Semua Bab The Don’s "Discarded Daughter" Plays To Win: Bab 1 - Bab 10

It’s been eight years since Scarlett came to live with us.She was ten. Her family was wiped out in a turf war. She was the only one left. For complicated reasons, my mother, Isadora, took her in. Sent her to my school.Mom wanted her to study business at Columbia with me.But Scarlett whined it was boring. Said all she needed was Parsons.And now, she didn’t even get into Parsons.So, of course, she’s crying.“Dad... Mom... Am I a complete failure?”Tears stream down her perfectly made-up face. Good thing she used waterproof mascara, or it’d be a real mess.“Scarlett, sweetheart, no. Bellini women don’t need a school to prove their worth. If they won't let you in, we'll just buy the damn school.” My mother, Isadora, pulls her into a hug.Scarlett sobs into her shoulder, but I see the tiny smirk. “I know. Art is my real calling. With a face like this, it would be a crime not to be a star!”I almost laugh out loud. Who told her a face is all it takes?My mother doesn’t even blink at the

An engagement set in stone since I was ten. To say I felt nothing would be a lie.But I forgot. The year I turned ten was also the year Scarlett came into our lives.I’ve been engaged to Nico for eight years. Scarlett has been wrapped around him for eight years.It’s not jealousy. Not really.It’s just… when someone touches what’s yours… It feels tainted. Dirty.I lose track of time, scrolling through the files for the “Zero-Sum Gauntlet.”Scarlett swans in, like a peacock in full display.“Aurora, you can still focus on that? Nico just promised to take me to Europe with him. Mom and Dad said yes!”I don’t even give her a look.She huffs, annoyed that I’m not green with envy. Her voice turns sharp.“Aurora Bellini, who the hell do you think you are? How dare you ignore me? So what if you’re their real daughter? They love me more! I’m sweeter, I know how to please them. I’m the real Miss Bellini!”I look up slowly. A ghost of a smile on my lips.“You done? Then get out. You’re wasting m

My father Rocco’s voice is ice.Scarlett scrambles to answer, her face a mask of fake concern.“Dad, she wasn’t careful… the stairs are slippery, and her heels…”SMACK.A backhand from my mother, Isadora. It sends Scarlett flying. She slams into a marble pillar.The room goes dead silent.The same people who were just defending Scarlett are now afraid to breathe.Nico is the first to react. He runs to Scarlett, shielding her with his body. He roars at my parents.“Are you crazy?! Aurora was the one who hurt her! Why did you hit her?!”I’m sitting on the floor, sticky and aching, but I can’t help but laugh.Unbelievable. Even now, he’s still lying for her.“Shut up, Volkov.” My father doesn’t even look at him. He just snaps his fingers. “Throw him out.”Two guards grab Nico. He struggles and screams, but they drag him out like a sack of garbage.My father stands. His suit jacket falls open, revealing the gun at his waist.He doesn’t say another word.He just snaps his fingers again.Cli

Three days. No word. Then Nico sends a message.I’m sprawled on a leather sofa in Lorenzo’s penthouse suite, listening to my assistant’s report.“Nico Volkov mortgaged three of his family’s casinos. Took out a high-interest loan from the Russians. Miss Scarlett also maxed out his black card yesterday on a closet full of designer bags.”My eyebrow raises.“He mortgaged casinos? Is he insane?”“He says… he’s going to win it all back in the game.” My assistant hesitates. “He bought a ticket to the ‘Zero-Sum Gauntlet.’”I laugh.How pathetic.A reject on the verge of being disowned, and he thinks he can challenge me on Wall Street?On the big screen, a new player’s funds are wired in.Nico Volkov.Eighty million dollars.I raise my glass with a smirk.“He’s adorably stupid.”Footsteps behind me. Lorenzo walks over with two glasses of whiskey. He sits, his large hand wrapping around my waist, his thumb stroking slow circles through the thin silk of my dress. It sends a shiver down my spine.

The gun barrel pushes past Nico’s teeth, pressing against the roof of his mouth.The Russian leader twists it slowly, like a toy.“Five hundred million,” he says in a thick accent. “We take it in cash, or we take it in flesh. Starting with your fingers.”Nico is shaking so hard his teeth rattle against the steel. A choked whimper escapes his throat.Sweat drips from his chin onto the carpet.I see it clearly. In that one second, all his pride, all his so-called love, shatters into dust.“Don’t… don’t kill me…” he finally chokes out.The gun barrel pulls back half an inch.Nico lunges for it like a drowning man. He grabs Scarlett’s hair and smashes her face against the corner of the trading desk.A sickening thud.Scarlett screams, blood pouring from her nose.“It was her!” Nico shrieks, pointing at the bloody mess that is Scarlett’s face. “That bitch stole the intel and tricked me! It had nothing to do with me! Take her! Settle the debt with her! Don’t kill me! Her face is still worth