Chapter 3

The iron door to the basement room flew open with a loud bang, and Dad's furious roar rang out.

"What the hell? What did you do to Leon?"

Clutching the silver cuff, which was still dripping blood, I looked at the howling Leon as he writhed on the floor before looking up emotionlessly.

Mom rushed in, shrieking, "Oh, my goodness! Mr. Carbone's arm… Quick! Call a doctor!"

Camilla followed close behind, her flawless makeup smudged from the contorted expression she was now sporting. She stared fixedly at Leon, asking, "What's going on? Didn't you say you were just going out to the car to get my gift?"

Leon's arm had a gaping wound from the blade. His face was twisted in pain as he snarled, "I heard from your household staff that she'd been locked down here all night. I was worried she'd starve to death, so I came to check on her out of kindness.

"But this crazy woman tried to kill me with that damn cuff of hers because she's jealous I'm marrying you!"

My parents' eyes flicked to the cuff on my wrist, feeling a mix of both doubt and shock. However, Camilla had already bought his story. She lunged forward, her hand raised to slap me. "Have you lost your mind? You bitch!"

Not only did I not try to avoid her, but I even took a step forward, slashing the cuff in front of me.

Her raised hand froze midair. She stared at me, cowed by the madness in my eyes.

"You've gone insane, haven't you? You've completely lost your mind!" Dad roared, his finger trembling as he wagged it at me.

Supporting his bleeding arm, the ashen-faced Leon snarled, "You ungrateful bitch! Do you think Lorenzo would be better than me? He's a twisted freak because he can't even get it up! You're no longer qualified to be my mistress now. You're only worthy of being a sex slave!"

"A sex slave?" I repeated in disbelief. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

In the mafia world, a sex slave was 100 times less respectable than a mistress. A mistress could at least choose to walk away from that kind of life. However, a sex slave was treated like property and enslaved for life. Even her children would live as slaves.

Camilla hugged Leon and sneered. "You should count your blessings. Being Leon's sex slave is still better than marrying that psycho."

She turned to my parents, her eyes glittering with malice. "Why not make it up to Leon by branding her right now?"

"That's a brilliant idea!" Dad agreed before summoning his bodyguards to hold me down. "Bring the branding iron over!"

Mom's eyes flickered hesitantly, but Camilla leaned close and whispered in her ear, "Leon's the next don of the Carbone family, Mom. Our priority is to keep him happy."

Instantly, the faint hint of a guilty conscience Mom felt vanished, and she even heated the branding iron herself.

Camilla grabbed the red-hot branding iron and started walking toward me, saying with a sweet smile, "Don't be scared. It'll be over in a flash. From now on, you won't be able to go around seducing men with that face of yours anymore."

The bodyguards had twisted my arms behind me, making it impossible for me to break free. The branding iron hovered inches away from me when I shut my eyes and shouted, "Don't you want the two million dollars from the Marra family anymore?"

Dad stiffened, and Camilla stopped as well.

"The money hasn't been transferred into your account, right?" I desperately continued. "Do you think the Marras will agree to take me if I show up to the wedding with this mark on my face?"

Turning to Mom, Dad said grimly, "The money hasn't been transferred over to us yet."

"Dad!" Camilla cried out as she stomped her foot indignantly.

"Camilla, put it down," Dad commanded sharply.

Furious, she moved to put the branding iron down, but as she turned, she "accidentally" stumbled, and the branding iron flew straight at my hand.

I instinctively raised my hand to block it.

When the branding iron struck the silver cuff, a jet of gas abruptly shot out, spraying right into Camilla's face.

"Argh! My eyes!" Camilla screamed as she clutched her face, rolling on the floor in pain.

I seized this moment of chaos to rush over to a corner of the room. The bodyguards scrambled to help the screaming Camilla and the bleeding Leon. No one paid any further attention to me.

"Get them to the hospital at once!" Dad roared.

On his way out, he shot me a murderous glare. "I'll settle this score with you after the wedding!"

Once the sound of their footsteps faded, I raised my trembling wrist, searching for where the gas had come from. However, I noticed a tiny engraving on the inside of the cuff.

"For my bride—L"

My heart pounded as I brushed the letter "L" with my fingers.

Even though we hadn't even met yet, he'd already saved me twice. Perhaps marrying him wouldn't be a bad thing after all.