Chapter 2

Caesar did not even realize there was an adoring and gentle look in his eyes when he mentioned Rosetta. Even his tone sounded soft and sweet when talking about her.

There was once a time when he looked at me and treated me the same way, with love and tenderness.

When I suffered from a cold, he stayed by my bedside the entire day, and he even burnt himself while trying to cook something for me in the kitchen.

Now, the same person was flinging a hundred-dollar bill at me impatiently.

"Rosetta is worried that the family's finances will be misused, so she’s implemented strict control over cash expenditure. Take this hundred dollars, buy Joey something nice to eat, and take good care of his health."

Caesar held my hand and pressed the money into my palm when I stayed silent.

We had been in a relationship for years, and I was his bride-to-be, who would soon marry him in church. However, I was the one being treated like a mistress, as if I were his secret lover.

As he reached out for the door's handle at the stairwell, I placed the bill back into his hand.

Caesar stopped in his tracks, finally realizing that he did not handle things well between us. He turned back to look at me.

"You need to be patient with this, Eva. I'm preparing Rosetta for a big downfall after I boost her self-esteem to the skies. This is all to help you get revenge. To do that, we need to make this believable. She has to believe that she has everything. Once she loses all of this and falls hard, she'll be destroyed. She will regret everything she has done, and I'll have helped you get back at her.

"It may feel horrible now, but just hang on. I promise she'll receive her comeuppance!"

Caesar's words were like a knife to my heart. Why did it feel like I was the one who lost everything and the one getting destroyed?

When Rosetta first became the family's Consigliere, she announced that she would be restructuring the entire company. Rosetta ruined the deal I had painstakingly negotiated with the largest arms dealers in the area, costing us close to two billion.

The deal that took me six months of bloodshed to win and was supposed to be our big break went down the drain, just like that.

When Caesar found out about it, he plotted Rosetta’s downfall. He wanted to build her up and knock her down hard to help me get back at her.

He started by heaping praises on Rosetta in every meeting. Every time he did that, he would raise an eyebrow and throw me a knowing look. It felt sweet at first when I went along with him in the act. I would always pretend that Caesar’s betrayal hurt me. Eventually, Rosetta became full of herself.

After that, the acting seemed to become something real.

Caesar initially pretended to admire Rosetta, but his purposeful taunts eventually became sincere praises.

We started spending less and less time together, and Caesar eventually grew distant.

Half a year ago, they kicked me out of the family.

Joey spotted his future brother-in-law being intimate with another woman while buying jewelry half a month ago. It angered him so much that it triggered his uremia.

He had a kidney match and an upcoming surgery with a low failure rate, but his useless sister was not able to get enough money for the surgery, which led to his early death.

Now, my Don boyfriend, who was standing in front of me, no longer had a place in his heart for me.

My heart was barren.

"Caesar, we should…"

I was about to say the words 'break up'.

That was when the doors to the stairwell suddenly opened.

I could not see who it was because of the blinding lights behind the door. All I saw was Caesar rushing forward to that person.

When the door closed, I saw Rosetta leaning close into Caesar's arms.

He was cajoling her tenderly and adoringly.

"Your leg is still injured. Why did you come running here? What if you hurt it again?"

Rosetta looked at me standing silently in the corner. A malevolent, taunting smile appeared on her face.

"What are you doing here, Eva? Did you follow us here because you wanted money from Caesar?

"I thought you were principled and had a backbone. Why are you still begging for money from your ex-boyfriend?

"You've been kicked out of the family, and he's no longer your boyfriend. Why are you still here, asking him for money and making him take care of you?"

Rosetta showed her dominance over Caesar by using a sickly-sweet tone with him. "You didn't give her any money, did you?"

When Caesar stayed quiet, Rosetta's eyes turned red. Tears welled in her eyes as she used a tone as soft and delicate as silk to berate Caesar.

"My Don, I've been trying my best to control the internal expenditures of the family to prevent any funds from being misused. I'm doing all this for you, but you're privately using money on her and allowing her to leech off you.

"Is this for old times’ sake?

"If it is, what's the point of my coming here to treat my leg? You might as well let it rot!"

With that, Rosetta made a show of leaving.

The ruthless Don, who was known as the ‘Black Plague’, who struck fear in everyone's heart, and who was merciless and headstrong in his ways, did not even dare say another word against Rosetta. He went right after her.

However, he paused in his steps when he suddenly remembered that I was still there.

He came to me and patted my shoulder gently.

"There are only three days left, Eva. Just hold on for a little longer. I'll make sure to give you a grand wedding after this."

This was how Caesar liked to comfort me. There was a point when I became addicted to this comfort whenever Caesar did something wrong. I was drunk in his show of tenderness to me, and I always chose to forgive him.

However, I felt nauseous now as he tried to comfort me. I was filled with disgust, and all I wanted to do was throw up.

I was about to dodge his touch when he suddenly turned quickly to run after Rosetta.

All I felt was numbness as I watched this unfold. I reflexively wiped my shoulder where Caesar had touched me.

Three days’ time?

That was the same day I promised the Underboss of the top Mafia family in the United States, the Carlonis, that I would leave Italy.

It was time for me to go.

I did not want Caesar anymore.

It was time to say goodbye.

I never wanted to see him again.