Chapter 1

Ten years ago, Elena was tortured to death; every bone in her body was crushed, leaving no piece of her flesh intact.

She was my best friend and the fiancée of my foster brother, Alexander, yet I covered for the sadistic murderer.

Alexander personally sent me to court for interrogation, but I chose to plead guilty and enter a maximum-security prison rather than speak the killer's name.

In prison, the people sent by the Family took turns torturing me to force me to speak. To keep the secret, I bit off half my tongue.

Ten years later, I was in the terminal stages of cancer, lingering on my last breath in prison. Alexander, having firmly secured his position as the Don, stormed into the prison hospital.

The first thing he did after dragging me back to Sicily was strap me into the memory extraction chair reserved for interrogating traitors.

"Ivy, you ungrateful wretch! I never should have picked you out of that orphanage!"

"I treated you like a sister, made you the Family's most cherished Princess, and Elena treated you like her own blood. Yet you colluded with outsiders to kill her!"

"Today, I’m going to cut your brain open with this machine and see who that bastard is—the one you protected by sitting in jail for ten years and biting off your own tongue!"

But when the real killer's face appeared on the big screen, the cigar in Alexander’s hand trembled and fell to the floor, his face instantly turning pale as a sheet.

...

Alexander made a massive spectacle of my trial.

The entire underground torture chamber was packed with Mafiosi; not even a fly could escape.

Several precision instruments were set up, with a massive projection screen facing everyone.

Suffering from multiple organ failure and with only half a breath left, I was dragged onto the high platform like a dead dog.

A burly man lunged forward, choking me violently as he roared:

"Ivy, why are you protecting the killer?!"

"You animal! Elena died so miserably; her ghost won't let you rest! Why don't you just die?!"

That was Elena’s biological brother, and now the most loyal Capo by Alexander’s side.

I was choked to the point of suffocation, my vision going black.

The torture chamber instantly boiled over with murderous intent.

"It’s this ungrateful bitch! The Don picked her out of the trash and raised her like a Princess, and she killed the future mistress of the family!"

"Even though Miss Elena was the daughter of a maid, she gave her heart and soul to Ivy. She suffered inhuman torture before she died, yet this woman knew everything and said nothing."

"What's even more disgusting is that she dared to bite off her tongue in prison just to keep the secret. It makes me sick!"

Overwhelming abuse drowned me.

Alexander sat in the seat of honor, his brow filled with violence.

In this world, aside from Elena’s brother, the person who hated me most was him.

Ten years ago, I was the orphan Alexander brought home, the Princess held in the palm of the Family's hand; Elena was the daughter of the housemaid, our childhood playmate, and my best sister.

Alexander loved Elena deeply, even going so far as to defy a Family marriage alliance for her, declaring her his only fiancée.

But on the eve of the wedding, Elena was kidnapped and tortured to death.

Surveillance showed I was at the crime scene and witnessed the whole thing, yet I didn't mention a word about the killer afterward, even willing to take the blame and go to prison.

I became the accomplice in the slaughter of the Don's beloved.

And I... I did indeed cover for the murderer.

Alexander walked up to me. He looked down at me coldly.

"Ivy, for the sake of the ten years I spoiled you, I’ll give you one last chance."

"Write down the killer's name now and end your own life. It’s not too late..."

"Otherwise, once the memory extractor starts, the high-voltage current will make your nerves feel like they've been corroded by strong acid 999 times. You won't even have the chance to beg for a quick death then!"

Hearing this, my face went pale. I struggled desperately, letting out a broken rasp from my throat:

"Xander... you can't!"

"You can't look at those memories!"

Alexander grabbed my collar tight. Hearing that long-lost nickname, the disgust in his eyes deepened.

"Shut up! You don't get to call me that!"

"Scared? It’s not up to you anymore!"

"I must get justice for Elena! And I must know who made you betray me!"

I wept, trembling all over as I begged:

"Alex, please. My memories can't be made public. You'll regret it!"

Alexander sneered, his eyes red as he closed in on me.

"Regret?"

"The only thing I regret is looking at you one extra time at the orphanage entrance and bringing a curse like you home!"

Two Mafiosi immediately clamped me into the iron chair, cold metal locking my withered limbs.

Ignoring my violent resistance, I was forcibly pinned down, and a helmet connected to countless wires was buckled onto my head.

In an instant, countless probes pierced my scalp and drilled into my brain.

Immediately, I convulsed with pain, letting out a wretched scream from my throat, feeling as if my soul was being torn apart.