Chapter 3

My heart sank.

Her smile grew sweeter, like a viper flicking its tongue.

"Did you think he kept your wounds as secrets?"

"I'm sorry to tell you, but he told me everything when he was coaxing me to sleep."

"He said you were trapped somewhere when you were little, so you never sleep well when it rains."

"He said you look tough, but deep down you're still that little girl who's afraid of the dark and afraid of water."

A ringing filled my ears.

These words felt colder than ice.

Three years with Matt.

I had shielded him from assassination attempts, negotiated with the five families on his behalf, closed an arms deal for him at four in the morning.

The night he hemorrhaged, I stayed with him at the hospital until dawn.

When a rival family framed him, I was the one who found the forged ledgers and cleared his name.

He took my hand, held my gaze, and said, "Evelyn, without you, there is no Matt De Luca."

"Once I become the Don of the De Luca family, I will marry you."

I had believed that was a promise.

But to him, I had only ever been a useful tool. Someone who would give everything for a little warmth.

Salina tapped the glass.

"Evelyn, don't blame me."

"I just wanted you to understand your place."

She glanced down at Matt, her voice going soft.

"Matt, you're not angry with me, are you?"

Matt stubbed out his cigarette.

"Don't go too far."

Salina immediately pouted with an aggrieved look.

"How have I gone too far? You promised me tonight was mine to enjoy."

"You even said the engagement was only a matter of convenience."

A matter of convenience.

These words scraped across my chest like a dull blade.

I raised my head and looked at Matt. "Is what she said true?"

Matt's brow creased.

He seemed not to have expected Salina to let it slip in front of everyone.

But in a moment he had recovered that cool, superior composure.

"Since you've heard it, there's no point in hiding it."

I stood there soaked to the bone, in ice-cold water, staring at him without blinking.

"So tomorrow's engagement banquet is a lie too?"

"It's not a lie," he said evenly.

"It's only an engagement, not a marriage."

"Evelyn, you should understand. A De Luca marriage cannot be decided by feelings alone."

"Salina has the Colombo family behind her. She is the woman who belongs at my side."

My nails drove into my palm. "Then what am I?"

A flicker of impatience finally crossed Matt's eyes.

"Do you have to put it so harshly?"

"I have not treated you badly these three years."

"You wanted a position, I made you my underboss."

"You wanted respect, and now who in the entire De Luca family dares to address you as anything but Miss Evelyn?"

"As for marriage, I cannot give you that, and there is no need for me to deceive you for the rest of your life."

He said it all calmly.

As though three years of everything I had given him were worth nothing more than a title.

Salina smiled and leaned against him.

"You heard him. Learn some gratitude."

"A person with no family name, no parents to back her up, who managed to make it all the way to an engagement with Matt, that is more fortune than most people can imagine in several lifetimes."

Someone nearby chimed in. "Exactly."

"If the Don actually married her, where would that leave the De Luca family's reputation?"

"What does ability matter? A donna is chosen for her bloodline."

"Evelyn ought to wake up. At best she's a capable subordinate. Since when does a subordinate become a donna?"

I looked at the people who had once bowed and scraped before me.

When they respected me, they called me Miss Evelyn.

Now that Matt was not protecting me, they had changed their faces without a second thought.

A man in a grey suit smiled and held up his phone.

"Miss Evelyn, shall I take a photo for you as a keepsake?"

"After tonight, the place beside Young Master Matt belongs to Miss Salina."

I said nothing more.

Because the worst of the fear had already passed its peak.

When pain reaches its limit, the mind goes perfectly clear.

I raised my hand and touched my right ear. The earring was still there.

It was not an ordinary earring.

When I left home three years ago, my papa worried about my safety and had an emergency device made for me. All these years, I had never taken it off.

Three consecutive presses would trigger an automatic location signal and send an alert to a designated contact.

Matt did not know.

He had always assumed I had handed him every card I held.

But he had forgotten: a soul forged in blood and fire trusts no one with her life.

I lowered my head, pretending the water had gone down my throat, and raised my hand to cover my ear.

Once.

Twice.

A third time.

The earring gave a faint vibration.

The signal was sent.