Chapter 1

“Vera, I’m here to save you. Sorry to keep you waiting.”

Underboss Liam opened the small shack where the Gravoni family had kept me for three years.

When I finally stepped out of that dim room, I saw several yachts docked by the pier.

Don Silas—my former lover, the Don of the Italian Rusciano family—stood there quietly, holding Serena’s hand.

The moment our eyes met, he rushed over and pulled me into a tight embrace, crying as he confessed his guilt.

How deeply affectionate he looked.

If he hadn’t been the one who personally handed me over to our enemies in exchange for that snake his precious “sister” cherished, I might have been moved to tears.

Three years ago, the snake Serena raised was “stolen” by the Gravoni family.

Silas found me, held my hands, and said:

“Vera, Serena really loves that snake. Don Joe of the Gravoni family said he’ll return it… in exchange for my woman. If you agree, I’ll make sure your grandmother is treated. Just three days. I’ll get you out in three days.”

I believed him.

But three days turned into three months… and then three years.

During those years in the Gravoni family, I suffered endless humiliation.

The guards fed me scraps, tortured me, and even used me as a tool to vent their desires.

All because I was Silas’s woman.

They wanted me to suffer a fate worse than death.

What no one knew was that I was carrying Silas’s child at the time.

The baby didn’t survive the torment.

And foolishly, I kept waiting—every single moment—for Silas to come save me.

But he never came.

Instead, I overheard the guards casually mention that Silas had married Serena.

My trust shattered in an instant.

I once thought of ending my life.

But one question kept me alive:

Why?

I wanted to live… just to ask him why.

Later, I stopped guessing—because I learned the truth from a guard.

Silas and Serena weren’t related at all.

She was adopted—and his fiancée since childhood.

And I… had been nothing more than a tool.

I remembered the day he introduced her to me.

Serena clung to his arm, their closeness unmistakable.

“Vera, this is my sister Serena. We’re very close—she just loves sticking to me.”

Now, seeing them again—his hand holding hers—hatred surged within me.

But along with it came fear.

Three years later, he finally came for me… who knew what he was planning now?

Instinctively, I hid behind Liam, trying to avoid him.

I couldn’t be used as a pawn again.

I might not be able to fight against the powerful Rusciano family…

but I could still run, couldn’t I?

I still remembered Serena sneering at me:

“My snake is worth a million. How much is your grandmother’s worthless life worth?”

Since I could remember, I had lived with an old woman I called “Grandma.”

She wasn’t my real grandmother—just a kind stranger who took me in when she saw me abandoned on the streets.

She did menial work for the Rusciano family, her fingers calloused from labor.

Everything I had—food, clothes—came from her hard work.

Even though we lived in hardship, she gave me everything she could.

She treated me so well that I swore I would repay her when I grew up.

But my wonderful grandmother… died just like that—because of a snake.