Chapter 1

Lucia's POV

The old Ricci elder, Leonardo Ricci, sat at the long table, his face stern as he struck the floor with his cane.

"From the very beginning, I told you that you weren't fit to be our Donna. You forced your way into this position. Lucia Marino, what gives you the courage to give it up now?"

Even after I married Pietro Ricci, the Riccis never once accepted me. On the eve of our wedding, Leonardo went behind Pietro's back and forced me to sign a marriage agreement that had to be renewed every year.

"You must follow the Ricci Famiglia code to the letter and take good care of the Don. If he shows even the slightest dissatisfaction, your marriage will be terminated at once."

I didn't want Pietro to be caught in the middle, so I swallowed my pride and signed the marriage agreement.

Even then, I had complete faith in him. I believed he would always be good to me and that our marriage agreement would never be terminated.

I never imagined that just five years later, I would be the one to end the marriage no one had ever had faith in.

I knelt down before Leonardo and bowed my head again. "It took me five years to see things for what they really were. I'm willing to step aside and give up my position as Donna to someone truly worthy of Pietro."

Leonardo said nothing, and the atmosphere grew tense. A moment later, he let out a long sigh.

"You two clearly don't love each other anymore. It's been five whole years, and you haven't even given us an heir. In that case, perhaps it's for the best that you leave. We've already chosen a suitable Donna. It's time to set things right."

Bitterness welled up within me. I wasn't even gone yet, and the Riccis had already found Pietro a new Donna.

"Would you like us to throw you a farewell banquet tomorrow?"

Leonardo looked at me as though I were beneath him, his expression full of pity.

I let out a bitter laugh and turned him down. "That won't be necessary. Pietro's throwing Antonia a wedding celebration tomorrow. I don't want to put a damper on things just because I'm leaving."

Leonardo looked at me with even more pity. Still, he couldn't help but ask, "You loved him so much back then. How could you let someone else have him?"

I faltered for a moment, but I forced a polite smile. "I don't have it in me to love him anymore."

Even five years later, our wedding was still the talk of Nabola.

Fireworks lit up the sky for three nights in a row, and our wedding was broadcast live on giant screens all over the city.

I wore a wedding dress worth millions, and everyone knew Pietro was madly in love with me.

In the early days of our marriage, we were crazy about each other. Pietro worshipped the ground I walked on and spoiled me rotten.

I was the most envied woman in Nabola. Everyone thought I had married the right man.

Less than a year later, Pietro was photographed meeting with several of his lovers. At first, I refused to believe it until one of them came to our house to provoke me.

I lost it and slapped the woman, but the story made headlines, and soon everyone knew what had happened.

The Ricci Famiglia was furious and sent ten bodyguards to drag me back to the Ricci residence.

I was bound to the chair against my will, forced to face punishment for breaking the Famiglia code. Soon, Pietro forced his way into the disciplinary hall with 100 bodyguards and pulled me behind him.

"How dare you bully my wife right in front of me? Do you really think I'll just let this slide?"

Pietro ordered his men to wreck the disciplinary hall. He even smashed the chair I had been strapped to into pieces. Then he gathered me into his arms and carried me home himself, as if I were something precious.

From then on, despite their Famiglia code, the Riccis never interfered with anything I did. But the moment Antonia Costa showed up, all that special treatment vanished.

The first day I met her, she deliberately smashed a wineglass and cut her own wrist. Blood spilled onto the floor as she weakly sank to her knees, her voice trembling as she sobbed.

"Lucia, I won't take Don Ricci away from you. I just want to stay by his side…"

Pietro hurried over. I expected him to drive Antonia away, just as he always had when one of his lovers came to provoke me. Instead, he walked toward her, his expression grim.

"Lucia, I've been lenient with you for far too long. You've forgotten your place. As the Donna of the Ricci Famiglia, you should learn to be more tolerant instead of going after my lovers."

Pietro scooped Antonia into his arms and turned to leave. Before walking away, he said coldly, "Stay there. Don't get up until you've learned your lesson."

His bodyguards shoved me down onto my knees. As the glass shards cut into my knees, my white dress was instantly stained with blood.

I cried out in pain, but Pietro never even looked back.