Chapter 2

Even so, the Mafiosi below the stage exploded.

"Damn traitor!"

"Go to hell! Pay with your life for the Godmother!"

On the big screen, my memories began to rewind crazily.

The first memory was one month after Elena’s death, my first night thrown into the maximum-security women's prison.

Because I bore the charge of "murdering the future Don's wife," I became the public enemy of the entire prison.

In the footage, seven or eight tattooed female prisoners dragged me into the shower room and pinned me against the slippery tiled floor.

They grabbed my hair and slammed my head against the wall over and over.

"You're the one who killed that angel of a girl?"

"Beat her! Beat her to death!"

Countless fists and feet fell like rain. My ribs were broken, my face was bruised and swollen, and I curled up into a ball, shivering.

But in my arms, I deathly protected a photo—the only photo of me, Alexander, and Elena together.

The scene shifted to a prison cell late at night.

Several inmates wanting to earn credit for a reduced sentence pinned my hands and feet, holding a sharpened toothbrush handle to my throat.

"Speak! Who is the killer! As long as you say it, the Don will spare your life!"

I was pushed to the brink.

To keep that secret, to ensure I wouldn't slip up when delirious.

In the memory, a look of absolute resolve flashed through my eyes.

I suddenly opened my mouth and fiercely bit off half my tongue!

Splurt—

Blood sprayed out, staining the gray prison uniform red.

I rolled on the ground in pain, letting out beast-like whimpers from my throat, yet I forcefully swallowed that name into my stomach.

That year, with no parents, I was only 19 years old.

Alexander stared fixedly at the big screen, watching the girl in the footage with a mouth full of blood, twitching in pain. The fingers holding his cigar trembled slightly.

But he quickly sneered aloud.

"Ivy, didn't you bring this on yourself?"

"If you hadn't covered for that bastard, would you have suffered like this? You think you're the victim?"

"You are the last person on earth entitled to complain! You chose this!"

The people around him chimed in.

"She's a total lunatic! So ruthless to herself!"

"Trying to use this sob story for sympathy? Laughable! Shielding a criminal makes you an accomplice! You deserve to be cut into a thousand pieces!"

"Miss Elena's family was destroyed; what is her little bit of suffering compared to that!"

Just then, the screen shook violently, and a burst of clear laughter rang out.

"Alexander! Ivy! Come catch me!"

Elena’s innocent, pure face appeared on the big screen.

It was a sunny afternoon in Sicily, the mountains full of lemon trees giving off a fresh scent.

The three of us, young and carefree, were running through the estate.

Elena wore a white dress, looking like an angel as she threw a lemon at me.

"Take that!"

"My Elena..."

Below the stage, Elena’s mother—the old maid who had gone mad in the estate for ten years—wailed and threw herself at the big screen.

Looking at her daughter smiling like a flower on the screen, she couldn't hold back her loud sobbing.

After Elena died ten years ago, her hair turned white overnight, and whenever she saw me, she would lunge like a mad dog to bite me.

Back then, the estate had no surveillance; that night, only Elena and I were together.

No one knew what happened that night.

Except me.

The footage continued to play.

After a bout of chasing and playing, we stopped in front of an ancient statue of the Virgin Mary.

At that time, my eyes were clear. I took out a dagger without hesitation and cut my finger.

Blood dripped onto the Bible.

With the most devout faith, I swore the blood oath that only core Mafia members would swear:

"I, Ivy, swear to the Holy Mother, to remain forever loyal to the Family, to forever protect Alexander and Elena... If I break this oath, may my soul fall into purgatory forever..."

Watching the once devout me making a vow, Alexander could no longer control his inner rage.

"Ivy, you lying hypocrite! You fake, ungrateful wretch!"

He rushed forward, pointing at me through the machine and cursing:

"You have the nerve to recall our childhood! Who are you trying to disgust?"

"Ten years! You haven't told the truth once! You betrayed your oath; you don't deserve to be our family!"

Sure enough, the memory jumped to the next scene.

Elena gave me an expensive diamond necklace, saying it was a birthday gift she had saved up for a long time to buy.

In the footage, however, I had a cold face. After Elena left, I stood on the cliff by the sea, tore the necklace off without hesitation, and threw it into the deep ocean.

The watching Family members exploded.

"What the fuck? Who does she think she is! Miss Elena was so good to her, and she threw the gift away?"

"This kind of person is just an ungrateful bitch, acting one way to your face and another behind your back!"