Chapter 2

Victor's hand froze around his cigar.

"Sofia, we've been together for three years, and you're still this uptight! Now you want to control the future Donna too?"

I met his furious glare and calmly took out the gold pocket watch the old Don had left me. It bore a cross.

"Victor, we swore a solemn oath before the old Don died. When it comes to money, my word is final."

Victor stared at the pocket watch, his jaw clenched, but in the end he didn't say a word. He turned and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

The living room went quiet. The only sound was the grandfather clock ticking.

Five years ago, the old Don died suddenly of a stroke. Victor was only 24, and the elders were circling like vultures.

I was the one who stood up to the threats. I cut the estate's lavish spending and used the money I saved to pay off politicians in Rome and keep the rank-and-file gunmen fed.

Back then, the elders had Victor so cornered he could barely breathe. Late one night, he came to my study.

He pinned me against the mahogany bookshelf, his kisses hot and insistent.

"Sofia, be the lady of this estate. Then all the money will be yours, and so will I. Stop frowning all the time. You should smile more."

The vulnerability and passion he showed me in the dark broke down the walls I'd built.

To keep the elders from using our relationship against him, we agreed to keep it a secret.

In public, he was the violent new Don and I was his straitlaced finance chief. In private, we laced our fingers together in the bulletproof safe room.

But now that his position as Don was secure, I'd become a joke.

The wound in my side started oozing again. I dragged myself into the bathroom to change the dressing.

As the steam started to rise, a few finger marks slowly appeared on the glass door of the shower.

Victor had said he was drunk that day and walked into the wrong bathroom...

At the thought, my stomach churned. I grabbed the cartoon ceramic mug from the counter and hurled it at the glass door.

Cracks spread across it like a spiderweb.

That cartoon mug was the birthday present Bella gave me last year. Victor had sneered back then that it was too childish for someone as cold-blooded as me.

Now the shards lay on the floor as if mocking me. I'd been the childish one all along.

The next morning, I went to the dining room on the second floor.

Bella was sitting at the table drinking milk. The glass in her hand wobbled when she saw me.

I set a one-way ticket to Paris in front of her.

"I've contacted your advisor at the Paris art academy. Your graduation show has been moved up. Your flight is at two this afternoon. Go pack."

Bella's eyes reddened at the sight of the ticket, and she gripped the tablecloth with both hands.

"Sis, school doesn't start for another two weeks. I don't want to go..."

"I don't want you causing a scandal before you graduate. Finish school first." My answer left no room for argument.

Tears rolled down Bella's cheeks. She stood and timidly tugged at my sleeve, her voice trembling.

"Sis, are you never going to forgive me? I didn't want to betray you, but Victor is so gentle, and when he held me while he was drunk, I just couldn't say no... Sis, you always said you'd forgive me no matter what I did wrong. Please don't send me away, okay?"

Even now, she thought that if she put on her sweet, pitiful act, I'd give in like always.

Expressionless, I pulled my sleeve away.

Footsteps sounded at the dining room door. Victor strode in and casually put his arm around Bella's shoulders.

"Sofia, she's an adult. Whether she stays or goes is her choice."

Before I could say anything, Victor turned to Marco, the old butler beside him.

"Cancel the ticket. And have the kitchen make the crème br?lée Bella likes."

The bodyguards and maids all lowered their heads, but I heard a few hushed comments behind me.

"Miss Sofia is such a tyrant."

"Miss Bella is so much sweeter. If she becomes Donna, life will be easier for all of us."

Listening to them, I felt something thick and bitter lodge in my throat.

I was about to return to my room when Victor's uncle, Antonio Cordano, stormed into the hall with several elders.

"Sofia! Get out here!"