I suddenly began coughing, pretending I was still groping helplessly through darkness as I fumbled toward the glass of water on the nightstand.

With a loud crash, the glass fell to the floor and shattered.

"Ah… the water…" I cried out in alarm.

Marco hurried to my side, the scent of his cologne so strong it was almost suffocating.

It was the fragrance the other woman loved most.

"Camilla, why didn't you call me?" he said.

Carefully avoiding the shards on the floor, he lifted me gently into his arms. His voice was as tender as ever.

I kept my gaze blank and unfocused, staring into empty space while clutching tightly at his sleeve.

"Marco, I just had a nightmare. I dreamed you left me."

Marco chuckled softly and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"Silly girl. How could I ever leave you? You're my life."

I lowered my eyes, hiding the chill in them.

Marco rested his chin on the top of my head.

"Camilla, I have to deal with a traitor tonight. I might be back late."

Leaning against his chest, I let my fingers wander over the pocket of his suit jacket.

"Then come back early. I'm scared of being alone."

My voice carried all the dependence and fragility he expected to hear.

Marco kissed my forehead again. "Be good. Don't wait up for me."

He didn't notice when I slipped a tiny listening device into his pocket.

After he left, I picked up my phone.

Adrian: [Principessa, the asset transfer has reached 80%. It will be fully completed in three days. Also, the special gift you asked me to prepare for Anna has already been hidden beneath the carpet in your room.]

Me: [Hurry it up.]

After I replied, I opened the tracking software connected to the miniature bug.

On the screen, a small red dot representing Marco blinked steadily.

His location: the guest room next door.

Seeing the red dot so close, I let out a cold laugh and slipped on my Bluetooth earpiece.

The sounds from next door streamed clearly into my ears.

"Gentler… are you trying to kill me?"

Anna's coquettish voice dripped with syrupy sweetness.

Marco's laugh was low and dark. "You little seductress. I'll make sure you enjoy yourself tonight."

Then came the sound of fabric tearing, followed by the sharp crack of a belt striking skin.

So the so-called "dealing with a traitor" was nothing more than changing rooms to continue their affair.

Expressionless, I opened the laptop and entered Marco's account password. The numbers were his birthday plus mine.

How ironic. He used my birthday as his password, yet stabbed me in the back with the cruelest blade.

I placed the fingerprint film I had secretly copied earlier over the scanner.

Beep—

A green notification popped up on the screen: Verification Successful.

Marco's fortune—billions—had already been transferred into my overseas accounts.

Just then, hurried footsteps sounded outside the door.

Marco's underboss, Carlo Bianchi, knocked loudly.

"Madre! Is Don Vitale with you? The shipment in the East District was intercepted! I can't reach him by phone, and there's no one in the basement!"

I quickly put the laptop away and stumbled toward the door.

As I passed the heavy Persian rug by the entrance, I deliberately hooked my toe against it. The corner of a forged document hidden beneath it—"Anna Is an Undercover Police Informant"—slipped partly into view.

Bang!

I crashed hard onto the floor, my knees and elbows striking painfully enough to leave dark bruises.

Lying on the ground, I raised a trembling hand and struggled to open the door.

"Madre!" Carlo rushed inside.

At that moment, the door of the guest room next door was yanked open.

Marco rushed in, his clothes disheveled. "What happened?"

"Madre accidentally fell," Carlo reported with his head lowered, though his gaze briefly flicked toward the corner of the document peeking out beneath the rug.

When Marco saw the blood on my hand, he immediately unleashed a furious tirade at Carlo.

Clutching my bleeding hand, I forced a confused, startled expression onto my face.

"Marco? Weren't you going to deal with a traitor? Why are you back so soon?"

Marco froze for a split second. He quickly pulled his loosened shirt collar together. "I… came to get some documents before heading out."

Anna appeared at the doorway right behind him, with red marks across her neck.

Carlo's gaze swept over both of them before he lowered his head again. "Don Vitale, something's happened in the East District."

Marco waved a hand impatiently. "I know. Wait downstairs."

He carried me back to the bed and pressed tissues against my wound.

Curled in his arms, I let tears drip down my face.

"I was so scared. Carlo said he couldn't find you. I thought something had happened to you."

"Silly girl. Nothing will happen to me." He paused, then smiled faintly. "Tomorrow is our fifth anniversary. Have you decided where you want to go?"

I tilted my head up. "How about going out to sea? I haven't felt the ocean breeze in a long time."

Marco wiped the tears from the corners of my eyes, his tone indulgent.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow night. I'll give you the most special anniversary."

That morning, I used the excuse of preparing a fifth-anniversary gift for Marco and asked Adrian to act as my driver.

In the car, I tossed a large bag stuffed with top-tier jewelry and luxury watches into his arms.

"Sell everything. Use the black market channels. Also, has the bomb on the yacht been installed?"

"Yes, everything is progressing smoothly."

Adrian handed me a miniature detonator.

"All that's left… is tonight's final celebration at sea."

Because they had to "be considerate" of my condition, aside from the family's security personnel and staff, the yacht held only three guests—Marco, Anna, and me.

Before the dinner began, Anna deliberately drifted over to stand in front of me.

The scent of her perfume was painfully familiar. It was the fragrance I had personally blended for Marco. He always said he couldn't bear to use it.

Yet, he had casually given it to Anna instead.

Assuming I was blind, Anna made no effort to hide her mockery. She waved the bottle of perfume right in front of my face.

Her syrupy voice carried blatant pride. "Camilla, does this scent smell nice?"

I smiled faintly. "It does. Like a dog in heat."

Anna's face turned instantly livid. She wanted to lash out—but she didn't dare.

After all, in name, I was still the Madre of the house, and Marco would never allow anyone to openly provoke me.

At dinner, Marco presented a velvet box.

Inside lay a deep-blue diamond necklace—Heart of the Deep Sea, worth a fortune.

"Do you like it? An anniversary gift."

He personally fastened it around my neck. The cold diamond against my skin sent a shiver across my body.

"Without you, my world would be nothing but darkness."

He leaned close to whisper in my ear, his voice so sincere, so deeply affectionate it could have drowned a person.

Anna stood in the shadows not far away, her face pale, her fingers nearly crushing the stem of her wine glass.

I touched the necklace at my throat and said softly, "Yes… very soon, your world will be nothing but darkness."

Marco laughed, affectionately tapping the tip of my nose. "What nonsense are you talking about?"

He thought I was speaking words of love—responding to his declaration of how important I was to him.

He had no idea I was simply stating a fact that was about to come true.

"Marco, shall we play a game?"

I turned toward him, wrapping my arms around his neck in a playful embrace.

"What game?"

"Hide-and-seek."

I pointed at my eyes.

"Since I can't see anyway, let me try catching you just once, okay?"

Marco exchanged a glance with Anna. Both of them struggled to hide the excitement in their eyes.

"Alright. Count to one hundred." Marco bent down and kissed the back of my hand.

I began counting loudly.

Hurried footsteps quickly disappeared down the corridor.

I knew exactly where they were going.

Marco would definitely head to the luxury cabin on the lower deck—the "battlefield" they had long arranged.

As the sound of their footsteps faded away, the smile on my lips vanished instantly.

I continued pretending to grope around like a blind woman.

"Marco, where are you hiding?" I called out as I pushed open the door to the communal changing room.

Not far behind me, two bodyguards assigned to keep watch followed me inside. They were the men Marco had ordered to guard me.

The changing room lights remained off, rows of lockers standing tightly packed together.

I slipped into the blind spot in the farthest corner.

The bodyguards' leather shoes echoed as they paced the aisle.

"Madre? Are you in there?"

Holding my breath, I moved with lightning speed. I shrugged off my coat and pulled on the janitor's uniform I had already hidden in a locker.

I tied up my long hair, put on a mask, and lowered a baseball cap over my face.

Then I pushed a cleaning cart from the corner, lowered my head, and calmly walked out through another corridor.

The two bodyguards were still kicking open stall doors in the changing room, searching for me one by one.

I pushed the cart smoothly all the way to the stern deck.

From my hand, I produced a miniature detonator disguised as a phone charm.

The bomb was hidden inside the ventilation duct of the changing room.

Blending into the crowd, I pressed the countdown button.

Ten.

Nine.

Eight…

At that moment, the conversation inside the master cabin streamed clearly through the tiny earpiece in my ear.

"Don Vitale, tonight we should try something new," Anna giggled sweetly. "I brought a special lubricant. Let's play all night."

In the earpiece, Marco's throat released a low growl. "You little whore."

I let out a cold laugh, tore off the earpiece, and tossed it into the churning sea.

"Three."

"Two."

"One."

"May you two… stick together, forever and ever."

Inside the cabin, passion was at its peak.

Marco moved like a tireless beast, taking with relentless hunger.

Anna's cries were loud and wanton, pushing his senses further and further.

"Baby, why are you so tight today?"

Marco panted heavily, the sensation of being wrapped so tightly around him unlike anything he had felt before.

There was even a faint burning sensation.

"You're just too strong… ah… it's so hot…"

Anna felt something was wrong too.

A searing pain spread through her lower body, wave after wave, as if she were being scorched by fire.

"Wait… why is it so hot?"

Marco frowned, his movements slowing to a halt.

The burning sensation quickly intensified into agony, as though their skin were being eaten away by acid.

"Quick—pull out!"

Anna screamed, her face twisting with pain.

Marco panicked as well, instinctively trying to pull back.

But in the next second, his pupils contracted sharply.

He couldn't pull out at all.

Marco jerked back with force.

"Ah!!!"

Anna let out a piercing scream as blood burst forth instantly.

The industrial adhesive, activated by heat and friction, had already hardened completely.

Marco's violent tug didn't separate them—instead, it tore the skin where their bodies were joined.

Their most private parts were now locked together like conjoined twins, fused together beyond separation.

"Damn it! What's going on?!" Cold sweat poured down Marco's back.

Just then, a deafening boom erupted.

An explosion went off at the stern of the yacht.

The violent shockwave sent both of them tumbling off the bed.

The fall pulled painfully at the place where they were stuck together. Blood ran down their thighs in winding streams, staining the white carpet red.

"Ah—!"

Another heart-wrenching scream echoed through the cabin.

The door burst open as several trusted subordinates rushed in with guns raised.

"Don Vitale! There's been an expl—"

Flashlight beams hit the floor.

Every man froze.

Before them was the most absurd, scandalous, and bloody scene they had ever witnessed.

Their lofty, untouchable Don was completely naked—fused together with the family doctor.

Both of them were covered in blood, their bodies twisted, their expressions contorted in agony.

"What are you staring at?! Get out! Call a doctor! And go protect Madre!"

Marco roared hysterically, mortified beyond words.

The accompanying physician finally arrived. After examining them, his hands trembled like leaves in the wind.

"Don Vitale… the adhesive is too strong."

Wiping cold sweat from his forehead, the doctor delivered the grim verdict in a shaking voice.

"The only solution… is surgery to remove part of the skin. Possibly even… some tissue…"

At those words, Anna fainted on the spot.

Carlo swallowed hard and forced his gaze away.

"Don Vitale, the stern exploded! We have to evacuate immediately!"

"Where's Madre?!"

Marco suddenly ignored the agonizing pain below and roared.

Carlo's face turned pale. With trembling hands, he held something out.

"We searched the center of the explosion… this is all we found…"

It was a charred high heel and a ring.

The shock and searing pain struck his heart at once, and Marco spat out a mouthful of blood.

"Camilla! Camilla!!!"

He roared my name hoarsely.

"She wouldn't die. She'd never bear to leave me like that!

"Find her! Even if you have to drain the ocean dry, find her!"