Chapter 2

Harper POV

The medicine box from the storage closet was gone.

Joseph must have taken it for Aria.

I gave a grim smile, dragging myself back to my own room.

As I passed Joseph's door, Aria's broken sobs drifted out.

He was inside, gently applying antiseptic and whispering reassurances.

His touch was soft, his tone gentle—exactly the way he used to be with me.

Something twisted in my chest. The ache in my wounds deepened.

I stood before the mirror and pulled off my dress.

The reflection showed raw, red welts and bleeding cuts crisscrossing my body.

I remembered how, even the smallest scratch on my finger was enough for Joseph to fuss over.

He would clean it himself, wrap it carefully, forbid the maids to take over.

And now, I picked up a damp wipe, awkwardly twisting my body to clean the gashes.

The sting of the alcohol was sharp.

I leaned against the chair back, biting my lip, afraid to breathe too hard through the pain.

A few tears fell, and I tilted my head back, swallowing the rest.

"Stop crying for a love that's already gone, Harper," I whispered to my reflection.

"You'll be free soon."

A loud knock startled me.

I opened the door to find Joseph standing there, his eyes utterly foreign.

"Harper, switch rooms with Aria. She's injured."

The tears I had just managed to hold back surged again, burning hot behind my eyes.

My throat tightened so much, I couldn't speak.

"But I was the one who crashed into the vase. I'm injured too."

His gaze flickered away for a fraction of a second before he raised his voice.

"Aria is leaving for Adrian in three days. She's sacrificing herself to save us. Are you really going to haggle over a room with her?!"

Aria peeked out from behind him, giving his arm a gentle, tearful tug.

"It's fine... don't make things hard for Harper. It's my fault. I have no right to ask for anything."

Joseph clenched her hand.

"No, Aria. I won't let her bully you anymore."

The next second, my arm was seized, and I was yanked out of the room.

My feet scraped across the floor, and the raw cuts on my legs were pulled taut.

The fiery pain seared along my skin as I was dragged behind him.

"Joseph, slow down… it hurts…"

But he didn't seem to hear.

I was dragged down a long corridor to the back of the villa.

A small, black door was thrown open, and I was shoved inside.

The room was smaller than my bathroom, dark and damp, permeated by the smell of mildew.

"You'll stay in the servant's quarters for a few days. Aria will be with Adrian soon," he said, a poignant tenderness in his eyes as he looked past me. "I just want her to be happy before she leaves."

I wanted to laugh, but the sound wouldn't come.

Everyone knew I was the princess in Father's and Joseph's hearts.

My limited edition luxury items piled up like mountains, and no matter what I asked for, they would never refuse.

But Aria was an expert performer.

She constantly brought up her father's death and wept in front of Joseph.

So, after losing Father, I quickly lost Joseph too.

"Joseph," my throat was thick with unshed emotion. "In your eyes, I'm a bad girl now, aren't I?"

He froze for a moment, shifting his gaze awkwardly away from mine.

"I didn't say that. It's just that… Aria has it harder than you."

His voice lowered, a hint of softness returning to his eyes.

"Harper, do you even know what kind of man Adrian is?"

I rubbed my arm where his fingers had bruised me, my voice unnervingly calm.

"A man who can shoot Father in cold blood obviously isn't a good man."

His throat bobbed, and his face gave a slight twitch.

"I hear he's volatile. That he'll put a gun to anyone's head on a whim, and that he's also…" He turned his face away, his voice barely audible. "...a sadist."

A small, quiet fissure cracked in the pit of my stomach. The chill turned lethal, crawling up my spine.

Joseph abruptly seized my shoulders, slamming me against the wall.

The impact jarred my chest, sending a blunt ache into my heart.

"So you'd send Aria to that monster?!"

I clutched my chest, taking several painful gasps of air.

"What else could we do? Let Adrian destroy us all?"

Joseph froze, staring at me... and slowly loosened his grip.

The silence was terrifying.

For all these years, Joseph had been drowning in the excesses of his own gilded cage, shirking every single responsibility of the family business.

That's why after Father's death, the Capos and foot soldiers defected to Adrian and rival gangs, causing the syndicate to collapse so swiftly.

"Joseph," I looked straight into his eyes. "If it were me going, would you be sad?"

He looked stunned for a moment, then let out a sharp, bitter laugh.

"What kind of joke is that, at a time like this?"

Was it a joke?

His phone vibrated. He snatched it up right away.

"Aria? Don't be afraid. I'm coming right back."

The tenderness in his tone was a hundred times softer than anything he had shown me.

He spun around and left, never looking back.

The instant the door clicked shut, tears slipped from my eyes.

I asked him if he would be sad, and he dismissed the question as a joke.

Fine.

Then let it be a joke.