Ten Years, One Abandonment

Cheryl did not die from the fall.

Of course, she would not. She valued her life far too much.

She had only dared to do it because she knew there was a swimming pool below.

By the time Anthony arrived, the scene was already in chaos.

Cheryl had been pulled from the water. The bloody wound in her shoulder was horrifying to look at. She was barely conscious, her lips trembling as she kept murmuring incoherently, "Don't kill me… Don't kill me…"

He lifted his head and looked upward.

His gaze collided with that of the expressionless woman standing above.

"Mabel!"

In Anthony's eyes, there was only a cruel, jealous woman who had fired a gun and tried to kill someone.

He handed Cheryl over to the doctors, then strode straight up to the terrace.

Using nearly all his strength, he grabbed Mabel by the shoulders. He looked as though he wanted to crush her.

"Have you lost your mind?! What did Cheryl ever do to you? How could you bring yourself to do this? You hate her that much? The moment I wasn't watching, you tried to kill her?!"

Mabel was shaken so hard her vision swam. The old injury in her shoulder flared up violently, pain forcing cold sweat down her back.

However, begging was never an option.

She only looked at Anthony coldly, standing on the edge of fury.

"I didn't fire the gun. She pulled the trigger herself and jumped. Do you believe that?"

It sounded like the biggest joke he had ever heard.

The disappointment and revulsion in his eyes swallowed her whole.

"What do you take me for? Cheryl can't even stand the sight of blood. She would never touch a gun! She's already hurt like this, and you're still lying, still framing her?!

"Just admit it! You're jealous and vicious. You couldn't tolerate her existence!"

Mabel had always believed that after all these years of standing shoulder to shoulder, he understood her better than anyone.

She never imagined that, in his eyes, she had become a heartless, scheming villain.

He did not even bother to uncover the truth.

He attacked her first, pressing forward step by step, as if he wished he could kill her himself to vent his rage.

At that moment, something inside her died completely.

She no longer wanted to explain. Exhaustion crept into her expression.

"Think whatever you want."

That indifference ignited Anthony completely.

He had still clung to a shred of reason, hoping she would explain herself and sincerely apologize to Cheryl. Even if it was just an act to placate him, it would have been enough.

However, she did not.

She continued to test his limits, relying on the contributions she had made to the family.

"Well done, Mabel," he said coldly. "Very well done."

He released her. There was no warmth left on his face.

"Since you're willing to use such despicable methods against Cheryl, then I have no choice but to deal with you according to the family's rules."

He turned toward the Soldati who had rushed over and gave the order without emotion.

"Take the Donna to the ice chamber."

The moment those words were spoken, the faces of everyone present changed.

That was the place where the Oliver family punished traitors.

Buried deep underground, it was an ice vault kept at dozens of degrees below freezing year-round. Solid ice sealed all four walls. No light. No sound. Only bone-piercing cold and endless darkness.

"Don! She'll die in there! She's still injured!" Her Consigliere, Henry, tried desperately to plead for her.

"Take her away."

Anthony's tone left no room for negotiation.

"When she admits her mistake and is willing to kneel and apologize to Cheryl, then she can come out."

There were no instruments of torture in the ice chamber.

Isolation and cold were punishment enough.

…

Mabel curled into a corner, her consciousness blurring as her body temperature dropped.

In her daze, she seemed to return to eight years ago.

That winter, while protecting Anthony, she had been hunted by enemies and trapped in an abandoned mine deep in the snow-covered mountains.

He had held her tightly, unfastened his coat, wrapped her in his arms, and used his own body heat to warm her stiff, freezing limbs.

"Mabel, don't fall asleep. Hold on.

"When we get out, I'll give you a home. You'll never be cold again."

…

She feared enclosed spaces without light, nightmares left behind from the years when she had been nothing more than property.

Anthony had once been the flame that guided her out of that darkness.

However, at that point, the one exploiting her weakness and pushing her into the abyss…was also him.

Home had become her prison.

Promises had turned into blades pointed at her heart.

Time lost all its meaning.

She did not know how long had passed when a small window in the iron door slid open, a beam of flashlight cutting through the darkness.

"Donna, the Don wants to know if you understand your mistake."

Mabel's lips were blue with cold. Her voice was so faint it was barely audible, yet unwavering.

"I…did…nothing…wrong.

"Cheryl…deserves…to die."

The window slammed shut.

The cold surged back in.

This time, hallucinations began to take hold.

She saw Zachary standing before her, his face smeared with blood, crying.

She saw Anthony holding a diamond ring, turning away from her to place it on Cheryl's finger.

She saw herself lying in a pool of blood, abandoned and unseen.

Her body temperature slipped away, bit by bit. Her heartbeat slowed.

Mabel knew she was reaching her limit.

When the Soldato came again to question her, panic finally broke through.

"Get help! Quickly! The Donna…she's not moving anymore!"