Chapter 3

Sophia's POV

A few months later. Outside the family's port.

A murderous tension hung in the air.

Dozens of wounded lay on stretchers, hauled back in groups.

"Useless! A bunch of useless trash!"

Sophia swept the battle maps off the table, screaming hysterically.

The tent flap lifted. Lorenzo walked in, his right arm wrapped in bandages, shrapnel wounds from not long ago.

"Miss Sophia, three districts in the south have fallen completely."

"If we don't get aid soon, they'll be at the port within a week."

Sophia gritted her teeth, shaking all over.

"What did Father say?"

Lorenzo avoided her eyes and said coldly,

"The Don is in a tight spot too. The council of elders has started demanding accountability."

"Someone confronted the Don directly. Asked why he chose you to run the front lines when steady Catherine was right there."

"Making a mess?"

Sophia shook with fury.

In her last life, she only saw how glorious Catherine was after becoming Donna.

She thought if she just grabbed the front lines first, prestige and power would be hers for the taking.

But she never imagined what she'd actually be like in a real battle. How utterly out of her depth.

Her men didn't follow her orders. They fought on their own. And she, besides hiding in the back, sick with fear, could do nothing.

What made it worse was the letter Catherine had sent her at the start of the campaign.

In it, Catherine had laid out detailed advice on front-line strategy. How to hold the southern districts. How to rotate her men so they didn't burn out. Where to station the scouts. Even a rough map of the terrain and the enemy's likely supply routes.

Sophia had taken one look at the envelope, seen Catherine's handwriting, and thrown it in the fire without reading a word.

She didn't need her sister's charity. She didn't need the pity of the woman she'd shoved to the coast. She was going to prove she could do this on her own, and she'd do it without owing Catherine anything.

Now, with three districts gone and the enemy closing in, she couldn't help but wonder if that letter had held the answer.

She shoved the thought away. It burned.

"Send another request for aid! Write to the Voss family!"

Sophia's eyes were bloodshot. She snapped,

"Tell them I'm Father's most beloved daughter. As long as they give me weapons, I'll agree to any condition!"

"It won't work."

Lorenzo pulled a returned letter from his coat and dropped it on the table, exhausted.

"Kevin's made it clear. That shipment of weapons has been assigned to Catherine. Unless Catherine signs it herself, no one else gets a single bullet."

Then Lorenzo pulled out the latest art magazine and tossed it in front of Sophia.

The cover was a portrait of Catherine.

The headline was glaring.

[Genius Artist Catherine Moretti to Hold Her First Solo Exhibition.]

In the photo, Catherine wore luxurious clothes, her expression composed.

And Kevin stood at her side, tenderness in his eyes that Sophia had never seen before.

Sophia stared at the photo. Her nails nearly dug into her own flesh.

She'd assumed Catherine was already broken down to nothing in that cold, brutal arms family.

But why?

Why was she here, bleeding for the family, ending up a total wreck.

While Catherine, the one she'd shoved into the fire pit, hadn't died. She'd become a revered lady of the arms dynasty. She had her by the throat.

Catherine had even tried to help her. Sent her a letter full of advice. And Sophia had burned it out of pure spite, because accepting it meant admitting Catherine was better.

Fear and jealousy crushed the last of her reason.

Sophia yanked open a drawer and slapped a business card across Lorenzo's face.

"This is the top assassin network in all of Europe. You contact them. Kill Catherine."

"Once she's dead, Father will have no choice but to rely on me!"

"Then I'll have my people cause chaos at the estate, force Father to step down. I'll be the sole ruler."

"Sophia, you've lost it! This is kinslaying. This is rebellion!"

"Rebellion? So what?"

Sophia stared at him, her eyes full of malice.

"The estate is already crawling with my loyalists inside and out. Lorenzo, if you don't stand with me, I guarantee your whole family will be dead before nightfall."

Looking at the woman who'd completely lost her mind, Lorenzo stood frozen. A chill ran down his spine.

He thought of his sick wife and young daughter. Even as the Don's most trusted lieutenant, in front of this lunatic, he had no way out.

Lorenzo closed his eyes and nodded with difficulty.

Trembling, he picked up the communicator and pressed the number.