Seeing Vincent protectively hovering over me the whole time, even personally handing me my food, the mob wives all gathered around to gossip.
"Mia, you have no idea. The Don is notoriously cold-blooded to everyone else. Anyone who screws up gets dumped straight into the Hudson River, but to you, he's incredibly tender!"
"I heard the Don even let you handle the dividends from a few of his casinos. When will my deadbeat husband have even half the Don's sense!"
Everyone playfully showered me with compliments.
Just then, a fake, cold scoff came from the edge of the crowd.
"Isn't that just what a man is supposed to do?"
Everyone turned around. The one speaking was a slender woman wearing a plunging burgundy gown.
She fiddled with her fresh manicure, her face full of disdain.
I glanced up. Someone next to me whispered, "That's Chloe, the Don's chief secretary. She usually relies on some connections within the mob to act arrogant. Even some of the capos don't dare mess with her."
"Who knows what kind of big-shot boyfriend she's seeing. He treats her like royalty, spoiling her with different luxury gifts every single day."
Of course I knew who that big shot was, because intimate photos of her and Vincent filled the burner phone's gallery, each one stinging my eyes.
I ignored the idle gossip.
My gaze was locked dead onto the pink diamond necklace hanging around Chloe's neck.
The diamond was exquisitely cut, dazzling under the lights.
I recognized it.
This was the "Heart of True Love," won by a mystery buyer for an astronomical price at an underground black market auction last month.
At the time, Vincent hugged me from behind and personally promised that the necklace was being resized by a craftsman and would be my most perfect birthday gift this year.
But now, this necklace representing "true love" was blatantly hanging around his mistress's neck.
The other women obviously noticed the necklace too, and they all gasped in unison.
"My God, Chloe, who exactly is this boyfriend of yours? That necklace costs a fortune!"
Chloe tilted her chin up, looking at me with a haughty expression: "My boyfriend said I'm his one true love in this life. As long as it's something I want, he'd even give me his life."
My hand gripped my wine glass in a death choke, my nails practically digging into my palm.
The others didn't know, but I knew all too well.
Chloe hadn't just stolen Vincent's body; she had even taken the promises and sweet nothings he once gave to me.
Lucas, the Family's consigliere and Vincent's top strategist, was walking over with a glass in hand.
I thought he was going to greet me, but to my surprise, he walked over to Chloe and gave her a warm hug.
"Chloe, darling, I heard the shipment volume at Brooklyn's Pier 3 doubled recently, all thanks to your restructuring of the logistics chain. The Don certainly has a good eye for people. Your operational skills are right up there with the old capos."
Chloe smiled coyly, her gaze cutting through the crowd and sweeping toward me with a hint of provocation. "Oh, please, the Don is just a great teacher. He said the old protocols were too rigid, so he gave me full authority to improve them. Even I didn't expect those old dockworkers to listen to me so well."
My heart felt like it had been violently smashed by a sledgehammer.
Brooklyn's Pier 3 was the "heartland" I had spent two whole years cleaning up after taking over the Family's legal affairs.
From greasing the palms at customs to sorting the cargo, I built every single process with my own two hands.
Vincent once said that it was his gift to me, something to help me secure my footing within the Family.
But now, behind my back, he had effortlessly handed over my territory, my achievements, and even the authority I had worked so hard to establish, straight to his secretary.
The man who once said we would stand side by side through life and death had turned around and hung the spoils of war around another woman's neck, giving away my hard work as if it were nothing.
Reality was like a resounding slap right across my face.
I forced a stiff smile and dropped a cold remark: "Very well."
At least, it's time for me to wake up from this dream.
