When I was 18, I was abducted and assaulted.

Leonardo Ferrante stormed into the hideout with explosives strapped to his body and saved me. As a result, he lost a leg.

After getting a prosthetic, he gently wiped away my tears and comforted me. "Don't be silly, Camilla Marino. It's just one leg. Why are you crying over this? I said I will protect you for a lifetime. I won't break my promise."

After that, he even risked his life to take revenge for me. No one in the whole wide world dared to provoke me.

I once thought I would stay happy like this forever... until his mistress, Vittoria Greco, hands me an invitation to their engagement banquet.

"Do you really think he will marry an assaulted woman like you? Leonardo says you're rotten inside and out. Only I deserve to marry him. We're getting engaged next week. Make sure you come join us for the celebration."

I stare at the fancy font on the invitation.

Then I swing it backhand and slap her across the face 100 times until she bleeds.

After that, I have my men call Leonardo.

"I will make a bet with you. If you win, you can take your mistress away. But if you lose, I will claim her life!"

Leonardo Ferrante stormed into my house like a man possessed.

The moment he saw Vittoria Greco lying on the floor with blood seeping from the corner of her mouth, his expression immediately turned murderous.

"Have you lost your mind, Camilla Marino?"

I stood where I was, looking up at him.

"You barged into my house, pointing and yelling at me for the sake of a cheap mistress who isn't fit to be seen in public. Leonardo, aren't you the one who's lost your mind?"

Leonardo pressed his lips tightly together, saying nothing.

Vittoria struggled to crawl to his feet. She then lifted her face, swollen from my slap, and said tearfully, "Leonardo, we're getting engaged next week. H-How am I supposed to explain to my parents if they see me like this?"

She wept in bitter despair.

I saw a flicker of hesitation in Leonardo's eyes. The next second, he suddenly pressed a knife against my throat.

In a calm yet cruel voice, he said, "Camilla, everyone knows about what happened to you back then. My nonno made it very clear that my family would never take in a daughter-in-law with a tarnished reputation."

He looked at me with pain and resolve in his eyes.

"My heart will always belong to you, but my hand has to go to her. My family needs an heir, so stop making a scene. Let's both get what we want, okay?"

When I heard that, I felt as if my heart had been brutally carved out with a sharp blade.

He was telling me to stop making a scene? But whose enemy was it that tracked me down and got me kidnapped and assaulted in the first place?

It was none other than Leonardo, of course.

Now my past, stained with blood and sin, had become the very thing that prevented me from marrying into the Ferrante family and also the reason he was marrying someone else.

My throat tightened. I forced down the bitterness that was about to burst through my chest and let out a low laugh instead.

"Leonardo, you're telling me to be the bigger person? Am I supposed to swallow my pride, willingly reduce myself into your dirty little secret, and then smile as I wish you and Vittoria a house full of children?"

I met his complicated gaze and let my smile fade.

"Well, that's never going to happen. If anything, I'll make sure you end up with nothing. As long as I'm alive, let's see who in Fairview dares to marry you!"

The air suddenly grew thick with tension.

The knife in Leonardo's hand remained perfectly still, yet his hand trembled faintly.

I saw the reluctance in his eyes and thought he'd give in. But then, he suddenly turned the blade and cut out the tongue of Stefano Rossi, the bodyguard he had personally trained to protect me.

Warm drops of blood splattered across my cheek. I stood frozen as he tossed the knife aside. He then bent down and scooped Vittoria into his arms.

He cradled the back of her neck with one hand, and with his other—the one covered in scars from shielding me from an explosion—gently covered her eyes.

Pain stabbed through my chest and washed over me. It was just like when I was 18 years old, and he—drenched in blood—had carried me out of the wreckage.

Back then, Leonardo covered my eyes with one hand and whispered in my ear, "Don't look, Camilla. It's dirty."

Now, he was covering another woman's eyes and thinking of me as the dirty one.

"Camilla, don't push me to do something even more ruthless," he said coldly with his back to me.

After he left, I curled my lips in bitter sorrow and had someone take Stefano for treatment.

"Burn everything Leonardo ever gave me," I ordered in an eerily calm voice. "Spread the word—whoever that takes Vittoria out is a friend of mine."

The news of my falling out with Leonardo spread through the entire circle like wildfire.

"If you ask me, Leonardo was never really interested in that damaged goods."

"I heard he's guarding his new woman like a fortress, watching over her round the clock. When did Camilla ever get that kind of treatment?"

"Right? Back then, when Leonardo went all out for her, it was only because of her family's influence. Now that her family has lost their power, who would want to marry an assaulted woman?"

Not a single word of those sharp-tongued remarks escaped my ears.

I remembered back when I first had my incident, some trust-fund baby had said something similar during a card game.

The next day, his family's company was ruthlessly crushed by Leonardo. And he himself was cornered by Leonardo in the parking garage and had two of his ribs broken.

Leonardo had only said one thing, "You think you have the right to run your mouth about someone I paid for with my life?"

From that day on, the entire Fairview fell silent.

Leonardo built a wall around me, shielding me from all malice and pity.

But now, the man who built that wall had torn it down himself, allowing the gossip I once feared most to stab me from all sides.

As the gossip grew more intense, Leonardo brought in Vittoria to the organization gathering.

This was the place where the most private matters of the families were handled. No outsiders, and especially no women, were ever allowed to set foot inside.

The only reason I had the right to enter was because my Padre, Giuseppe Marino, traded half our family's empire for that privilege. Yet, Vittoria walked in without lifting a finger.

I remained silent.

Vittoria leaned into Leonardo's side, her gaze occasionally drifting toward me with a hint of provocation.

Suddenly, the massive projection screen in the banquet hall lit up.

What had been playing an elegant scenic video abruptly shifted to a humiliating assault video. The one on screen was me at 18 years old, my face filled with terror and despair.

The video was also paired with unbearably crude subtitles.

"No wonder Leonardo dumped her. She's been completely used up!"

"So disgusting," Vittoria said this while shooting me a smug smile.

Raging fury and humiliation instantly consumed my reason.

"Rip her mouth apart!" I practically roared, pointing at Vittoria as I gave the order to my men.

He immediately stepped forward. But before his hand could even reach Vittoria, Leonardo shot up and kicked him away.

Then, he stepped in front of me in one stride and raised his hand. The sound of an incredibly vicious slap echoed as his hand struck hard across my face.

My ears rang, my vision went dark, and I nearly lost my balance.

Leonardo stood before me, with the humiliating video still looping behind him. The eyes that once looked at me with tenderness and affection now held only cold disgust and raging fury.

"Camilla, aren't you ashamed enough?"

Ashamed?

My cheek burned with searing pain, and the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth. But neither could compare to the ache in my heart.

The video showed the darkest moment of my past, as well as the disaster I endured to save him. His new lover had broadcast it for everyone to see, and yet he thought I was the one who should be ashamed?

In that moment, my heart shattered completely.

"Leonardo, I'll remember this slap," I said, wiping away my tears as I looked at him. "From today on, there's nothing between us but a fight to the death.

As the words left my lips, he suddenly grabbed my hand and pulled me into a secluded corner. There, he kissed and nibbled my lips with brutal intensity.

"Camilla, I already told you I only love you. Vittoria is still young. Her broadcasting that video was just a childish act of jealousy. Why must you make such a big deal out of it?"

So, to him, the video of my assault was nothing more than proof of his new lover's childishness. Even though my heart was dead, it still hurt.

I shoved him away and fiercely wiped off the traces of his kiss.

"Leonardo, you let Vittoria tear open my old wounds and say I'm the one making a scene? Have you forgotten who humiliated me? I was the one who was harmed by your enemies while trying to save you!"

I stepped forward until I was almost pressed against him and jabbed my finger into the spot right over his heart.

"You want an heir? Fine. But what you absolutely shouldn't have done was let her tear open my old wounds, and you definitely should not have poured salt on them yourself!"

With that, I turned and walked away, paying no attention to the way his head hung low.

But his voice still reached me from a distance.

"Camilla, no matter what, don't do anything to her. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless."

I let out a bitter laugh and, together with my assistant, Aurora Romani, walked straight out of the meeting hall while everyone stared.

The slap mark on my face burned with pain, but it was nothing compared to the ache in my heart.

…

The car had barely driven a short distance and rounded the corner when several vehicles forced us to a stop.

Vittoria had brought people to block the way ahead.

"Ms. Marino," Aurora said, her voice tense with a hint of panic, "most of our people are still back at the gathering. What should we do now?"

I looked at the pretentious face outside the car, a cold calm settling deep in my heart.

"It's fine," I said, pushing open the car door. "Wait for me in the car. If something happens, follow the plan."

"Understood."

The moment I stepped out of the car, Vittoria came up to me with an openly smug expression.

"Well, well, Ms. Marino, all alone now? Weren't you so impressive back at the gathering? Weren't you going to rip my mouth apart?"

I looked at her coldly. "Cut the crap. If you want revenge, just get on with it."

But she suddenly smiled in a strange way. "You're overthinking things. Why would I dirty my own hands?"

Before her words faded, my pupils suddenly contracted in shock. Without a moment's hesitation, Vittoria picked up the already prepared dagger and slashed it viciously across her own delicate cheek.

Blood instantly gushed out, staining half of her face red, as her flesh split apart and turned up at the edges.

I stood there stunned, never expecting her to do something like that.

In that split second, Vittoria shoved the bloodied dagger next to my feet, then let out a piercing scream.

"Leonardo, save me!" she shrieked in terror and agony. "I only followed Ms. Marino because I saw her leaving alone and wanted to see her off. Who would've thought she'd just grab a dagger and slash me without any warning."

Hurried footsteps thundered close.

Leonardo came charging over with his men. His eyes immediately fell on Vittoria—lying in a pool of blood, her cheek still bleeding—then on the bloodied dagger by my feet.

His gaze instantly darkened as he stared at me, his eyes as cold as if he were looking at a stranger.

"Camilla, this is the third time I've warned you not to lay a hand on her. Are you going to come quietly or do I have to make you?"

I frowned, my heart sinking to my stomach.

"Leonardo, I never hurt her. She did it to herself. I won't admit to something I didn't do."

"Enough, Camilla!" he yelled harshly, his gaze filled with undisguised disdain. "When did you become so vicious and cowardly that you won't even admit to what you've done?"