Chapter 3

Adriana's POV

"So you really want papers of repudiation, huh?" Lorenzo snapped, his voice low and lethal in the hush of the study. "Fine. I'll give you what you want. But let me make this clear. If we're finished, I write the terms. I'll see to it you walk out of this famiglia with nothing but shame on your name. And I'll make sure my mother learns what kind of woman she took into her heart. A grifter who used her own mother's death to squeeze tribute and drag an honest man before the Commission."

Through the flurry of shredded paper still drifting between us like ash, I caught his cold, vengeful eyes, and the small, satisfied smirk curling on Bianca's lips.

Still, I didn't say a word. I simply turned and walked out of the office.

Back home, I quietly started packing my things.

By the time I wheeled my suitcase down to the street, a large group of people suddenly closed in around me.

They surrounded me on the block, holding up cameras and phones, shouting as they recorded.

"Look, it's her, the woman who told her own mother to stage an accident on the Family's turf!"

"After her mother got run down, she used the body to shake people down for money. When that didn't work, she ran to a sit-down just to squeeze out more!"

"She even drove that poor girl to despair. Tried to take her own life more than once!"

"Thank God her husband's a Consigliere with honor, a man who stood by the code instead of shielding his greedy wife! Otherwise who knows what that poor girl would've suffered!"

"And now, because he won't help her grift, she's threatening him with repudiation. Look, her bags are already packed!"

Their accusations cut through the air like knives.

Through the crowd, I saw Bianca and Lorenzo standing at the back, both watching me with smug satisfaction.

So this was his plan. A neighborhood spectacle, staged to destroy me.

And it worked. The reaction was instant.

The crowd was relentless, spitting venom with every word, and soon my name was traveling the block faster than any wire.

What kind of monster uses her own mother's death for money?

No wonder her mother died early. Karma got her first!

Like mother, like daughter! They both got what they deserved!

Serves her right. The car hit the right one!

The word on the street spread like wildfire. Within hours my face was on every phone in the neighborhood. They gave me names. Grifter. Unnatural daughter. Garbage woman. Those labels became who I was.

Then the loudest of them turned the crowd against me. People began hurling rotten vegetables and eggs, shouting insults as I forced my way through the chaos.

Despite it, I stepped over trash and broken shells, walked straight up to Lorenzo, and asked quietly, "Do you really have to go this far, Lorenzo?"

He frowned, and before he could answer, Bianca spoke up, tears shimmering in her eyes. Her hand found his sleeve, her body already easing behind his shoulder.

"Adriana," she whimpered, "I know your mother's gone, but I've been suffering too! Please, just let me go. Stop tormenting me already!"

Seeing her pitiful act, Lorenzo's gaze softened instantly.

Then he turned to me, his tone filled with cold contempt. "Adriana, you brought this on yourself. Your mother got hit because she was faking an accident. You should never have dragged Bianca through one appeal after another. She even paid out of her own pocket to fix her car after your mother wrecked it, and she never asked you for a dime. That's called kindness. But you, you just kept pushing. With a heart as rotten as yours, it's no wonder your mother died early."

The words had barely left his mouth when a familiar voice cut through the crowd.

"Who did you just say is dead?" my mother asked sharply, stepping out from the onlookers. Her hands were clasped tight at her waist, her chin lifting a fraction, and all along the block, the shouting died.