Fourth Hokage

The most powerful Godfather in the mafia underworld—Dante Costello—had an expensive diamond signet ring custom-made to fit my finger perfectly and sent straight to our home. He said that whoever could wear the ring would become the lady of his family. The Monroe family had long since fallen from grace. All that remained were four women. On ordinary days, we fought endlessly, tearing each other apart. Every single one of us wanted to marry Dante because marrying him meant preserving a life of dignity and comfort. In the first life, the fake heiress, Blair, secretly had the ring resized smaller and married into the family. Dante took one look at her, then had her thrown into the river to drown. “Not her.” In the second life, my cousin, Chloe, underwent plastic surgery to alter her fingers and force the ring on. Dante gifted her a staged car accident. “Still not her.” In the third life, my stepmother, Catherine, clenched her teeth and forced the ring onto her finger. Her blood hadn’t even dried when she married Dante. He coldly slashed her face, then locked her in the basement, where she slowly wasted away until death. By the fourth life, all three of them were terrified. None of them dared to marry him anymore, so they hurriedly pushed me forward instead. I put on the ring. This time, the size was perfect. Just when I thought my good days had finally begun, Dante stabbed me to death on our wedding night, his eyes burning red with madness. After my rebirth, the consigliere of the Dante family delivered the ring once again. This time, all four of us avoided it like the plague.

On the day we were supposed to get engaged, my fiance, Christopher Vittorino, slid the ring—that was supposed to be mine—onto Lina Sorenzo, my stepsister's finger, right in front of the entire family. Christopher's uncle, Don Mark Vittorino, was the one who had specifically ordered his subordinates to deliver the ring that symbolizes the wearer's status as the future Donna of the Vittorino family to Christopher himself. I could only stare at Christopher's deep blue eyes in disbelief. Just as I was about to question him, he just gazed at me with a stony expression. Even his tone was cold and rigid. "The Don intends to send me to Maravena for the next five years to develop my own business there. Once I return, I'll take over the family business. "You don't have any skills at all, Isla. If you stay with me, you'll just be a hindrance to me and cause me unwanted trouble. "Lina, on the other hand, is fluent in Maravenese. Not to mention, she knows how to expand the family business overseas. She will serve as a brilliant assistant for me." After that, Christopher took Lina's hand and left the venue with her, not caring about the fact that the leaders of the other branch families as well as the elders kept murmuring among themselves. Because of that, I ended up becoming the laughingstock of the entire family. Five years later, Christopher and Lina return to the country. When he spots me showing up at a family gathering held by Mark with a ruby ring that signifies my status as the Donna on my finger, his expression changes instantly. "I can't believe you learned to steal, Isla!" I just ignore Christopher's accusations in favor of looking for the Black Rose Medal that my son, Toby Vittorino, has lost. That medal is a gift he received on his fourth birthday from Mark. Poor Toby has been sobbing for a long time because of its disappearance. I need to hurry up and find it as soon as possible.

I've worked hard to sponsor my husband, Zachary Sanders, through his PhD studies for eight years. In order for our daughter, Penelope Sanders, to get into a prestigious elementary school, I've visited the local registry office ten times. Yet, my applications keep getting rejected all the time. On my tenth visit, the helpless employee decides to reveal the truth to me. "Ma'am, I told you that something's wrong with the paperwork you brought! Three children have already used the permanent address you provided to enroll in our school. You can't use the address for the fourth time according to the rules." After that, the employee turns the monitor in my direction to show me the information. To my shock, those three children's mother is Zachary's first love, Amelia Norris. Unable to believe my eyes, I call Zachary on the spot. But he tells me nonchalantly, "Yeah, I did use our permanent address. I did this so that Amelia's children can get enrolled into good schools. It's very difficult for a single mother like her to raise all three children on her own, you know. "Besides, Penelope is still very young. She can just get enrolled into a regular elementary school. Once Amelia's children have graduated, Penelope can use a slot meant for the prestigious elementary school." I do my best to suppress my rage as I retort, "No need for that. My daughter will not be waiting for hand-me-downs." Then, I call my assistant right away. "Tell the admissions office to void all three enrollment slots that are tied to my property in the school district. Also, I want you to suspend the funding of his project in that research institute!"

"Oh my goodness! This is exactly what I've been saying!" Mikan said, annoyed. "Why do you still refuse to break up with that Jiro? What does he have?" "M, it's normal for lovers to have disagreements," I replied calmly. "K, he's always the one causing issues. Aren't you tired of it?" Selena asked me. I shook my head. "I understand him, girls. Sometimes I'm moody too. Maybe his temper just flared up at the wrong time." I've been defending Jiro to them since we started dating in my second year of high school, and now we're in our fourth year of college. We had another argument recently, and I've been apologizing to him since the other day, even though I didn't know what I did wrong. But he hasn't been answering any of my texts or calls. So tonight, even though I didn't want to go with them to the Spade Club, I had no choice because they dragged me along. I just hope Jiro doesn't find out about this because he doesn't like it when I go clubbing without him. It might make him even angrier. "I think there's nothing we can do about Kylie. She's head over heels for Jiro," Ariana said. Ariana isn't this quiet usually when she's drunk. They all laughed while I forced a smile. Go ahead, laugh at me, but when you fall in love, I'll be rolling on the floor laughing. "Alright, cheers to Kylie's love madness," Mikan raised her shot glass, and A and S followed suit, while I watched them. I just sighed. "Hey! K, don't be a killjoy. Come on, raise your shot glass!" Selena shouted at me because the music was loud in the Spade Club. It was already ten in the evening.