Chapter 3

I was stripped of every right I had, without exception. All of it was handed to Lily.

I pulled up Rocco's contact on my phone.

He and his men had already arrived in my territory.

Years ago, I had helped him in a business deal.

Later, when he was ambushed by his enemies, I was the one who secretly passed him intelligence at great personal risk. That information was the reason he was still alive and had become a Don.

He had never forgotten what I did for him.

He had reached out to me multiple times, wanting to take me away.

I had always refused.

Until now. For the first time, I felt genuinely grateful to him.

Without his help, I would have had no way out at all.

We discussed our plan.

Originally, I had planned to slip away from the estate after the banquet and get into Rocco's car.

With Lily back, Dario's attention wouldn't be on me.

But after the scene at the banquet, I'd lost my freedom. Leaving would be much harder now.

The cemetery visit in three days was a good opportunity.

I sent Rocco the plan and the timing.

I didn't notice Dario appear behind me.

"Who are you texting?"

My hand jerked. I forced myself to stay calm.

"The cemetery visit is in three days. I'm confirming the arrangements."

"That's not your concern anymore. Lily will handle it."

I put the phone down and looked at him.

"It's her first time. I'm worried something might go wrong."

Dario let out a mocking laugh.

"You're the one responsible for Camilla's death, and you have the nerve to say that? Don't forget why she died."

My fingers tightened involuntarily.

Lily walked in, and I immediately noticed the knife in her hand.

"You hate me for taking your things, don't you? Camilla is dead and Dario is devastated. Can't you be more considerate and stop causing him grief?"

She held the knife out to me.

"If you're really that angry, you can kill me. If I'm dead, nobody's fighting you for any of this. Then maybe you'll finally treat Dario right."

Dario watched her nervously, afraid I might actually do it.

He tried to grab the knife, but Lily wouldn't let go.

"Dario, I just want you to be happy. Being the Don is hard enough. If even the woman by your side can't make you happy, how miserable must you be?"

Lily reached up and tenderly touched Dario's face.

In Dario's eyes, this woman understood him far better than I, his own wife, ever did.

But I knew her real goal: she wanted to become the Donna.

Shortly after Camilla's death, Vincenzo had found inconsistencies in the records from that deal.

But before he could bring them to the Don, Lily intercepted him.

She threatened him with his parents' safety, confiscated the paper documents, and forced him to keep silent.

Faced with the threat, Vincenzo had no choice but to comply.

With the truth buried, Lily became the woman who had brought Camilla home, exactly as she had wanted.

Now that she was back, she assumed that debt of gratitude would make it easy to take my place.

What she hadn't counted on was that Dario's possessiveness over me ran deeper than she had anticipated.

I had no interest in playing along with her little performance.

I turned to leave.

I hadn't taken more than a few steps when Lily grabbed me from behind.

"Please, Lucia, stop giving Dario that look. He hasn't smiled once since he came home. He's hurting. If you can't do it, then I will."

She angled the knife toward herself but kept her grip tight on my hand.

I frowned and tried to wrench free.

But the wound on my arm hadn't healed, and I couldn't muster any strength.

The harder I struggled, the more agitated she became.

Before I knew it, she had the blade pressed to her own throat.

Afraid of hurting her, Dario grabbed for the knife.

Lily thrashed and refused to let go.

In the chaos, Dario wrenched the blade in the other direction, and it plunged straight toward me.

I didn't dodge in time.

The knife sank deep into my chest. Blood pooled on the floor.

Dario and Lily both let go at the same time.

The knife clattered to my feet.

Dario froze at the sight, yet he still chose to calm Lily first and led her away without looking back.

I sat on the floor, pressing my hand hard against the wound.

Dr. Daniel Hayes, the Family physician, arrived quickly.

He treated the wound carefully and stopped the bleeding. When he was done, he didn't dare say a word before leaving.

I dragged myself to the bed. Every ounce of strength had drained from my body.

In that moment, I was grateful that everything I had been through over the years had made me stronger.

Enough to hold on until I could get out.

I pulled up Rocco's contact again.

I sent him the complete dental records I had prepared in advance, along with falsified records of my old injuries.

Outside the room, the servants were whispering.

"Why did Daniel leave so quickly?"

"Lily got too worked up. He rushed off to check on her."

"The Don gave strict orders: Daniel isn't to treat Mrs. Moretti or change her dressings again, and we're not allowed to bring her food."

"Mrs. Moretti has it so hard. It won't be long before the lady of this house changes."

"Obviously. The Don hasn't cared this much about a woman in ages. He was tired of Mrs. Moretti long ago. Now that Lily is back, she'll be the new lady of the house for sure."

Pain pulsed from my chest.

I listened to the chatter outside with a blank expression.

These same people had once told me how much they envied me, how lucky I was to have the Don's favor.

Now, because of Lily, everything had changed.

At least I was almost out.