All Chapters of Never Betray the Donna: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

In the car on the way home, Lucia stayed curled up in the corner of her seat.She clutched the edge of my coat like a bird scared half to death."Mom, I didn't bully her."Lucia's voice was barely a whisper."Isabella was the one who asked to borrow that custom gown. I told her I needed it for my coming-of-age ceremony soon, so I couldn't lend it out. So she deliberately spilled champagne on my shoes.""I only told her to be more careful, and then the brothers came at me with their people."I patted her back, the chill in my chest growing heavier by the second.These were the four "fine blades" I'd handpicked myself.Ten years ago, in that orphanage, I spotted these four boys at a glance. Covered in bruises, but with a killer's look in their eyes.Maury was twelve back then. For half a loaf of bread, he'd take a brick to the head of a kid five years older than him.Dante was eight, but he could lock the dorm supervisor who bullied him in an ice cellar during a winter that dropped well

Three hours before the succession ceremony.I got a call.On the other end, Maury's voice was vicious. "Mother, you shouldn't have done this. Lucia doesn't have what it takes to inherit the Donna's seat.""We didn't want to do this either, but it's the only way to make you take back your decision."Lucia's struggling, desperate cries came through the phone.My pupils contracted hard."Mom, come to the backstage of the hall. Let's have a proper talk."The car ran three red lights on the way.Mid-route, the butler called."Ma'am, the Isabella you asked me to look into—her full name is Isabella Conti."Conti. That surname hadn't surfaced in a long time.Because in the three years after Enzo Conti shot my husband dead, I had wiped out their entire family.I thought I'd cleaned house thoroughly enough. Now it seemed there were still fish that slipped through the net, gasping in the dark."Your four adopted sons didn't just ally with Conti. They've also joined forces with many of the familie

The reckoning came faster and far more thoroughly than Maury and the others had imagined.In less than forty-eight hours, the four of them learned what it meant to fall from the clouds into the mud.Every bank card under their names was frozen.The Rizzo family used its influence to come after them, charging the four with betraying the family and embezzling funds.To pay off their massive debts, they had to sell everything of value they owned.The custom suits. The Patek Philippe watches. Even the limited-edition cufflinks.The four once-proud young masters of the Rizzo family were now crammed into a run-down boarding apartment in the city's slums, less than forty square meters.Peeling wallpaper. Yellow water stains seeping through the ceiling.That afternoon, Lucia was in my study, learning how to read complex financial reports under Ricardo's guidance.Lucia's growth was astonishing.After that betrayal, the soft shell around her had been completely shattered, replaced by a quiet, r

"No! You can't do this!"Dante scrambled frantically for the papers on the ground, tearing at them wildly."These were normal business expenses! You're framing us on purpose! The family can't do this to us!""Whether it's a frame job or not isn't up to you to argue."I turned away, done looking at this pack of begging strays."Ricardo.""Ma'am." Ricardo inclined his head slightly."Make the arrangements." My voice was light, but every word cut to the bone. "Since they owe the family a debt this big, someone should take good care of them from now on."I deliberately put weight on the words "take good care."A bloodthirsty smile flickered in Ricardo's eyes."Rest assured, ma'am. I guarantee every day of their lives, they'll beg for death and never find it."Hearing that, Carlo completely broke.He knew the Rizzo family's methods all too well. No prison sentences. Only endless torment. Once the family reckoning came down on you, what waited was a lightless cage, ceaseless grinding, a livi