Chapter 2

"My husband isn't bad either!" Victoria chimed in, pitching her voice higher.

"He brought me back a stunning pink diamond from the Paris auction. It's gorgeous. Come on, let's go to my place and I'll show you!"

Victoria was much younger than her husband. She constantly needed to prove how much he loved her to show she married for love, not money.

I smiled and shook my head.

"I'll pass. I need to take April back up for her bath. You guys go."

Victoria, who loved competing with me, immediately looked displeased.

"Didn't Silas just tell you to stay a little longer? My house is right next door. It won't take long. You can't even humor me this once?"

At 11:10, I walked out of the parlor.

At 11:15, I caught a wildly running April on the lawn, dragging her toward the main house.

She resisted at first.

"Just five more minutes," she begged. "Mommy, five minutes, please?"

I flatly refused, telling her the bathwater was already drawn.

She reluctantly waved goodbye to her little friends one by one.

The wives sitting nearby watched with amusement, sharing a knowing smile with me.

At 11:18, as April and I walked down the second-floor hallway, we ran into Julian, one of the Capos, who had just finished some Family business.

He greeted me, his face flushing slightly.

April grabbed his hand, asking in a sweet voice when he would take her horseback riding again.

Simultaneously, I pushed open the master bedroom door.

At 11:19, April was still in the hallway talking to Julian.

When I called out "Silas" and got no answer, I walked into the pool room.

At 11:20, I screamed.

Silas was floating face-down in the water. He was dead.

A lot of people came to the funeral.

Bosses of various mafia families, political and business elites, even the police chief.

Everyone marveled that this terrifying Godfather had actually died in a mere accident.

People whispered amongst themselves.

"Such a ruthless guy. God is blind... how could a freak accident like this happen to him?"

"Silas just swallowed up the West Side a few years ago. His position as Don was ironclad this year. He even said he was going to spend more time with his wife and kid. Who would've thought..."

"They were so in love. How is Leonora going to survive this? She's already passed out several times these past few days."

"Even though Leonora runs an art gallery, she never touched the Family business. With Silas alive, she was a queen on a pedestal. It's going to be tough for her now."

"It's just such a freak accident. I heard he slipped and knocked himself out by the pool, and the water ran for 20 minutes before it slowly covered his mouth and nose. If he had woken up, or if Leonora had gone back to the room earlier, he could have been saved at any moment. Sigh, it's just fate!"

Amidst the rustling whispers, I sat pale and to the side, staring blankly at Silas's portrait.

For days, I had been drowning in absolute agony.

I cried until my heart broke, fainting over and over.

Anyone who saw me couldn't help but sigh.

The Family elders sat beside me, offering warm words of comfort.

Victoria walked over, her face full of guilt.

"Leonora, I'm so sorry. If you hadn't come to my house and wasted time, maybe... maybe Silas wouldn't have died!"

By the end, she covered her mouth and sobbed.

I shook my head mournfully.

"No, it's not your fault. It's mine."

"I was the one who asked him to start the water early. I was the one who forgot my phone, making him open the window to call me, which made him slip. I was the one who promised to be back by 11:00 but dawdled and was twenty minutes late."

"It's all my fault. I killed him..."

An elder quickly intervened.

"Leonora, you absolutely cannot think like that. A freak accident is out of anyone's control. Besides, the medical examiner and the police chief said it themselves—it was an accident. A highly improbable freak accident."

That day, when I screamed, Julian was the first to rush in.

Realizing what had happened, he immediately blocked April from entering and called the Family's private doctor.

After inspecting the scene and conducting interviews, the police chief roughly pieced together the timeline:

10:40: Silas turned on the pool valve and stepped out onto the balcony to talk to me.

After speaking, he turned back inside. The pool was large, leaving only a narrow walkway around it. He slipped on it.

The back of his head hit the edge of the pool. He fell into the water, unconscious.

10:40 - 11:00: The water slowly rose until it submerged his head.

11:00 - 11:05: After five minutes of drowning, Silas died of asphyxiation.

He never woke up; there were no signs of a struggle or water splashed out of the pool.

Because he never made a sound, the bodyguards on the first floor noticed nothing unusual.

11:20: I returned to the room and discovered the scene.

During this time, from when Silas showed his face on the balcony to when I returned, no outsiders entered the hallway, and there were no suspicious traces at the scene. It was ruled an accident.

Someone shook their head and sighed.

"It really proves the saying: When Death comes for you, no one can stop it... Wait, who is that at the door? Dressed like that at a funeral?"