All Chapters of One Hand Ruined, One Throne Taken: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

Before Cesar Romano could speak, a woman's sultry laughter came through the receiver.His low voice rang out. "Baby, stop it. I need to take a call."Anger surged in my chest."Cesar."There was a brief pause on the line. Then, his voice turned sharp and impatient.He asked, "Who are you? I'm discussing a business deal worth tens of millions of dollars. I don't have time for some crazy woman's nonsense."With that, he hung up.I, Victoria Corsini, tightened my grip on the phone. This was the fiance my father had chosen for me after exhaustive consideration.We were engaged, yet he didn't even recognize my number.Liliana Conti burst into shrill laughter.She straightened up, and her chin was held high. She jabbed her red nails at my face. "Did you hear that? Cesar doesn't have time for you. You think you're worth his attention?"Her voice dripped with contempt when she added, "And how dare you impersonate Ms. Corsini? Take a look at yourself. You're a worthless piece of tras

Chapter 2

The crowd cheered, eager for the spectacle to unfold."Play with her, Ms. Conti! Make her lose and shut her mouth!""Exactly! This is your territory. What's there to be afraid of?"Liliana's face flushed, then drained of color. She snorted coldly and responded, "Fine! I'll play with you. However…"Her voice turned vicious when she continued, "If you lose, you won't just lose your hand. I'll make sure you disappear into the black market. I'll make your life a living hell!"I ignored her threats and turned to the dealer standing nearby. "I'll shuffle."The dealer glanced at Liliana. Only after receiving her tacit approval did he hand me the cards.Liliana folded her arms. A smirk of contempt spread across her face as she waited.I knew how tricks usually played out in a casino.If the dealer pulled even the slightest trick while dealing, I'd lose for sure. However, my father had always said my hands were made for the cards.The cards danced through my fingers as I cut, stacked,

Chapter 3

Cesar's face darkened instantly.In his eyes, I had overstepped. A lowly dealer defying him in front of everyone? That was a death sentence waiting to happen."Very well." Cesar forced the words out between his teeth. All the warmth vanished from his gaze.He let go of Liliana and ordered, "Since you don't want to be a hostess, we'll do this by casino rules. Pin her hand to the table!"The dozen armed bodyguards behind him surged forward.These were Cesar's elite enforcers. They were men with blood on their hands.I could fight, but skill meant nothing against numbers, and they were armed.I was quickly subdued. They slammed my face down onto the table.Cesar walked up and looked down at me. "Liliana, do whatever you want with this thief. I'll take responsibility."Liliana instantly stopped sobbing. She approached me with a twisted grin and picked up a chip case. "You love dealing with this hand, right? I'll make sure you never deal again for the rest of your life!"Cesar lea

Chapter 4

Liliana stared at the disconnected phone and laughed with brazen defiance.Less than five minutes later, a thunderous crash shook the entire casino, and everyone spun around in fear.The massive front doors of the casino were smashed apart as a black Hummer rammed straight through them from outside.Before anyone could react, doors flew open. From the Hummer and a long line of black sedans behind it poured out more than a hundred men in identical black suits.They moved as one, disciplined and precise.In less than 30 seconds, every one of Cesar's bodyguards was neutralized.The men who had been throwing their weight around earlier didn't even get the chance to draw their guns. Their weapons were yanked away, and they collapsed to their knees, trembling all over.My father, Rossi Corsini, stepped inside. He wore a long black coat. His posture was calm and unhurried, and he was surrounded by his elite bodyguards.His gaze scanned the hall, cold and unreadable, before settling on

Chapter 5

I looked down at Liliana, who was crumpled at my feet where she'd been kicked.I crouched and gripped her chin with my left hand, forcing her to look up at my mangled right hand."You like gambling, don't you? Let's gamble once more," I uttered softly.Liliana shook her head frantically. Muffled sobs spilled from her mouth.I said to the bodyguard behind me, "Give me a revolver."He immediately handed me a polished revolver and a single bullet.In front of Liliana, I slid the bullet into the cylinder. Then, with my left thumb, I spun it. When it stopped, I snapped the cylinder shut.I pressed the barrel to her temple. "One in six. If you win, you walk. If you lose…"I paused, then mimicked the sound of a gunshot.She completely broke down.The stench hit the air as her body betrayed her completely. She sobbed uncontrollably, collapsing at my feet as she begged, "P-Please let me go, Ms. Corsini! I was wrong! I swear I'll never do something like that again! I swear on my family

Chapter 6

Three months later, I was still at the palace in Montefina.My right hand underwent several surgeries performed by the finest surgeons in Aurasia. Visually, it looked almost fully healed. No one would've guessed how severe the injury had once been.However, I knew it was ruined.The doctors were blunt. The bones in my palm and the surrounding nerves had sustained permanent damage. It would never again tolerate intense, high-precision work.That meant my life at the tables was over. I would never again make cards dance between my fingers the way I once had.My father was consumed by guilt. To make amends, he assigned me the most enigmatic and formidable bodyguard in the family, Marco Ricci.A top-tier combat specialist and a master strategist, he became my constant shadow from that day on. He moved silently, expressionless and sparing with words.At a meeting of the family's core members, my father formally declared that arranging my engagement to Cesar was the greatest mistake o

Chapter 7

Cesar's business empire collapsed overnight, leaving Navoles City's underworld in chaos.Into the void stepped Scorpio, a ruthless outlaw group known for violence without limits. They took over most of Cesar's former territory with alarming speed.They rose too quickly, unaware of what it truly meant to challenge the Corsini family.To prove themselves, Scorpio's leader made a public spectacle of my family. He declared that the "pretty Principessa" of the Corsini family would be his bride—or else he would drown all of our assets in Navoles City in blood.The news reached Montefina, and the family elders erupted. Fury crackled through the palace halls.They demanded that my father dispatch the family's elite forces immediately to crush those insolent upstarts.However, during the family meeting, I stopped them."Papa, uncles, leave this matter to me."Everyone looked at me in stunned silence.I didn't see this as a crisis. I saw it as a chance to prove that even with one ruined

Chapter 8

Inside the abandoned opera house, the leader of Scorpio, Rico Ferraro, sat high on a decaying throne at center stage.When he saw that I had truly come to the meeting with only Marco at my side, his arrogance swelled. He looked at me with undisguised lust and greed.In his mind, I already belonged to him."So the Principessa of the Corsini family really does have guts." He clapped his hands, signaling for his men to bring over a table. "Well? How do you want to talk this out? Are you going to stay behind willingly, or should I tie you up and deposit you straight onto my bed?"The desperados around us burst into raucous laughter.Smiling, I walked to the table. "In Montefina, we have a traditional way of settling disputes."I pulled out a chair and sat down. My voice was calm. "We settle it with a gamble. One game decides everything. We'll play what you're best at—Parcosian roulette."If I win, Scorpio swears loyalty to the Corsini family. If you win, my life, along with the live

Chapter 9

It was over in less than five minutes.Every Scorpio member was disarmed and kneeling in the center.Without shedding a single drop of blood, I had taken Scorpio down.I walked up to Rico, who was clutching his wounded wrist and screaming in agony. I lifted his chin with the tip of my shoe and said, "From today on, this place will become the Corsini family's new base in Navoles City, and you'll be serving me."Marco dragged the terrified Cesar and Liliana over, tossing them at my feet.I rose from the audience seats, towering above this defeated alliance.Cesar looked up at me. Disbelief was etched deep into his features. "H-How did you know?"I smiled coldly and answered, "From the very first day you backed Scorpio, every meeting, every call, every word—everything was under my watch. I played along only because it was easier to clean out all the trash at once."I had my men throw the two of them into a massive iron cage we'd prepared in advance. There was a dagger inside."Yo

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