grandfather. Since my father was always busy running the Family, Grandpa raised my brother and me.

As his only granddaughter, Grandpa spoiled me with the best of everything. He bought me two luxury apartments in the heart of the city, along with every new car and phone I wanted. My clothes were all custom-made, and I never wore the same outfit twice.

After Grandpa died, all I had left of him were his ashes. James couldn't afford a diamond ring, so I had some of Grandpa's ashes turned into a diamond and set in a ring. I told James I'd bought it cheap.

The day before, James told me he'd lost the ring. At two in the morning, I was on my hands and knees, desperately searching the street for it.

James didn't care. He calmly said he had a business trip and couldn't help me look.

I didn't push him. But I was so desperate that I sent all my father's enforcers to search for it. I never imagined I'd find it at James and Mina's engagement party.

Mina admired my diamond ring with her chin held high. Even with her arm around James, she still smiled smugly at me.

The second I saw the ring, blood rushed to my head. Before I knew it, I was prying her fingers apart to get it back.

I couldn't see anything but the ring. Mina screamed in fear.

Crack—a hard slap hit me across the face.

"How long are you going to keep this up? Have you lost your mind? Get out before I call the police!" James slapped me in front of everyone and quickly stepped in front of Mina.

At Mina's signal, everyone turned on me. "She really doesn't know when to leave, does she? She smells like she just got off a restaurant shift and look at those clothes. And she actually dared to touch the Vance princess? Does she even know who Mina's father is?"

I didn't. But I knew my father had never once raised a hand to me.

Everyone burst out laughing, and humiliation washed over me. My cheek burned from the slap, but the pain in my chest hurt even more.

That slap shattered something inside me, leaving nothing to put back together.

So James did know how to protect someone. He just never protected me. This wasn't the man who used to hold me and promise, "As long as I'm here, you don't have to be afraid of anything."

That James was gone. I walked out of the church without looking back. We were done.