After that day, I drowned myself in work so thoroughly that I barely set foot inside the De Luca estate. My absence dragged on long enough for Adrian to finally sense that something was off.
Then one afternoon, my phone lit up with a call from my mother-in-law—
a woman who had always viewed me as gutter trash, an orphan far below their Syndicate rank.
“Bella,” she snapped immediately, skipping greetings as usual. “Adrian told me you picked a fight with him. And from what I heard, you’re the one who ruined our schedule at the Royal Syndicate Banquet. Yes, you grew up without refinement or proper upbringing, but the least you can do is avoid dragging my family’s name through the mud.”
She didn’t pause before continuing sharply,
“You’ll soon be giving birth to the future Don of this family, so stop acting irrationally. People are already whispering that you and Adrian are falling apart. I have arranged a dinner tonight with Adrian’s closest associates. You will arrive with him. On time. And you better not embarrass us.”
She hung up like a general dismissing an underling.
I stared at the blank screen.
If I was leaving for the Syndicate’s capital branch soon, I wanted to look these people in the eye one last time—the ones who betrayed me, humiliated me, and treated me worse than a stray brought in from the street.
I took a taxi to the family residence.
Inside the dining hall, Adrian’s mother sat at the head of the long table, radiating the cold authority of a matriarch who believed she controlled everyone in the room.
The moment I entered, the low chatter died. Adrian’s friends exchanged disdainful looks.
“Aunt, why even invite her?” one of them muttered loudly. “She’ll just ruin the atmosphere again.”
“The witch shows up uninvited to break up the happy couple,” another added with a smirk, ensuring I heard every word.
“Bella, sit here,” Adrian’s mother ordered, pointing to the seat beside her.
I ignored her completely and sat at the far end.
Theodore, Adrian’s closest friend, immediately smirked—he had been waiting for a chance to strike.
“Bella, what was your surname again? Oh, right. My mistake. You don’t have one. Hard to remember something that never existed.”
I lifted my gaze, face expressionless, voice colder than steel.
“And remind me—who exactly are you supposed to be?”
My stare made him recoil as if slapped. The room fell silent.
A few minutes later, Adrian walked in with Veronica by his side.
He startled when he saw me sitting there early. His posture stiffened, and he subtly stepped away from her, pretending nothing was wrong.
I noticed Veronica had removed the diamond pendant—the one Adrian pretended he bought for me.
Adrian’s mother beckoned me to the kitchen. I followed without a word.
When I returned, Adrian hurried over to me, pasting on the kind of fake smile used to placate the Syndicate elders. He brushed my hair aside and—making sure everyone was watching—fastened a diamond pendant around my neck with exaggerated gentleness.
“This must be your first diamond,” he murmured loudly. “Next time, I’ll get you sapphires. I know they’re your favorite.”
He continued smoothly, still lying,
“I must’ve dropped the pendant back at the estate. The moment I realized it was missing, I rushed everywhere looking for it.”
The pendant felt suffocating.
I removed it silently and placed it on the table.
Adrian’s expression darkened instantly.
“Bella, what the hell do you think you’re doing?”
“I knew it,” one woman whispered loudly. “She’s so ungrateful she can’t even accept a simple gift.”
Adrian’s mother glared at me. “Why did you take it off?”
“It was too tight,” I said flatly, ignoring the snickers and murmurs.
None of them knew—or cared enough to remember—that diamonds in our Syndicate tradition were symbols of disgrace.
They were given to exiled members stripped of their rank before being cast out.
I wasn’t exiled.
I was simply preparing to walk away.
From the kitchen doorway, I heard my mother-in-law’s sweetened voice as she laughed with Veronica, who clung to her arm like a perfect goddaughter.
“Auntie, you shouldn’t be working alone,” Veronica cooed. “If I had been here, I’d never have let you handle everything yourself.”
“This girl!” the matriarch chuckled. “Of course things would’ve been different if it were you.”
Then her voice sharpened.
“Oh—Veronica, let Bella help the staff with the dishes. You mustn’t get your hands dirty. Bella grew up doing manual labor. Scrubbing floors and washing plates is normal for her. Don’t you dare ruin those pretty hands of yours.”
My nails dug into my palm.
Adrian said nothing—worse, he looked approving—as if ordering his wife to scrub dishes in front of guests was perfectly reasonable.
When they returned to the dining hall, Veronica slipped neatly between Adrian and his mother, claiming her place as if she belonged there.
“Auntie, I’ve missed you these past years. Not a day went by that I didn’t miss Adrian,” she said theatrically.
Not one person flinched.
Not one questioned why a woman engaged to another man was openly professing her longing for Adrian in front of his wife.
“If things hadn’t gone wrong,” Adrian’s mother said lightly, “you’d already be my daughter-in-law.”
She glanced at me, satisfaction gleaming in her eyes, before pulling Veronica closer.
Adrian stayed silent—still angry I had rejected the pendant.
Then the matriarch turned to me with fake innocence.
“Oh dear, I must be rambling. Bella, this is Veronica—my goddaughter. I heard you’ve been making trouble at home because of her, but really, Veronica is like a sister to Adrian. You mustn’t be jealous. These two have always been close.”
“Auntie’s right,” Colin chimed in smugly. If anyone pushed the idea of a perfect match between Adrian and Veronica, it was him. He was also the one who started calling me the ‘homewrecker.’
“Bella, you keep guarding Adrian like he’s going to run away. Do you really think any of us would sabotage him? Veronica and Adrian are practically inseparable. If he wanted to dump you, he would’ve done it already.”
He leaned back confidently.
“Besides, Adrian already promised Veronica that our syndicates would unite and expand our territories. You should learn to cooperate. It’s the least you can do as the Don’s wife.”
My breath caught.
Unifying our Onyx Serpent Syndicate with another clan?
A massive political move.
And as the Don’s wife, I was kept in the dark.
Colin realized too late that he had said the quiet part out loud.
Silence swept through the room, tension crackling as uneasy glances flickered among them.
