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Out in the hallway, Cecilia was leaning against the wall waiting for me.When she saw me come out, she raised an eyebrow.“You cried?”“No.” I shook my head. “I stopped crying over him a long time ago.”“That’s my girl.” Cecilia handed me a pack of cigarettes. “Want one?”I took a cigarette from the pack and lit it before taking a deep drag.The nicotine made me cough twice, but I quickly got used to it.“Let’s go,” I said. “There’s a meeting this afternoon.”Cecilia patted my shoulder, and together we walked toward the exit.Behind us came the sound of something shattering inside the meeting room, but I never looked back.Just as we reached the staircase, we ran into Don Victor.Standing on the marble steps, he looked at me with a trace of apology in his voice.“Isabella, I’m sorry you had to go through that. I originally thought that if you didn’t want to see him, I could simply throw him out. I should’ve asked for your opinion first.”“It’s alright, Don Victor.” I crush
Fate always liked playing jokes.In my sixth month in Macondo, Luca Villani really came.It was a Saturday. For once, I had a rare day off and was sitting at home reading a novel when Cecilia suddenly called me.Her tone was unusually serious.“Isabella, don’t come to headquarters. Luca Villani is here. He says he wants to see you.”The hand holding my phone paused slightly, but only for a moment.“What is he here for?”“He says he wants to clear things up with you. Victor allowed him inside. After all, he’s the don of the Villani family, so outright refusing him wouldn’t look good. “But Victor asked me to ask you. Do you want to see him?”I stayed silent for several seconds.“Yes,” I said. “There are some things that need to be said clearly.”I changed clothes and drove to the family headquarters.Luca sat alone inside the meeting room without any bodyguards.Compared to the man in my memory, he looked much thinner. Dark circles hung beneath his eyes, and his hair had gr
Days passed one after another.Gradually, my life in Macondo settled into a routine.Every morning, I woke up at seven, went for a run by the ocean, then bought a cup of coffee and walked to the office.During the day, I handled intelligence work for the Anderson family. At night, I went home and cooked for myself. Occasionally, Cecilia and I would go out for drinks at a bar.After I finished building the intelligence system, the Anderson family’s information processing efficiency nearly doubled.Don Victor trusted me more and more. He gave me my own office and a personal car.Little by little, people within mafia circles all started hearing the same thing. The Anderson family had a highly capable woman named Isabella.Now and then, I still hear news about Luca.Some people said he had lost a lot of weight and no longer carried the same confidence he once had when he and Gianna appeared everywhere together.Others said he and Gianna had broken up. Supposedly, she took a large
By my third month in Macondo, I received a major assignment.The Anderson family was preparing to negotiate a weapons partnership with a family from Sicilia. The other side’s demands were extremely harsh, and Don Victor assigned me to handle the negotiations.“Why me?” I asked.“Because you need this opportunity to prove yourself,” Victor replied. “Cecilia said that when you negotiate, there’s no emotion in your eyes, only numbers. In the mafia world, that’s a rare quality. Isabella, I believe in you.”So I went.The negotiations took place inside an old castle in Sicilia.The head of the opposing family was a man in his sixties named Tarantino. Rumor had it that he had dozens of deaths on his hands and had been in this business for forty years.“So you’re the woman who ran away from Luca Villani.” The first thing he said to me wasn’t exactly polite. “I heard about you. The Villani family kid hasn’t been doing too well lately. People are saying you sabotaged things before you le
Luca was only eighteen then.He had been forced into taking over the family business before he was ready. He was just an inexperienced young man who understood nothing, yet stubborn enough to refuse to bow down to anyone.At the time, I was the assistant secretary to Villani Senior, Luca’s father. When he passed, I chose to stay and help Luca.The Luca then wasn’t like the man he became now.If I casually mentioned having a stomachache, he would run across several streets just to buy me medicine.When I worked overtime until the middle of the night, he would quietly drape his coat over my shoulders.After killing someone for the first time, he trembled while holding me and whispered, “Isabella, I’m scared.”Back then, there had truly been light in the way he looked at me.On the day he proposed, he slipped the ring onto my finger and swore to me, “Once I secure my position, I’ll give you a grand wedding.”I waited for eight years. What I got was his ninety-ninth canceled wed
On my third day in Macondo, I finally met the don of the Anderson family, Victor Anderson.He was different from what I had imagined.Although he looked only a little over fifty, all of his hair had already turned white.He sat inside the study of the family estate, with a large oil painting of Macondo Bay hanging on the wall behind him.“Isabella Rossi.”When Victor spoke my name, his voice carried the distinct rhythm of local accent.“Cecilia’s told me about your situation. To be honest, I’m not interested in your story. I only care about what you can bring to my family.”I sat across from him with my back perfectly straight.“I have the complete procurement records for the Villani family’s weapons channels over the past eight years. I also know their cooperation model with Eastern Europa and the exact profit-sharing ratios. On top of that, I still have access to El Tricolor’s distribution channels.”Victor’s expression shifted slightly.“What do you want?” he asked.“Prot
By the time the plane landed at Macondo Airport, the sun was already setting.The Mesiterranean breeze carried a salty humidity that hit me in the face, completely different from the cold heaviness of Corholt.I took a deep breath and felt like the suffocating weight that had built up inside me ov
In the most visible corner of the bathroom counter sat a lace panty that didn’t belong to me.At the same time, Gianna’s voice message played through Luca’s phone outside the door.“Luca, I think I accidentally left my underwear in your bathroom this morning when I was getting ready… It’s my favor
Both of my hands were instantly covered in blood as countless shards embedded themselves into my flesh.“You need to learn! Clean this place up with your own hands, and nobody is allowed to help her!“I’ll wait for you to reflect on your mistakes. You can come apologize when you’ve figured things
Today, several other mafia families had come to headquarters for negotiations and discussions.Most of the ongoing handover work still needed me to handle it personally.I led them into the lounge to settle in first.The moment the group walked in, they immediately noticed Luca and Gianna sitting







