On the day my dad, the Don of the Capone family, comes to the orphanage to take me home, I show up in a tactical helmet and a bulletproof vest.

"I'm not going home with you. You're definitely doing this to trick me into getting married to a perverted old geezer in a marriage alliance. I bet my adopted sister has made preparations to start fake-crying anytime by loading up on her eyedrops."

My dad is amused, to say the least.

"Why would any of that happen? Silvia is nothing but welcoming you to our home! Also, our family isn't a lowly organization that deals with human trafficking."

But I refuse to believe my dad at all. On the way home, I keep typing something on my phone.

My mom, the Donna, leans over curiously. "Are you writing a diary entry?"

"Nope. I'm writing tips on 'How to Survive the Mafia.'"

1) My food will definitely be poisoned.

2) If I get close to a staircase, I'll definitely get pushed down the stairs.

3) I'll get framed for something that I've never done before.

My parents swear to me that none of the things I've written will ever happen. They tell me that my adopted sister, Silvia Capone, has a great personality, and things are amicable in the family.

However, everything changes when Silvia brings me a glass of juice before lunchtime and insists on watching me drink it. Instead, I dump the juice into a nearby vase of flowers.

Just as my parents are about to scold me for wasting the juice, smoke begins drifting from the flowers inside the vase. Then, they start wilting rapidly.

I calmly leave a bright red checkmark behind the "poison" tip.

As my parents stare at the dead flowers, they can feel color draining from their faces.

"You should send the juice to a chem lab for analysis."

I still hadn't received the test results when Silvia Capone, my adopted younger sister, suddenly broke down in tears.

"I'm so sorry, Rosina," she sobbed. "I truly mistook the bleach for honey. I was just trying to sweeten your juice. I didn't mean for this to happen."

It was such a poor excuse that even a young child would have seen through it. After all, bleach and honey were completely different, both in smell and appearance.

Yet, despite all of that, Mamma and Papa still chose to believe Silvia.

Mamma, feeling distressed, helped Silvia to her feet and affectionately wiped away her tears. "I know you have a good heart. This was just an accident. I'm sure you wouldn't do anything to hurt Rosina."

Papa sighed, turning to look at me. "It was a misunderstanding, Rosina. Let it go. Silvia has been frightened enough. You shouldn't conduct yourself like a street thug anymore since you've returned to the famiglia."

Mamma eyed my thick bulletproof vest with pure disdain. "You should also get rid of that junk you're wearing. You shouldn't be dressed like that in your own home. You're making it seem as if the Capone famiglia's security measures are inadequate."

I brushed off her request. Instead, I took out my phone and opened "How to Survive the Mafia".

I checked the box next to the poisoning entry and added a side note. "It seems like the enemy excels at deception. It is highly effective against biased parents."

I skipped lunch entirely because of the poisoning attempt, bringing the meal to a sudden end.

By dinner, I had learned my lesson. I brought out some canned food I had prepared beforehand, along with a professional-grade toxin scanner to check for any contaminants.

It was then that a striking young man in a bespoke suit walked through the door. He was Carlo Bollani, the successor to the Bollani famiglia and the fiance Papa had chosen for his Principessa.

Carlo was originally supposed to marry Silvia, but the engagement had been switched to me.

He walked through the door and caught sight of me with the canned food. He immediately sneered and said, "This is precisely what one would expect from a slum-dweller. Despite returning to the famiglia, you're still stuck with your taste for trash."

I paid no attention to his ridicule and continued eating my cold canned food.

Upon seeing this, Silvia placed a steak on my plate and said, "This is our private chef's specialty, Rosina. You should give it a try. It's not poisoned or anything."

I looked down at the steak, took out the professional-grade toxin scanner, and tested the food right in front of the entire famiglia.

Carlo suddenly slammed his hand on the table and rose to his feet. "Haven't you had enough, Rosina? How dare you behave in such a manner when Silvia was kind enough to share her steak with you! How could you test for poison at the dining table? Have you lost your mind?"

I calmly stowed my professional-grade toxin scanner and tossed the steak into the bin. "I nearly got taken out by that juice she gave me this afternoon, so I'm not going to trust anyone in this famiglia but me."

I opened another can after saying that and began to eat on my own.

Papa turned livid with rage as he leveled a finger at me. "You're being absolutely irrational, Rosina!"

I ignored their collective fury. I stood up and went back to my room once I finished the canned food. I immediately took a door jammer from my suitcase and wedged it into place.

It was a costly piece of equipment designed to withstand a chainsaw for a significant amount of time—just enough to give me a head start if I needed to run.

It happened just as I had anticipated.

At 2:00 am, someone suddenly tried to open my door from the outside. I quietly slipped out of bed and looked through the peephole. Silvia was standing right outside in her pajamas, holding a spare key, and trying to turn the lock.

Thankfully, the door jammer was doing its job.

Silvia gave the door a few hard shoves, but it wouldn't budge, as if it were welded shut. She seemed to catch on and snapped her head up toward the peephole.

I could practically feel her malice radiating through the door. I then noticed her raising her hand to her temple, mimicking a gun to her head, her face stripped of its daytime innocence.

I retreated under the covers, feeling a chill deep in my bones. I got on my phone, bought a few hidden pinhole cameras, and updated my "How to Survive the Mafia" log.

"It seems like the enemy is operational under the cover of darkness and is openly hostile. The threat level has escalated."

I opened the door the following morning and found Silvia sitting at the dining table, dabbing at her tears.

She shot me a look full of grievance when she spotted me before swiftly averting her gaze downward.

Papa lowered his newspaper and glared at me. "You're being far too paranoid, Rosina! You're at home, not a battlefield! What kind of contraption do you have on your door?

"Silvia went to your room last night out of the goodness of her heart to give you a massage pillow. Instead of being grateful, you locked her out and left her standing outside alone!"

Carlo, sitting beside Silvia, gave me a freezing glare. "It seems like some people are just rotten to the core. You should refrain from interacting with such people from now on, Silvia."

I walked over, picked up a piece of bread, and said calmly, "If she just wanted to give a massage pillow, why was she forcing the lock? If I hadn't secured that door, I'd be in a morgue right now, not waking up in my bed."

Upon hearing that, Silvia cried even harder. "How could you think of me that way, Rosina? You didn't respond when I knocked. I was worried that something might have happened to you, so I tried to use the key to unlock the door. I won't do it again if you really don't like it."

Mamma pulled Silvia into her arms and shot me a look of pure disdain. "That's enough, Rosina! Silvia was only trying to help! Do you see how much you've upset her over such a trivial matter?

"Carlo, Silvia, and I will be going on a shopping trip to help settle things between all of you. You're coming along as well. I'll be buying a few clothes for you so that you can finally change out of that hideous bulletproof vest!"

I wasn't going to do whatever she said. I didn't bother taking off the bulletproof vest, choosing instead to layer a loose sports jacket over it.

Upon arriving at the shopping mall, Mamma linked arms with Silvia, while Carlo carried her handbag attentively. They were walking in front, while I was left behind, walking alongside the bodyguards.

Silvia suddenly slowed down just as we got on the escalator. She purposely lingered a half-step behind, positioning herself on the step right at my back.

I immediately knew what was coming for me. I recalled the second rule of "How to Survive the Mafia". If I got close to a staircase, I would definitely get pushed down the stairs.

I took a deep breath and secured a firm grip on the handrails. I then planted my feet wide and dropped my center of gravity to ensure maximum stability.

Just as the escalator reached its midpoint, a forceful shove was directed at my back. Silvia had acted on the assumption that I'd tumble down defenseless, but she was utterly mistaken.

I didn't budge. Instead, the force of her own shove bounced right back at her, knocking her off balance and sending her reeling.

Silvia shrieked as she lost control and tumbled down the escalator.

"Silvia!" Mamma shouted, turning back in terror.

Carlo sprinted over in a frenzy and managed to catch her at the bottom of the escalator.

Silvia fell into Carlo's embrace, her forehead scraped and bleeding. She pointed up at me and yelled, "How could you push me, Rosina? I was only trying to pat the dust off your back!"

In that instant, the onlookers gathered, pointing fingers and whispering about me.

"How can that woman be so cruel?"

"How could she push that young woman? That counts as attempted murder, doesn't it?"

Carlo made sure Silvia was safe, then bolted up the escalator toward me with his eyes turning completely bloodshot. He then shoved me and yelled, "I'll make you pay with your life if Silvia is scarred, Rosina!"

I didn't fight back, allowing the momentum to take me down. I then opened my phone, ticked off the "Staircase Murder" entry, and added a note. "In the end, the enemy suffered the consequences of their own actions. I successfully employed my tactic as well."

It was then that the manager in charge of the shopping mall appeared. I requested a review of the surveillance footage. Though the footage was slightly blurry, the angle captured everything.

It showed that my hands never left the handrail of the elevator the entire time—and there was no pushing involved. Instead, it revealed Silvia reaching out suspiciously before she went flying backward by herself.

It was then that the truth was laid bare.

Having reviewed the surveillance footage as well, the manager in charge of the shopping mall directed a peculiar look toward Silvia. "It appears that that young lady lost her balance and fell of her own accord."

Though the surveillance footage showed that I hadn't moved my hands, Carlo's reasoning remained irrational. He pointed at the monitor and made up a ridiculous excuse, yelling, "Your defensive posture was excessive, even if you didn't push Silvia!

"If you weren't braced like that, Silvia wouldn't have tumbled when she reached out. You're responsible for this injury! You'd better apologize to Silvia now, Rosina!"

I slipped my phone into my pocket and regarded my so-called fiance, whose understanding of the law was nonexistent.

"So if someone tries to stab me and I dodge, resulting in them striking a wall and injuring their hand, I'm the one at fault here?" I asked.

Carlo was rendered speechless. He could only glare at me.

Silvia, despite having only a minor scrape, made a scene by using a wheelchair. The entire famiglia acted as her devoted entourage on the way back home.

In order to comfort Silvia, Mamma retrieved the famiglia heirloom from the safe. It was a red diamond necklace that was meant to be for me, her biological daughter.

She fastened it around Silvia's neck in front of me and said, "You've been through so much, Silvia. You see, this necklace is said to bring good luck. I'll give it to you to alleviate your trauma."

Silvia toyed with the necklace, throwing me a taunting look before glancing at Carlo. She looked as if she was telling me that she would eventually take everything that belonged to me, including him.

I observed the sparkling red diamond necklace and quietly added a new entry to my "How to Survive the Mafia" guide. "The necklace will likely be utilized as a fabricated piece of evidence against me."

Just as I had anticipated, Silvia's sobbing echoed throughout the villa the following day. "I-I can't find the necklace Mamma gave me!"

She glanced at my closed door and continued, "Rosina was the only one who came into my room last night…"

In that instant, Carlo brought two Soldati with him and kicked my door open. "Get searching! That poor wretch from the slums must have been jealous of Silvia's necklace and stole it!"

They charged inside, tearing through the room and throwing my clothes, sheets, and a full box of survival gear onto the floor. They even stepped on my bulletproof vest and caused my supply of canned food to roll across the floor.

"I found it!" Carlo retrieved the red diamond necklace from under my pillow. He held it up, glaring at me with contempt. "You've been caught red-handed, Rosina! What do you have to say for yourself?"

Upon being informed of the situation, Papa rushed over and took in the scene. He was trembling with rage as he looked at me, yelling, "My own daughter is a thief? You're a stain upon the famiglia's honor, Rosina!"

With that, Papa raised his hand and tried to slap me as hard as he could.

I didn't move away. I even went up to meet it head-on, as I was equipped with my tactical helmet.

In that instant, a heavy thwack rang out as Papa's hand connected with the helmet's reinforced shell. He had put so much power into the swing that the recoil was devastating.

He let out a pained shriek, clutching his red, swollen hand and swearing at the top of his lungs.

I looked calmly at him and asked, "You're done, right? Then you should take a good look at this."

I gestured toward the top of the closet, where a tiny pinhole camera, installed the night before, sat hidden from view.

I took out my tablet and showed them the recorded footage captured just 30 minutes ago. It showed Silvia slipping into my room, retrieving the necklace from her person, and tucking it beneath my pillow. It also showed her pausing to fix her hair in the mirror, looking quite pleased with herself.

It was crystal clear and caught on tape—the evidence was indisputable.

Silvia went pale in a heartbeat, her body trembling. "T-That's not what happened…"

Mamma stood stiffly. She kept looking back and forth between the screen and Silvia, completely lost for words.

Carlo stood frozen with the necklace in his hand. He recovered quickly, though, and doubled down with a weak excuse.

"That doesn't matter! Silvia probably left it behind when she went to your room. It's natural for sisters to go into each other's rooms all the time! She's innocent. She was probably just joking around! You're the real creep here for placing cameras in your own room to spy on people, Rosina!"

I turned off the video and snapped my visor shut. I sounded hollow behind the mask while asking, "You think she's just joking around, huh? I'll play along, then. I'll be leaving this famiglia this instant."

I started gathering my belongings, acting as if I were truly leaving, when Papa suddenly stopped me.