Chapter 1

A sharp ringing went through my ear and blood ran down my neck.

I fell, and the robbers rushed in, tore off my necklace, grabbed my valuables, and disappeared down the alley.

Three, two, one. I counted in my head. Sure enough, there was applause behind me.

Chloe was leaning against a silver-gray sports car with her phone camera pointed at me.

Her eyes crinkled with laughter. "Evelyn, that was awful, but at least you didn't scream this time."

Several younger members of the Moretti family were passing money back and forth.

"See, I said she wouldn't get out of the way."

"What a shame! She almost cried just now. I bet she'd cry within three minutes."

Chloe laughed even harder. "Try again next month. You can still win it back!"

She scrolled through the video she had just taken. "She barely reacted the last few times. I was getting bored with it."

Adrian glanced at her screen. "That should be enough to keep you happy."

Chloe took his arm, laughing. "Barely."

I had seen this scene often enough over the past year.

They had gone from snatching my phone in the first drill to firing live rounds at me now. Each time, they laughed harder and raised the stakes.

It wasn't until today that I finally admitted there was no such thing as a robbery drill. They were only amusing themselves at my expense!

Adrian came closer and looked at the blood on me. His smile faded slightly. "I agreed to live rounds. I didn't tell you to shoot her."

The one who fired said, "Ms. Marino said we were too far off and she didn't react enough."

Chloe didn't care. "It didn't hit her. And the look on her face just now was hilarious."

Someone beside her laughed too. "We spent a whole year trying to teach her. She should consider herself lucky. I still don't understand why Adrian turned down the Castillo heiress for this ordinary woman."

Adrian frowned and said, "Keep the muzzle farther away next time."

He pulled me to my feet. "I thought a few drills would teach you to protect yourself. Instead, you still just stood there waiting to get shot."

He closed my coat around me, then noticed my necklace was missing. "They took the necklace too?"

He had given me the necklace after the first drill, when someone put a knife to my waist in an underground garage and stole my phone.

To keep my identity hidden, I pretended to be terrified. My hands were still shaking when Adrian arrived.

He looked even more shaken than I did.

He held me and checked me over again and again, then had a doctor examine me too.

Then he took out the necklace and fastened it around my neck himself. "This is to make up for it. Once you're used to living in my world, I won't have to worry about you anymore."

I thought he truly cared about me, so I went along with every staged robbery.

The second time, Chloe had people steal my car keys in a parking garage.

The fifth time, two men dragged me into an alley with no cameras, and one of them slashed my arm with a knife.

The ninth time, I woke in the middle of the night and saw a strange man sitting at the edge of my bed.

When Chloe and the rest showed up in my room again to settle their bets, I finally lost my temper and ignored Adrian's calls for two days.

He showed up with flowers to make peace. He said Chloe's father had died saving his father and was considered a benefactor of the Family. They raised Chloe like their own. Adrian believed he had a duty to look after her. He also promised he'd given her a warning.

I respected him for honoring the man who saved his father, so I stayed.

But the next month, another drill came right on schedule. Chloe laughed just as hard as before.

At first, I had been testing whether Adrian would protect a girlfriend with no powerful connections.

Then I realized these weren't drills at all. They were ambushes. No one ever taught me how to defend myself. They only wanted to laugh at my expense.

So I waited to see how long Adrian would keep letting Chloe get away with it.

After twelve drills, I had my answer. He would never stop her.