Chapter 2

The other three immediately backed Adrian up.

One by one, they accused me of being petty and ungrateful.

"You've always had terrible life skills. You rely on other people for everything."

"At eight, you couldn't sleep alone. At fifteen, you couldn't even cross the Brooklyn docks by yourself. Nora waited forever for this graduation trip, and you still expected the four of us to stay on call for you twenty-four seven."

"Come on, Isabella. You're twenty-three, not three. Do you really need everyone orbiting you like you're some helpless little kid?"

Their words left me frozen.

I wanted to explain, but I didn't know where to start.

After all, I had been "slow" since childhood.

But I hadn't always been like this.

When I was eight, Adrian, Leon, Victor, and Matteo were kidnapped by a Sicilian enemy clan.

My parents found a lead before the federal agents did. They couldn't wait, so they went after them.

The four boys were rescued.

My parents were murdered in front of me by those monsters.

After that, I developed severe trauma.

I couldn't be alone. I couldn't talk to strangers. Whenever I was thrown into an unfamiliar place, I would shake so hard I lost control of my body.

It was the four boys who stayed with me through recovery.

They helped me return to normal life little by little.

Once, someone joked that I was too fragile.

The four of them used their family connections to have him expelled.

The line they repeated most often was:

"Bella's parents died saving us. We owe her."

"As long as we're here, it doesn't matter if Bella never has to do a thing for herself."

Everyone said I was lucky.

Even a mafia princess usually had only one knight.

I had four.

I believed that too.

Until senior year, when Nora Valenti transferred into my class.

She was an orphan too.

Because of that, I felt sorry for her and couldn't help looking after her.

At first, the boys warned me to stay away from her. They said they couldn't trace her background.

So when did they start changing?

Was it when they secretly altered my college preferences to help Nora chase her dream of becoming a designer?

Was it after graduation, when they threatened to pull their family security from my company unless I gave Nora a full-time position?

Or was it on this European trip, when they staged the whole car accident just so Nora could get her photos alone, then left me on a foreign street to answer police questions by myself?

I didn't know.

I took a deep breath and asked Adrian:

"Fine. Let's say the bracelet really was something you bought for her."

"You went to the police station. Why didn't you explain that I wasn't the driver? That Nora was?"

He answered without hesitation.

"Under French law, driving without a license and fleeing the scene could put her away for years. Nora just graduated. If she gets dragged into a case like that, her life is over."

My heart went cold.

I had thought Adrian didn't understand French law.

Or that maybe he really had made one terrible choice because he wanted me to be independent.

But he knew everything.

My voice came out hoarse.

"What about me? Did you ever think about what would happen to me?"

The other three cut in.

"Stop being dramatic. We told you, you weren't the driver. You'll be fine."

"And even if you're not, you're slow anyway. A few years in prison won't change much for you."

I listened to their mockery and forced myself to ask Adrian:

"Is that what you think too?"

He didn't answer directly.

He only said:

"Stop making a scene. You're fine now, aren't you?"

"The graduation gala is tonight. We're taking Nora to choose a dress. We don't have time to babysit your tantrum."

I was about to say it was my graduation gala too.

Adrian hung up.

The French lawyer beside me looked at me with pity.

"Miss Moretti, do you want me to book you a flight back to New York?"

But France was too far from home.

Even the fastest flight would take more than ten hours.

By the time I arrived, the ceremony would be over.

I sniffed and shook my head.

"No. Help me draft the lawsuit."