Chapter 3

Anna's POV

I wiped my tears dry and packed my luggage. I wanted to die under the aurora, so I had already booked a flight to Briland that would depart in five days.

After that, I dug out everything Carlos and Vittorio had ever gifted me all these years. I didn't want to keep a single present from them, not any of the jewelry or the other things. As for the letters and photos, I tossed them into the fireplace before setting them on fire.

The fire burned for a very long time.

I sat nearby, watching the flames eat away at the letters and photos like a starving beast. Once only ashes were left, I finally turned away.

By then, it was already dark outside.

Suddenly, my phone screen lit up with a message. It was from Liliana.

"Anna, the transfer of control over the Northern Corridor was finalized this afternoon. The network you've spent five years building belongs to me now.

"Vittorio and Carlos have been doing my every bidding like a couple of lapdogs. They didn't even bother consulting you—not once. Tell me… how did something you treasure more than anything end up in my hands so easily?"

Attached was an internal letter of appointment from the Siciliano family, and Liliana's name was at the very top of the list.

The arms trafficking network she was about to take over was one I had spent five whole years carving out from nothing. Other than Vittorio and Carlos, no one else on earth knew about every single detail of it.

Although I already knew that I had long since lost my place in their hearts, I still would never have expected that they would hand over something I had risked my very life to obtain to Liliana just like that.

Unable to endure it any longer, I rushed out of the manor and headed straight for Vittorio's family headquarters.

However, I was stopped at the gates by the guards, who told me that Vittorio had gone south with Liliana to attend Carlos' charity gala.

In the past, I was the one the two men flanked, but now, that person had become Liliana instead.

That realization made me feel as though a hand had wrapped around my heart, squeezing it tightly.

By the time I arrived at the charity gala, the ceremony was already over.

Carlos had just made a generous donation, earning a standing ovation from the city's elites.

Meanwhile, the person standing beside him on the stage, holding his wineglass as he accepted everyone's praise, was none other than Liliana.

Someone asked Carlos with a smile, "Judging by how this woman is standing beside you, I'm sure that she's someone special to you, right, Mr. Gambino?"

Carlos responded honestly, "She's the person I care about the most in this whole world."

Despite knowing his choice long before this, I still couldn't help the way my heart clenched in pain when I heard his words.

I squeezed my way through the crowd and charged forward to seize Liliana by the wrist. "What gives you the right to steal my arms trafficking network from me?"

"Ah! Anna, you're hurting me!"

Flashes of light went off all around us as everyone turned their attention to us.

"Anna, let go! What's got you going crazy this time?"

Carlos grabbed my arm and yanked me back with a harsh tug before positioning himself between me and Liliana.

Vittorio was also staring at me with a deep frown.

"I've gone crazy? If I have, that's only because all of you drove me to madness! I put my life on the line and worked on that arms trafficking network for five entire years! Why has that become hers now?"

I shoved my phone screen at them, showing the screenshot of the letter of appointment.

Carlos replied impatiently, "So what? That network isn't important to you anyway. Whether you have it or not won't affect your status as Principessa. Liliana, however, needs that right now to stabilize her footing in the family!"

That was probably the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard in my entire life.

"So she can take what's mine just because she needs it? You clearly know just how much I risked my life to complete it! And just because you said I don't need it, that means I don't need it? What logic is that? What gives you the right to say that?"

I kept my eyes locked on Carlos the entire time I spoke.

"It's different for you." Carlos was obviously growing more and more impatient. "You have Vittorio and me to protect you, while Liliana has nothing. She only has herself to rely on."

Despite his familiar features, this man standing before me suddenly seemed like an utter stranger. He was well aware of how difficult and precarious my situation had become after my father passed away, with everyone in the family eyeing my position.

The face of the young man who once promised to protect me until I was able to fully take over the entire family now overlapped with the one before me, and all I could feel was sheer revulsion.

Without any warning, tears spilled down my cheeks, followed by a violent churning in my chest before I coughed out a mouthful of blood. The red liquid splattered onto the floor by my feet.

Carlos froze at the sight of the blood, his entire body going stiff.

"Anna…"

A hint of panic and heartbreak surfaced on his face.