The noises inside suddenly stopped.

Then Mia's voice rang out from the room, flustered yet still carrying that infuriating arrogance of hers.

"Don't come in, Isabella! I'm with my boyfriend!"

I let out a cold laugh.

"Boyfriend? Weren't you just calling him 'big brother'? I almost thought..."

"That's just a little thing couples do," Mia cut in immediately. "Viktor just helped me deal with someone who was harassing me. There are also a few traitors in the family that need to be taken care of. He'll come back after he finishes handling family business."

"Your brother treats you so well. As your sister-in-law, I should show some concern too." I smiled faintly. "Why don't I help you check whether this boyfriend of yours is actually worthy of you?"

Without waiting for a response, I shoved the half-open door and walked in.

"Isabella!"

Mia shrieked as she scrambled off the dining table. At the same time, a muffled groan from a man slipped through the room. Behind her, a large tablecloth had been yanked down in a hurry, covering the upper half of the man lying on the table.

Viktor did not move.

He lay there stiffly, frozen in place.

"My boyfriend isn't wearing clothes! What kind of woman barges in like this? Don't you have any shame?" Mia spread her arms to block my path, the panic in her eyes quickly turning into open provocation.

Her neck and collarbone were covered in deep red marks.

"If you take one more step forward, I'll tell my brother you were trying to stare at my boyfriend's body. You're the one cheating."

I almost laughed from sheer disbelief.

"That build really does look a lot like your brother's.

"Mia, are you this desperate to stop me because you found a boyfriend based on my husband's exact type... or because the man lying on that table actually is my husband?"

I walked straight toward her.

Enraged, Mia grabbed a wine bottle from the bar counter and smashed it at my feet.

"Just because you're my sister-in-law doesn't mean you get to slander me! If you don't leave right now, I'll sue you for defamation!"

Glass exploded across the marble floor. A sharp shard sliced across my ankle, and blood immediately streamed down my skin.

I raised my hand and slapped her across the face.

Hard.

Her head snapped to the side and she stumbled backward before collapsing onto the floor.

She clutched her cheek, staring at me in complete shock.

"Slandering you? Hitting you already dirtied my hands."

As I looked at her stunned expression, memories came rushing back one after another.

Viktor sitting on the sofa reading family reports while Mia casually picked up his coffee cup and drank from the exact spot his lips had touched, all while staring directly at me.

At family gatherings, she would wear revealing dresses and, after only a couple drinks, collapse dramatically into Viktor's arms. He would hold her close and laugh it off.

"Mia can't handle alcohol."

And one night, when I got up for water, I passed by Viktor's study and saw her leaning against the doorway in a silk nightdress, her voice soft and syrupy.

"Viktor, I had a nightmare. Can you stay with me tonight?"

Back then, I thought it was just dependency between siblings.

Viktor told me she had lost her father young and lacked a sense of security. He asked me to be more understanding.

And I believed him.

For Viktor's sake, I swallowed every bit of discomfort and disgust.

But looking back now, none of that was innocent sibling affection.

It was an affair happening right in front of me.

Every flirtatious smile, every act of dependence, every crossed boundary... it had all been deliberate.

A challenge directed straight at me.

Years of resentment exploded at once.

I grabbed Mia by the hair and slammed her head against the cold marble counter with a heavy crack.

"Let go of me! Are you insane?!" she screamed, struggling wildly.

I pinned the back of her head down with all my strength while raising my other hand, ready to pour years of humiliation onto her face in a single blow.

Then my phone rang.

Viktor's custom ringtone.

A text message.

[Darling, I'll be back soon. Thanks for taking care of Mia.]

Even while hiding under that tablecloth, he had still found time to text me because he was afraid I would hurt her.

The moment Mia saw the change in my expression, she seemed to understand instantly. She stopped struggling. The anger on her face slowly twisted into smug satisfaction.

I tightened my grip on the phone, forcing myself not to smash it directly into her face.

Then another message came through.

It was from one of my men.

"Principessa, the camera in Room 169 is in position."

Fine.

If they wanted to put on a show, I would give them a performance they would never forget.

I took a slow breath and coldly threw out one final sentence.

"Take your dog of a man and get out."

Then I turned and walked away without looking back.

Back in Room 520, I shut the door and connected my phone to the hidden camera inside Room 169.

On the screen, Viktor stepped into the room while Mia followed behind him, tears streaming down her face.

Viktor grabbed her by the arm.

"How dare you throw a bottle at Isabella? If she'd gotten hurt, I would've killed you."

Mia immediately started crying harder.

"I threw it at the floor! She walked over suddenly, that's why it almost hit her. I was trying to help you. I didn't want her coming over and finding out about us."

Viktor's expression softened slightly.

"No matter what happens, you are never allowed to hurt your sister-in-law."

The next second, Mia threw herself into his arms, burying her face against his chest.

"I know I was wrong. Punish me tonight, okay? However you want."

Viktor pushed her away and coldly replied, "I'll deal with you tonight."

Then he got dressed and left the room.

I immediately locked my phone screen.

A few minutes later, my suite door opened.

Viktor walked in looking perfectly composed, dressed like the untouchable Don everyone feared. He crossed the room in a few long strides and pulled me tightly into his arms.

The scent of shower gel still clung to him, mixed with the lingering heat of another woman.

"Bella, I missed you."

He lowered his head to look at me, his thumb brushing slowly across my lips.

"Mia told me you wanted to look at another man's body. I got jealous.

"You're only allowed to look at mine."

I said nothing.

Viktor continued softly, "While I was dealing with the traitor tonight, I kept thinking about something. If someone betrays the family, I can put a bullet in his head without hesitation."

He paused, something wounded flickering across his eyes.

"But if you betrayed me...

"What would I even do to you?"

I let out a cold laugh.

"If I really betrayed you, what would you do?"

The look in Viktor's eyes instantly turned dark and obsessive.

"I won't allow you to betray me."

He grabbed my chin and forced me to look up at him.

"Bella, you would never betray me, right?"

His grip hurt badly enough that I let out a quiet sound of pain.

Viktor immediately released me.

"Sorry. Did I hurt you?"

Then his gaze dropped to my ankle.

The blood around the cut had already dried, but tiny shards of glass were still embedded in the wound.

He went to retrieve the medical kit, then knelt before me on one knee to treat the injury himself.

"How were you this careless?"

I looked down at him, my voice ice-cold.

"If you never betray me, then I'll never betray you."

His hand trembled slightly while applying the medicine.

"How could I ever betray you?" he said quietly. "You're the person I love most."

After saying that, he leaned down and kissed my forehead. Then he claimed there were still traitors within the organization that needed to be dealt with and said he could not stay with me tonight.

The moment he left, I immediately contacted my people and ordered them to pack up all my personal belongings.

Then I placed a signed divorce agreement on the bedside table.

I was just about to leave the hotel when my best friend Anna texted me.

[Bella, did you go confront Mia today?]

[Everyone on Instagram is tearing you apart right now.]

I opened the screenshots she sent me, my entire body trembling with anger.

"Major scandal! A certain mafia wife is jealous of her husband's little sister and constantly bullies her whenever her brother isn't home!"

"Today she even tried to seduce her sister-in-law's boyfriend. When he refused, she assaulted Mia!"

The wording was deliberately inflammatory.

In just a few sentences, I had been painted as a vicious, mentally unstable woman consumed by jealousy.

Mia had even uploaded selfies showing the red handprint on her face while accusing me of being violent and possessive.

She had built a decent following on Instagram over the years, enough to stir public opinion quickly.

Anna immediately called me.

"Bella, did you see what that little b*tch is doing?

"She even got her fan clubs involved. They're planning a livestream tonight to publicly humiliate you.

"She wants the whole internet laughing at you."

I stood in the hotel hallway, my injured ankle still throbbing faintly.

"Anna, do me a favor.

"I'm starting my own livestream tonight. Use every promotional resource you have and push traffic into my room.

"It's just a public opinion war.

"When I was using these tactics, Mia was still in kindergarten."

That night, I started the livestream.

Within seconds, hundreds of thousands of viewers flooded in.

The comments were filled with insults.

[So this is the woman? She still dares to stream?]

[She wants to look at her sister-in-law's boyfriend naked? Psycho.]

[Have some shame!]

Three minutes later, one of Mia's fan accounts requested to join the livestream.

I accepted.

On the other side of the screen were three heavily made-up young women, all looking furious.

"Isabella, you b*tch!"

"Mia and her brother are family! Of course they're close!"

"What right do you have to be jealous?"

"You're even trying to steal Mia's boyfriend now? How desperate are you?"

They ranted passionately while the audience joined in and fueled the chaos.

"Apologize!"

"Apologize to Mia in front of everyone!"

"That's right! The stream is recording everything! Don't even think about ending the livestream without apologizing!"

I waited until they finished screaming before calmly saying one sentence.

"You want Mia?

"Fine. I know exactly where she is."

I stood up with my phone in hand and walked out of the room.

Then I stopped outside Room 169.

From inside came unmistakably intimate sounds:

A man breathing heavily. A woman crying out. The dull thud of a bedframe hitting the wall.

The livestream comments instantly exploded.

"What the hell is that sound?"

"No way... is she about to..."

I pulled out a master keycard.

Beep.

The green light flashed.

And the door slowly opened.