Chapter 4

The air in the hall seemed to freeze.

Don Vincenzo stood there, pinching a blank sheet of paper between his fingers. The confident smile on his face was gone, replaced by a stiff, unnatural line.

His sharp eyes flashed with disbelief, quickly followed by a dark, suppressed fury.

The surrounding family heads and capos looked at each other, their whispers of flattery turning into a low, confused buzz.

“It’s blank? How can it be blank?”

“Didn’t Miss Lucia just say it was worth 300 million?”

Amid the chaos, Lucia’s smirk was chilling. “You’re a cold piece of work, Olivia. I thought you might hand in a weak proposal, but a blank page? That’s bold.”

Vincenzo’s brow furrowed. “Lucia, what is the meaning of this?”

Lucia stood tall, her voice ringing with conviction. “That is not my real proposal! It was Olivia! She used that ‘Switching System’ to swap my proposal for hers!”

Her words sent another shockwave through the room.

“Switching System? What’s that?”

“Has Miss Lucia lost her mind?”

Hearing the doubt, Lucia doubled down, her voice rising in a desperate accusation. “I know it sounds unbelievable, but I swear on my life that everything I’m about to say is true. Three days ago, I found out Olivia was bound to a Switching System and that she planned to switch our proposals.”

“She’s always been jealous of my talent, jealous that the Don favors me as his heir! That’s why she resorted to such a dirty trick to ruin me!”

She let out a cold laugh, thinking she had me cornered. She looked around the room. “If you don’t believe me, just think about it. The second I said my proposal was worth 300 million, she immediately said hers was ‘about the same.’ Is that a coincidence? No! She has a guilty conscience and was trying to cover for the work she was about to steal!”

Her story, while bizarre, had a twisted logic that began to sway the crowd.

Many of the family members who already favored her started looking at me with suspicion.

Faced with the mountain of doubt, I just stood there, my expression unchanged.

“Lucia,” I said with a soft sigh, “don’t you think inventing something as absurd as a ‘Switching System’ is a little pathetic?”

Lucia gritted her teeth. “You know perfectly well if it’s a lie or not!”

“Oh, do I?”

I met her furious gaze and walked to the center of the hall.

“For the past few days, you’ve been partying with a different man every night. You haven’t even set foot in the study. You haven’t written a single word. So what ‘$300 million proposal’ are you even talking about?”

I tilted my head, my voice full of pity.

“Just admit it. You’re used to getting things without working for them, and you screwed up when it mattered most. You don’t have to make up such a clumsy excuse for your own laziness.”

“Shut up!” Lucia shrieked like a cornered animal. “I went out because I didn’t want to work my ass off just for you to steal it!”

She looked pleadingly at the Don and Emma, then took a deep breath, reclaiming her usual arrogance.

“Olivia, do you really think anyone will fall for your pathetic attempts to discredit me? I am the Don’s most cherished daughter. I have no reason to frame you! Even if I lose this bid today, the Don and Emma would never let me suffer!”

As if on cue, Emma, who had been watching coldly, stood up.

She shot me a disdainful look, then gently patted Lucia’s hand and announced to the room,

“Lucia is right. Regardless of the outcome today, Vincenzo and I have already decided to give Lucia the new territory we acquired in Queens as a gift for her to manage independently.”

Don Vincenzo spoke up, his voice heavy with undeniable favoritism. “That’s right. Lucia’s abilities are beyond question. One small accident means nothing.”

The comments exploded:

[The Don is so protective of Lucia! He’s just giving her territory to set her up as the next Don!]

[That’s the kind of special treatment Lucia gets! How can the villainess even compete?]

With the Don and Emma backing her, Lucia’s confidence surged.

She looked at me, a sly grin spreading across her face.

“Olivia, you say I’m framing you. Then I dare you to show everyone your proposal right now.”

“I’ll tell you the truth—my proposal is a blank page. You schemed and plotted to switch it, so all you got was a blank page!”

She then scanned the room, her eyes meeting every person’s.

“And I ask you all to be my witness. If Olivia’s proposal is also a blank page, it will prove that everything I said is true!”

In an instant, every eye in the room was on me.

Some were curious, some were suspicious, and some were just enjoying the show.

The Don nodded at Marcus. The aide bowed slightly and, as everyone held their breath, slowly opened the portfolio with my name on it.

But when he pulled out the contents for all to see, the hall erupted in a gasp ten times louder than before.

My proposal wasn’t blank. It was a thick stack of papers, detailed down to the last line.

And on the line for projected profit, the number was a staggering one billion dollars.