Chapter 2

The moment the words left my mouth, Melina's eyes instantly brimmed with tears, her shoulders trembling slightly.

"Emanuele, please don't argue with Donna Uccello. Perhaps she truly resents me so much that she's bringing up divorce just to force you into punishing me…"

Her words completely twisted the truth, framing my demand for divorce as nothing more than a means of threatening and coercing him. Emanuele was already deeply displeased. After hearing that, anger immediately surged in his eyes.

He drew Melina close protectively before looking down at me as I sat on the field of hot, sharp debris. His tone was filled with impatience and irritation.

"How much longer are you going to keep this up, Ombretta? This is Melina's first time attempting to disarm a bomb. Even if she made a mistake, it's entirely understandable!

"I can't believe you're using divorce to threaten me! Do you really have to push me into punishing her myself? I know you're devastated by the loss of a loved one, and I'm willing to give you time to process your grief.

"However, you shouldn't use your grief as an excuse to take your anger out on others, let alone use divorce as leverage to pressure me! Your Madre was always a kind-hearted woman. If she were still alive, she wouldn't approve of you acting this way either!"

Pain pulsed continuously from my wounds as memories from years ago unbiddenly flooded my mind. At the time, Emanuele had only just established himself and had yet to become the Don whose name struck terror in hearts. Whenever we were ambushed by his enemies, his first thought had always been my safety.

He would shield me behind him and quietly promise that he would never let me suffer the slightest grievance for the rest of his life. Clarissa, too, would often tease me with a smile, claiming that Emanuele valued loyalty above all else and would surely treat me right.

Yet, in a mere handful of years, power had corrupted his heart, transforming the man before me into someone unrecognizable. The sheer absurdity of it all washed over me, leaving my heart frozen to its core.

Melina lowered her head, pretending to keep her tears at bay.

"Emanuele, don't blame Donna Uccello. This is all my fault… Donna Uccello, if you can't move past this, why don't you hand me over to the Uccello Famiglia's disciplinary council? I don't want this to drive a wedge between you two…"

The more she took the initiative to back down, the more aggressive and unreasonable it made me look. The look Emanuele gave me now was completely clouded with disgust, devoid of even a sliver of his former warmth.

"That's enough! Ombretta, you're too emotional right now to have a rational conversation! I don't want to argue with you anymore. Go back to the manor and stay put. Don't come out and cause trouble again!"

Without showing an ounce of concern for my injuries, he wasted no time wrapping his arm around Melina's waist and turning to leave.

…

Two days later, Emanuele sent his men to pick me up and bring me to his private office building in the heart of the city.

He sat behind his broad executive desk, casually pulled out a check for an astronomical amount, and slid it toward me with a cold, unfeeling expression.

"I know you still can't get over what happened, and the only reason you keep coming after me is because you want compensation."

His tone was nonchalant as his cruel words fell lightly from his lips. "The explosion was so intense that nothing was left inside the container. The workers who cleaned up the docks didn't bother sorting through the remains and debris.

"They mixed everything with the scorched earth and disposed of it as construction waste, dumping it straight into the sea. There's nothing left of your Madre's body to recover from the vast depths of the ocean. Consider this compensation for your loss."

I looked up at him in disbelief. "Emanuele… you had her remains dumped into the sea like garbage?"

He shifted uncomfortably under my gaze and involuntarily raised his voice. "What else was I supposed to do? It would've required a tremendous amount of manpower and resources to recover her remains. Your Madre always lived a simple life. At least her death brought you this compensation. In other words, she didn't die in vain."

Melina chimed in softly, "That's right, Donna Uccello. Emanuele only has your best interests at heart. At least she's at peace in the depths of the sea. It's far better than leaving her charred remains neglected in the ruins."

In an instant, the metallic tang of blood surged up my throat, and a crushing pain tightened in my chest.

Clarissa had come from an old aristocratic Famiglia. She had been dignified and kindhearted, and she had often advised Emanuele to stay away from bloodshed and conflict.

Who could have imagined that after her tragic death, she wouldn't even be allowed to leave behind a trace of herself, only to be casually discarded into the depths of the sea by her own son?

I gently pushed the check back toward him. "I can't accept this. The person who died in that fire and was dumped into the sea like garbage was your Madre. If anyone needs to be compensated, it's you."

Emanuele sprang to his feet and grasped my wrist in a vice grip. "Why are you still spouting nonsense at a time like this?"

Hostility surged in the depths of his eyes. He was convinced I was insatiably greedy and attempting to extort more money from him by going so far as to curse his mother. "Ombretta, if you want more money, you can just say so. There's no need to provoke me with such vicious words!"

Melina immediately put on a concerned expression and tried to calm him down. "Don't be angry, Emanuele. Donna Uccello may have said things she doesn't mean because she's consumed by grief."

Then, she turned to me and attempted to persuade me. "Donna Uccello, what's done is done. It's best to accept reality now and stop uttering such hurtful words."

Every word she spoke reinforced Emanuele's belief, cementing the narrative that I was distraught, delirious, and spewing nonsense.

Enduring the excruciating pain spreading from my wrist, I looked at Emanuele calmly. "I'm going to tell you this one last time, Emanuele. Dispatch your men out to sea immediately to recover Clarissa's remains and give her a proper burial! Don't wait until the truth comes to light and you're left drowning in regret."

Those words completely ignited the anger Emanuele had been suppressing for days. He scoffed, his eyes brimming with deep disappointment and disgust, refusing to heed my warning.

"That's enough! I see that you've lost your mind to grief. You're completely beyond saving!"

He abruptly let go of my wrist and took half a step back, his expression cold and resolute. "You wanted a divorce, didn't you? I'll grant your wish. I'll have my lawyer draw up the divorce agreement.

"Don't even dream about taking anything from my Famiglia that doesn't belong to you! If you keep spreading this absurd claim, don't blame me for showing you no mercy!"

Having said his piece, he sat back down in his leather chair and called out toward the door, "Escort her out. Without my permission, she's not allowed to set foot in this building ever again!"

The office door was immediately pushed open, and two black-clad bodyguards strode inside, forcibly escorting me toward the door.