It is said that Marco Colombo, the heir of the Colombo family of Chiron, is holding a wedding for his mistress, Gina Bilotti, today.

The scale is ten times grander than when he marries Isabella Pratico in a political union.

I lean against the ebony railing on the second floor. Sipping my red wine, I watch the lively scene of clinking glasses and mingling guests below with quiet amusement.

Gina is definitely favored—she is even wearing a ruby necklace. One should know that set of ruby jewelry is an heirloom of the Colombo family. It is something only the Donna and the wife of the heir are allowed to wear.

"You must be Isabella, the one Marco who does not love."

A voice suddenly comes from beside me.

I turn my head and see the woman wearing the ruby necklace before me. Gina has come up to the second floor at some point and is now looking at me with a cunning smile on her face.

I freeze for a moment, not yet able to respond.

She suddenly grabs my hand and yanks it hard toward herself. There is a sharp tearing sound, and the hem of her wedding dress rips open with a long tear.

Gina lets out a cry, and tears immediately stream down her face.

"Mrs. Colombo, why did you tear my wedding dress? Marco specially commissioned this from an independent designer just for our wedding!

"If you really cannot tolerate my presence, then I will break up with Marco today and leave Chiron…"

The surrounding guests all lift their heads and glare at me angrily.

I am stunned because I am not Isabella. I am the new wife of Marco's father, the woman of the current Don, and the Donna of the Colombo family.

"You bitch! Gina is Marco's favorite, and you have the nerve to tear up her dress in front of everyone?"

A man in a green suit, as round as a barrel, charged at me. He jabbed his finger at my nose, spitting with every word he spoke.

I rolled my eyes.

When Don Antonio Colombo married me, the family was busy fighting for port deals with the East Coast crews.

He thought it was too risky for me to be out in public, so he made up some excuse about my health and told everyone I was too sick to show my face.

Only the core family members knew that Antonio had remarried, and nobody had ever seen my face.

I guess they mistook me for Marco Colombo's wife, Isabella Pratico.

"Do you know that I am—"

Before I could finish speaking, Marcus' mistress, Gina Bilotti, began wailing and shouting, "Lino! Don't blame Mrs. Colombo. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have worn the wedding dress Marco had custom-made for me in front of her."

She sobbed while shrinking away from me, as if I were about to hit her.

Good grief, her acting was top-notch. She should be an actress, not a mistress.

I opened my mouth to explain that I wasn't Isabella, but before I could speak, the crowd exploded.

"Marco's wife is out of control! How dare a woman from a washed-up family bully Marco's favorite lover!"

"Exactly. She can't stand anyone else being happy because she isn't favored!"

"She's useless. Marco should just divorce her today!"

Upon hearing their insults, I finally understood.

These people at the wedding were just associates who had never seen me, the Donna of the Colombo family.

I cleared my throat, about to speak. "Well, actually, I'm—"

"Mrs. Colombo!" Gina suddenly screamed, cutting me off.

She scrambled to her feet, her hair a mess as she pointed at the balcony.

"I know you're jealous, Mrs. Colombo! You're jealous because Marco loves me and not you. But he doesn't love you anymore. He loves me now. We're truly in love. If you don't believe me, I'll jump from here to prove my love for him! Mrs. Colombo, I really love Marco! Please let us be together!"

With that, Gina shut her eyes and ran toward the balcony as if to jump.

The helpers nearby nearly had a heart attack. They rushed to grab her waist and pull her back.

"Please! Don't jump!"

I almost laughed out loud.

Jumping from two stories would only twist an ankle at most. Why the theatrics?

Seeing me chuckling, Lino, the fat guy, blew a gasket.

He stormed toward me and pointed his finger so close to my face that it was almost poking into my eye. "How dare you laugh! If Gina gets a scratch, I'll make you pay for it!"

I stared coldly at him, then slapped him hard across the face.

The sound of the slap echoed throughout the hall.

The force of my slap sent Lino spinning. Clutching his now-swollen face, he pointed at me, staring in utter disbelief.

"Did you just slap me?"

"Take your hand away." I looked him dead in the eyes. "If you keep pointing at me, I'll chop that finger off."

Seeing this, Gina started crying even harder. "Mrs. Colombo, if you're angry, just take it out on me! Why drag Lino into this?"

The voices attacking me in the hall were deafening.

A few bold men rolled up their sleeves, clearly ready to pin me down, hoping to earn some favor.

I sneered and was about to make a call for backup.

Just then, a booming voice came from outside the hall. "Who the hell is messing with my sister?"

Dressed in a black leather biker jacket, the man strode confidently into the hall. His pistol holster gleamed under the light.

Gina's eyes lit up. She shoved the helper holding her away and scrambled toward him. "Michele!"

She threw herself into her brother Michele Bilotti's arms, crying hysterically. "If you'd been any later, I'd have jumped off the second floor because of this bitch!"

Frowning, Michele wrapped his arms around her.

When he caught sight of the tear in Gina's wedding dress, his expression instantly darkened. "What happened? How did the custom wedding dress Marco had made for you get ruined?"

Trembling, Gina pointed at me. "It was Mrs. Colombo. She not only ripped my wedding dress, but she also tried to force me to jump, telling me to leave Chiron!"

Michele spun and locked his cold gaze onto me. He sized me up, then sneered. "I was wondering who was throwing their weight around like that. Turns out it's just you—you barren old hag."

I raised an eyebrow.

Barren old hag?

Was he talking about my stepdaughter-in-law, Isabella, who hadn't been living with my stepson, Marco Colombo, for five years?

Before I could speak, Lino—whose face I'd just slapped—crawled over to Michele. "Michele! You're finally here!"

Holding his swollen face, he pointed at me and yelled, "This bitch not only bullied Gina, but she even slapped me! You've got to hold her down. I'm going to slap her back!"

Michele caught sight of the handprint on Lino's face. He took a step forward and pointed a finger right in my face before shouting, "You've got a lot of nerve! A woman who isn't even loved by her own husband is acting like the lady of the house in front of my sister?

"Listen up, Marco doesn't love you anymore. He can't wait to divorce you and marry Gina! He's throwing this whole wedding to make her happy. You just had to come and ruin it, didn't you?"

The guests around us chimed in.

"Exactly! Her family is in ruins, and she's lost her favor! What's she so proud of?"

"Michele, this bitch needs to be taught a lesson!"

Hearing the crowd cheer him on, Michele grew bolder. He whipped out his pistol, swung it toward the door, and yelled, "Someone, shut the door! I'm going to teach this woman a lesson for Marco today!"

A deafening bang echoed through the hall.

The main doors were slammed shut from the outside by several armed Soldati.

Dozens of Soldati in black suits swarmed into the hall, closing in on me from every side.

The female guests shrieked, retreating to the corners of the hall, afraid they might get caught in the bloodshed.

Gina, nestled in Michele's arms, wore a smug smile that she didn't even try to hide. She said insincerely, "Mrs. Colombo, if you get down on your knees and beg me for mercy, maybe I can convince Michele to spare your life."

I didn't respond.

She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her smile growing wider. "Marco cares so much about me. He was worried the staff would be clumsy with it, so he went to the vault himself to fetch my ten-carat wedding ring.

"He should be back any minute now. If he comes back and sees how you're bullying me, he'll punish you himself."

"Beg you?" I chuckled.

I ignored the cold barrel of the gun pointed in my face and walked downstairs to the long table. I casually picked a grape from the fruit bowl and popped it into my mouth.

"You're going to teach me a lesson for Marco?"

I spat the seed from the grape without even looking up. "Who do you think you are to teach me anything, idiot?"

The hall went dead silent.

Everyone stared at me like I was crazy.

Michele blinked in confusion, not immediately processing what I'd said.

"Are you insulting me?" he glared at me.

"Yes, you reckless piece of shit," I shot back.

I grabbed a napkin and wiped my hands slowly. "You trespassed on private property with a gun, then have the nerve to point a finger in my face and spout such nonsense?"

I raised my head and looked at him coldly. "Who gave you the nerve?"

"You bitch!" Michele's face twisted with rage.

Ever since he started working for Marco, he had been used to running wild in this area. He had never had to swallow such a humiliating insult before.

Gina fanned the flames from the side. "Michele! She actually insulted you!"

Michele's eyes turned bloodshot as he lifted the gun and aimed the barrel at my face. "You worthless bitch with no family or a man to love you! Someone, give her 50 slaps to start with. Since she's so good at mouthing off, let's see if she can still talk after we're done with her!"

Two Soldati lunged at me like hungry wolves the moment they heard Michele's command.

I grabbed a wine glass from the table and smashed it over their heads.

"No one moves!" I coldly scanned the room.

"If you touch even a hair on my head today, next year this day will be your death anniversary."

A few of the Soldati froze, exchanging nervous glances. None of them dared to step forward.

"You bunch of useless idiots!" Michele kicked the lead Soldato out of his way.

Just as he was about to charge at me, Gina suddenly lunged forward, blocking him. "Michele! I'm marrying Marco today! Let's not stain it with blood."

She turned and dropped to her knees in front of me with a dramatic thud.

The room gasped collectively.

Lino jumped, shouting, "Ms. Bilotti, how could you kneel before this bitch?"

Gina looked up at me with tears in her eyes. "Mrs. Colombo, I know you're upset. If you apologize to me on your knees now…"

She pointed to her torn wedding dress. "And promise to fix my wedding dress in front of everyone, I'll pretend that today never happened."

Then, she lowered her voice and added in a whisper that only the two of us could hear, "As long as you submit, once Marco becomes the Don of the Colombo family and I become the Donna, I might spare your life."

I looked down at her, a smile tugging at my lips.

"You want me to fix your dress?" I stood up and landed a solid kick straight to her chest.

"Out of my way!"

Gina screamed, crashing to the ground a few steps away.

"You're just a slutty stripper. You think you can become Marco's wife and the Donna?"

I pointed down at her. "According to the Colombo family rules, if I shot you right now, no one would dare to stop me. Yet, you want me to get on my knees? The fact I'm not making you kneel and lick my heels right now is me being merciful!"

Clutching her stomach, Gina writhed on the floor in agony. "Ow… my stomach… Michele, it hurts…"

Michele's eyes went bloodshot with rage. "Gina!"

He shoved the Soldati aside and approached me. "Bitch, you're asking for it!"

He swung his pistol. The butt of the gun whistled through the air before slamming into the back of my knee.

I let out a muffled groan, and my knee hit the floor with a heavy thud.

Before I could get back up, two massive Soldati rushed forward, pinning my arms behind me.

"Let go!" I struggled, but I couldn't move.

"How dare you kick Gina!"

Michele grabbed my neck with one hand.

"Apologize to her on your knees now!" he roared, his arms driving my head down toward the floor.

Refusing to bend, I pushed against him with all my strength, causing the veins in my neck to bulge.

"Michele Bilotti!" I gritted my teeth and forced out a low growl. "If you press me down today, I'll kill your entire family!"

Michele burst into laughter. "You? Kill my family? Your family's already fallen, and Marco doesn't love you. You'll be a corpse soon enough. How are you going to kill my family?"

He pressed harder.

With a loud bang, my forehead slammed against the floor. The impact blurred my vision.

I felt a warm trickle of blood running down from my forehead, slipping into my eye.

Supported by a helper at her side, Gina let out a triumphant laugh.

The guests stood by, watching with cold indifference.

Michele yanked my hair, forcing my face up. "Apologize to Gina, or you'll never walk out of this door alive!"