جميع فصول : الفصل -الفصل 8

A tall, imposing man stood at the entrance of the corridor, dressed in a perfectly tailored black suit.He was indeed handsome, but his eyes showed nothing but annoyance at this spectacle before him.His gaze skipped over me and landed on Carla beside me."Did she scare you, my little kitten?" he said to her in a low voice, his fingers tracing the curve of her waist, his tone filled with performative affection.Carla immediately leaned into his arms, masking a practiced vulnerability."Matteo," her voice trembled with a feigned distress, "I was just trying to defend your authority, but she..."Matteo finally turned his attention to me, the false tenderness vanishing from his eyes instantly."Carla," his voice was steady, "I trust you, not to start fights like some street thug."Carla took his cue immediately, lifting her chin. "It's all because of that woman. Can you believe the nerve showing up to our wedding with something so cheap?"She contemptuously kicked at the intact watch on t

I paused, my tone turning cold and clinical: " The Leonardo family not only desecrated the gold pocket watch you personally selected as a symbol of our alliance—feeding it to a dog—but now their heir, Matteo Leonardo, is threatening to tie me up and throw me into the alligator pond. He's also declared that he will make our family disappear completely from Sicily.""What?!" My father's voice instantly turned as cold as Siberian ice. "That pocket watch represented the blood oath between our families! How dare they...?!""Father, I would never joke about our family's honor," my voice trembling with suppressed rage.Just then, Carla, perhaps trying to show her loyalty and bravery, suddenly rushed forward, snatching the satellite phone from my hand and screaming arrogantly into the receiver:"Hey! Is this backup the bitch called for, Listen to me, old man! I'm Carla, Matteo Leonardo's personal bodyguard and future bride! I'm warning you, stay out of this, or I'll deal with you too!"The lin

Matteo's expression shifted from anger to disbelief."This... this can't be true..." he muttered.Paul gave a slight bow. "Would you like me to prove it, Mr. Leonardo?"Matteo shook his head violently, as if trying to shake off a nightmare, the stubbornness clear in his blue eyes.."Impossible!" he cried shrilly, pointing at me, "You're lying! How could you possibly be... with the 'Shepherd' family? You're just...""Matteo! Shut your mouth!" Old Leonardo cut him off sharply. He turned to me, "Lillian... daughter of Don Vittorio... this... this is terrible misunderstanding..." He was incoherent with panic.Carla clutched her wounded wrist, pain and extreme terror making her tremble, but seeing Matteo's attitude, she grasped at a last straw. She struggled to speak, :"Mr. Leonardo... How could she possibly be the Principessa of that family? She must have used some trick... think about it, she was a nobody just moments ago! Look at her—she's plain, ordinary!, she definitely has somethin

Time passed.I had almost completely forgotten about Matteo Leonardo and the crumbling ruin of the "Lion" family.I was busy—my world was filled with new route negotiations, expansion efforts, and internal family management.Until one day, while Paul was handling some fragmented intel from Naples, he casually mentioned their final outcome.After I had kicked Matteo out without mercy, he returned to Naples to face a complete disaster and growing discontent within the family.He blamed all his failures, humiliations, and lost power and wealth on one person—Carla.That woman he had once called "kitten," whom he had paraded as a replacement bride, was now ruthlessly abandoned as a scapegoat.He didn't "get rid of" her as he promised, but instead imprisoned her.In the damp basement of his decaying estate, Carla bore all of Matteo's anger and twisted revenge.At first, it was beatings—belts, clubs. He used her as a punching bag, to release frustration."You damn bitch! If it weren't for you