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!"

Blood flowed into my eyes, blurring my vision into a dark red haze.

"Mrs. Colombo, why are you being so stubborn?"

Gina stepped closer, stopping right in front of me. She looked down at the blood dripping from my forehead and sneered.

"You really think you're still the wife of the Colombo family's heir? How funny. Marco won't even sleep with you! In the Colombo family, you're worth even less than a helper!"

She raised her heel and stomped down on the back of my right hand, grinding it into the floor.

"I just need to say one word, and Marco will divorce you tomorrow!"

Turning my right hand, I grabbed her ankle and threw it to the side with all my strength.

"Ah!" Gina screamed as she lost her balance and crashed to the ground.

"Gina!" Michele's face paled as he rushed over to help her up.

"Michele, she's trying to kill me!" Gina sobbed in his arms.

Seizing the opportunity, Lino waddled up, clutching his swollen face. "Michele, don't waste your time with her! She slapped me earlier! I'm going to pay her back in full right now!"

He raised his fat hand, aiming to slap me across the face.

But I raised my leg and kicked him square in the stomach.

"Ow!" Lino screamed as he tumbled backward like a rolling ball of flesh.

"You crazy bitch! I'll kill you!"

Michele was beyond enraged now. He grabbed my collar, lifting me off the ground. "I'll say this one last time. Apologize to Gina!"

I locked eyes with him, then spat a mouthful of blood and saliva directly into his face. "You want me to apologize? Dream on!"

The hall fell completely silent.

Michele stood frozen for a moment before raising his hand to wipe the saliva off his face. "Bitch, go to hell!"

With a roar, he slammed me to the ground and swung his gun at my face.

"I'm going to ruin this face of yours today! Let's see how you fight for Marco's favor after this!"

Just as the gun was about to strike, a loud commotion came from outside the door. "Marco is back!"

Michele paused before retracting the gun.

The two Soldati holding me also let go of me and stepped back in a hurry.

I slumped into the corner, my disheveled hair covering my blood-streaked face.

The entire hall parted, creating a path.

A man in a tailored black suit with slicked-back hair strode in with purpose.

Gina's eyes lit up. She scrambled to her feet and flung herself into Marco's arms. "Marco! Amore, you're finally back!"

Pointing at her torn wedding dress, she sobbed dramatically. "Mrs. Colombo not only can't stand me, but she also tore up my wedding dress in front of everyone. She even tried to have Michele and Lino killed!

"I couldn't take it anymore, and neither could Michele and Lino, so we just had to teach her a lesson…"

She clung to Marco's chest, wiping her tears like a damsel in distress. "She's in the corner playing dead now. Don't let her fool you!"

Frowning, Marco followed Gina's finger and noticed the bloodied, disheveled woman in the corner.

A flash of disgust crossed his face, and he sneered. "Good job!"

He handed Gina a velvet box and softly comforted her, "I'm so sorry you had to go through that. This is the ten-carat pink diamond ring I took from the safe just for you."

Then, he turned around and roared at the woman in the corner, "You barren bitch! How dare you bully my woman! I haven't divorced you only because of our history, but you've really pushed your luck this time!"

He looked down at me with contempt and continued coldly, "Get a lawyer here now! I'm divorcing this bitch today!"

The guests around us smiled cruelly, clearly enjoying the drama. Lino and Michele grinned, eager to see me get divorced.

I slowly pushed myself up from the corner and tucked my hair behind my ear, revealing my bloodied face.

I looked calmly at Marco and stressed every word. "Who did you say you're divorcing?"

Marco turned toward my voice.

As our eyes met, his pupils dilated, as if he were struck by a bolt of lightning.