Chapter 5

Those words shattered my heart.

Nothing to do with the Family...

The comments frantically tried to explain it away.

【Don't be sad, Liriel, this is all part of Hudson's plan!】

【He's doing this so he can marry you later without any baggage! Once he severs the adoption ties, no one can use your relationship against you! He's protecting you!】

Protecting me?

My heart was a cold, desolate wasteland.

They didn't understand. In the New York mafia, losing the protection of the Volkov Family meant one thing.

It meant I went from being a princess to a piece of meat for the wolves.

The trouble came fast.

The next day, I went to the cemetery to visit my parents' graves.

As I was leaving, several black SUVs surrounded me.

It was the other mafia daughters, the ones who were always jealous, the ones I'd clashed with before. They dragged me into a car and took me to a villa in the suburbs.

"Well, well, Liriel. Look how the mighty have fallen."

They sneered, grabbing my hair and shoving my head into the freezing outdoor pool, again and again.

Water filled my nose, my lungs.

The terror of drowning made me struggle wildly.

When they finally dragged me out, half-dead, someone threw my phone at my face.

"Here's your chance. Call your Uncle Hudson for help," they mocked. "But he's probably busy with his fiancée. No time for a pathetic stray like you."

With trembling hands, I dialed the number I knew by heart.

Ring... ring...

The call was rejected.

I gritted my teeth and dialed again.

I called countless times. It was rejected countless times.

The last shred of hope died in the endless dial tone.

I lay on the cold ground, my heart dead.

They laughed even harder. "See? The Volkov Family has completely abandoned you."

After they'd had their fun and, seeing I was close to death, got scared of having a body on their hands, they kicked me a couple of times and left.

I forced myself up on my last ounce of strength and, dragging my soaked body, walked step by step back to the Volkov estate.

The butler was horrified when he saw me, bruised and battered.

"Miss Liriel! My God, I'll inform the Don at once..."

"Don't," I said, my voice weak but firm.

He had already announced to the world that I had nothing to do with the Volkovs. Even if he knew, he probably wouldn't care.

I walked into the room I had lived in for ten years and started to pack.

I threw all the couture dresses, the expensive jewelry, the limited-edition bags, and even the toys from my childhood that Hudson had given me into trash bags.

I took nothing.

I left with a single small suitcase containing my parents' belongings and the marriage alliance agreement.

I walked out of the estate and didn't look back.

In the car, I pulled out my phone and saw Bianca's latest Instagram post.

It was a perfect nine-photo grid.

In the pictures, Hudson had booked out the most exclusive garden restaurant in New York to celebrate her birthday.

The caption read: "Thank you for remembering my peanut allergy and even canceling your trip to Miami to stay with me. I'm the happiest girl in the world."

The comments were filled with congratulations from Hudson's mafia friends.

When Hudson first took me in, they all thought I was a burden and never accepted me. But now, after just a few days, they had all embraced Bianca.

I looked at the rare, gentle profile of Hudson in the photo.

The tenderness he once reserved only for me was now someone else's.

Through a blur of tears, I liked the post.

Hudson, this time, you're free.