Chapter 1

Walking back to my room alone, my phone suddenly lost signal.

That was when the butler walked in.

He looked at me and let out a sigh, his tone helpless.

"Miss Lily, the Don asked me to pass this along..."

"The family's income for this month is still being reconciled. He says you're not to touch a single cent in the accounts for now."

"All the profits go to your brother and sister, split clean down the middle. If you take any, it breaks the balance."

It felt like ants were crawling all over my heart. My body started trembling before I even realized it.

Instinctively, I wanted to ask.

What about me?

But in the end, I just said calmly to the butler:

"Okay. I understand. Thank you for letting me know."

After all, I'd asked that question countless times before.

No one ever cared.

As if it were only natural. As if the Moretti family's resources were never supposed to include me.

I put my phone away and checked the cards under my name.

Spending privileges had been completely frozen by Father.

I searched the empty room.

In the end, all I found was an old necklace I'd worn years ago, tucked in the corner of a drawer.

I slipped it into my pocket, planning to pawn it tomorrow for some traveling money.

Then I lay down on the bed, and the tears came without warning.

I barely managed to drift off, but somewhere in the middle of the night, the screech of brakes outside jolted me awake.

I opened my eyes.

Outside, voices were clamoring. Father, my brother, and my sister were walking back toward the estate, faces dark as storm clouds.

My door was kicked open. My sister stormed to my bedside and flung a few mud soaked jackets right into my face.

She crossed her arms and snapped at me impatiently.

"What are you staring at? Take these to the laundry room!"

The jackets were caked with mud, and the sticky filth clung to my hair.

I could barely keep my eyes open. Weakly, I tried to explain:

"It's so late. Can I deal with it first thing in the morning?"

Her voice pitched higher.

"If you don't want to do it, just say so. Don't make excuses!"

My brother walked in then too.

Face cold, he kicked two boxes of discarded gear over to the side of my bed.

"After you deal with her clothes, you're doing my work too. No dawdling."

"We got ambushed during a territory check just now. This gear is what's left after the firefight. Deal with it. Now."

The words had barely landed when Father walked in, cigar clamped between his teeth, face like iron.

He shot an impatient glance at me on the bed and went straight to scolding.

"The Moretti family values fairness above all."

"Your brother and sister bleed on the front lines for this family. What gives you the right to hide back here and live easy?"

"You can't even handle a little cleanup work without pushing it off. How is that fair to them?"

Looking at that self righteous expression, I almost wanted to laugh.

So this was how the Moretti family calculated fairness. By occasion.

When it came to power and territory, my brother and sister got absolute fairness.

When it came to responsibility, fairness finally landed on me.

I didn't waste my breath. I crouched down in silence, gathered the pile of clothes, and headed to the laundry room.

Then, under cover of darkness, I hauled the two boxes of gear into the car and drove out of the district to destroy them.

Once in the car, Ella's message finally popped up.

"Lily, I'll pick you up on Maple Avenue in three days. Keep in touch."

I was about to reply, but my phone screen kept freezing, and it only made my already exhausted mood worse.

The car reached the outskirts. Everything around was dead quiet.

I was just about to get out and unload the cargo.

But in the rearview mirror, a black sedan had suddenly appeared. The emblem on its hood sent a chill straight down my spine.

It was the rival family that had ambushed my brother and sister earlier. They hadn't gone far.

"Bang—"

The gunshot came without warning. Bullets slammed into the car door in a dense barrage.

A stray round shattered the window and flew straight at my face.