The Underboss's Barren Crown

Rage burned in my eyes as I stared at him in disbelief.

“Gabe, you’re insane! She’s a mistress! How dare you do this to me?”

“This is my house!”

“But I am the man of this house.”

Gabe shot me a cold glance and fell silent.

Two Soldato grabbed me and dragged me outside.

A trail of my blood smeared across the floor.

The moment the villa door slammed shut, thunder cracked across the clear sky.

Then, the heavens opened up in a torrential downpour.

The rain soaked me to the bone in seconds.

I knelt in the deluge, the wounds on my forehead and arm burning.

My consciousness began to fray at the edges.

I looked at the Soldato supervising me from the doorway, my voice a ragged whisper.

“Let me go… Get Gabe. I’m begging you…”

The man stood under the eaves, watching me with mocking amusement.

“Save it. I’ve seen this damsel-in-distress act before.”

“The Underboss just called for the doctor. He’s a little busy having Miss Serena checked out.”

I forced my eyes open, looking up at the second-floor balcony. I could vaguely make out two figures.

The next second, my vision tunneled to black, and I collapsed.

As I drifted into unconsciousness, I heard frantic shouting.

“Shit, the Principessa fainted!”

“She’s bleeding everywhere! Get the doctor out here, now!”

Familiar footsteps crunched on the gravel, and an umbrella appeared over my head.

Gabe’s voice was arctic cold.

“Are you done with your performance?”

“To hear you carry on, anyone would think you’re the pregnant one.”

“Sophia, it’s time that temper of yours was broken. I’m doing this for your own good.”

His footsteps receded. He and Serena stood under the eaves, wrapped in an embrace as they looked out at me.

Serena snuggled weakly into his arms, her voice laced with false concern.

“Gabe, I don’t think Sophia is faking it. Are we being too cruel?”

“She is your fiancée. If the Vance family finds out…”

Gabe’s face hardened.

“The Costa family doesn’t answer to the Vances.”

“She was the one who was unreasonable. You’ve got eight months to go; you can’t let her bully you the whole time. We need to break that temper of hers.”

A flash of triumph flickered in Serena’s eyes before she hid it behind a mask of innocence.

“I hear these alliance marriages are loveless. Is that how it is with you and Sophia?”

The relentless storm pounded down, washing over my pale face.

For a moment, I thought my heart had stopped.

The next second, Gabe’s emotionless voice cut through the rain.

“To wear the crown, you have to bear the weight. I was born a Costa; an alliance marriage was my destiny. I didn't have a choice, so I accepted it.”

“Sophia is beautiful and innocent. Compared to the other arrogant heiresses, she was already the best choice.”

Tears leaked from the corners of my eyes, mixing with the mud on the ground.

Gabe looked down at Serena, a flicker of genuine emotion finally showing in his gaze.

“I thought that was all my life would be. Your arrival… you were a gift from God.”

“Thank you, Serena.”

The words were like daggers, piercing my heart one by one.

I couldn’t tell what hurt more, my body or my soul.

The memories of our childhood, our supposed love, dissolved into a sick haze.

What I thought was a sacred bond, a profound love, was just a lie.

How laughable. For twenty years, my only wish had been to marry him.

To help him secure his position, to stand by his side when he became the next Don.

The boy who wove me a crown from a willow branch was well and truly dead.

The last thread of my sanity snapped. Blood gushed anew from the wound on my arm.

Gabe finally noticed something was wrong and roared at the Soldato beside him.

“What the fuck are you waiting for? Check on her!”

“If anything happens to the Principessa, you’ll all be sleeping with the fishes!”