Chapter 2

It wasn't until the midnight bells rang that the bleeding in my thigh finally slowed.

Just as I was about to close my eyes and lick my wounds alone in this freezing guest room—

A piercing siren shattered the silence of Corleone Manor.

It was the highest-level raid alarm.

Gunshots, explosions, and the screams of servants instantly erupted into chaos.

As the family’s Mamma, I instinctively dragged my freshly clotted leg and rushed downstairs.

The living room was a wreck.

Several blood-soaked Soldatos knelt on the floor, while Luca was screaming hysterically.

"It's all your fault! If she wasn't trying to save me, Auntie Gina wouldn't have been taken!"

Seeing me descend, a loyal Capo walked over quickly, his expression grave.

"Ma'am, it was that upstart family from the East District. They kidnapped Gina. They ... they want to trade you for her."

"They said only the mistress of the Corleone family is worth the hostage they hold."

This was obviously a clumsy trap.

Anyone with a brain knew this was a dead end designed specifically for me.

The Capo clearly understood this too. He immediately pressed his earpiece to give orders.

"Go to the armory! Get the newest Kevlar vests and have all snipers on standby. We need a foolproof breach plan. We cannot let Mamma be in danger."

"No! There's no time!"

Luca suddenly rushed over, shoving the Capo who was deploying tactics.

His eyes, so similar to Marco's, were filled with hatred toward me.

"Auntie Gina is losing a lot of blood! She got hurt saving me!"

"If you don't go now, she's going to die!"

He pointed at my nose, cursing me viciously.

"You selfish bitch. You just want someone else to do your dirty work, don't you? You're praying Gina dies!"

Even though my heart was already dead ashes, I still felt a chill cut to the bone.

This was the son I had risked my life to bring into the world.

At that moment, Marco, who had been silent, walked in.

He had just come out of the study, carrying the faint scent of cigars. He glanced at the crying Luca, then at the frail me.

As the Don who held the power of life and death, he made his judgment quickly—sacrifice me.

"Elena, you go."

His tone was calm to the point of atrocity.

"That is a rival stronghold. We have to follow the rules. Since they want to talk, you will go represent the family."

The Capo was frantic. "But Don, the Madam has no training, and her body..."

"She is a Mafia wife!" Marco interrupted coldly. "She has enjoyed the glory and wealth for so many years; now it is time to make a sacrifice for the family."

He walked up to me, looking down with a hint of impatient charity.

"Stop stalling. It's the code of the Mafia. They wouldn't dare actually touch the Don's wife; they just want to humiliate me a little."

"Just get Gina back. After this is done, I'll transfer the two vineyards in Italy to your name as compensation."

Compensation again.

In his eyes, my life was just a bargaining chip with a price tag.

"What about the bulletproof vest..." The Capo tried to insist.

"Putting that thing on is a waste of time!" Luca shrieked. "Get the hell out there and save Gina!"

Marco frowned and said to me:

"Did you hear that? Don't disappoint our son. Just go directly. "

In this moment, I didn't even have the strength to smile bitterly.

I pushed away the sidearm the Capo offered me. Dragging the leg that was seeping blood again, I walked alone into the night.

No security detail.

No protection.

Like a sacrificial lamb, I walked alone into that abandoned warehouse.

The warehouse was empty, except for Gina tied to a chair. But the scene was too staged; even the knots were loose.

Seeing me enter, the corners of Gina's mouth curled into a sinister smirk.

The next second.

Boom—!

A massive heat wave swallowed me instantly.

The bomb detonated right at my feet.

Agonizing pain tore through my consciousness. My body was tossed like a kite with a cut string, smashing heavily into a pile of rubble.

In the last second before my consciousness plunged into total darkness, through the overwhelming firelight, I saw a scene that would be branded into my memory forever.

My husband, Marco, the man who sent me to die with bare hands.

At this moment, he was fully geared up, wearing a heavy bomb disposal suit. Like a heroic knight, he charged desperately into the sea of fire.

He didn't even spare a glance at me, lying in a pool of blood only a few steps away.

He threw himself madly toward the unscathed Gina, shielding her tightly in his arms.

Then, my world went completely black.