I'm the Master the Don Searched Seven Years For

After I get drugged by my stepmother and gets delivered to Don Edoardo Ariani's private cruise ship, I tell her smilingly, "Oh, there's no need to take me there. I'm already home, after all."

My entire family thinks that I'm hallucinating, so they start berating me angrily.

"Chiara, Gina has racked up a huge gambling debt. Only Edoardo is capable of saving us now. He loves pure and innocent women like you the most. As long as you can serve him well for one night, our family will be able to tide over this crisis.

"Once Gina has paid off her debt, you'll have received benefits from Edoardo as his lover. By then, we'll be able to experience what it feels like to be a billionaire!"

The drugs' effects on me have yet to fade, but this family—the people whom I trust the most in this lifetime—doesn't even hesitate to drag me into the most luxurious suite of the cruise ship.

No one knows that Edoardo has kneeled before me and pleaded for me to help him establish his forces in Siceria seven years ago.

Tonight, my family has personally delivered me to his suite.

Tomorrow, I'm pretty sure that there will be a few extra bodies floating on the sea.

I woke up before the drug wore off, my head throbbing with a leaden weight. I looked up to find my wrists tied to the bed frame, the rope pulling tight against my skin. I could hear the ship's horn blaring continuously and feel the subtle swaying beneath me, indicating that the cruise ship had already set sail.

"You're in the clear, Gina! Edoardo's Consigliere is handling this thing personally, which means Edoardo's quite interested in Chiara!"

I could hear Giulia Farina, my stepmother, and Gina Russo, my stepsister, talking excitedly outside the door. I couldn't believe that they referred to me as a "thing"—not a human being.

I lacked the strength to even ball my hands into fists to strike someone since my limbs felt weak and my head was spinning.

Gina spoke up immediately after, her voice filled with urgency and excitement. "How long will it take for the money to be deposited into the account, Mamma? Those debt collectors only gave us two days, so we're running out of time already."

"What's the hurry? Your gambling debts will be the least of our concerns once Edoardo is hooked—he'll give us anything we want, Gina!"

Giulia's avaricious laughter cut through the gap in the door, piercing my chest. "Chiara has her late mother's face, so she should consider it an honor to have caught Edoardo's eye."

I nearly burst out laughing in sheer fury after hearing that. I was the one who took Edoardo Ariani when he was covered in filth and digging through dumpsters for a meal. I was the one who helped him snatch the title of Don of the Ariani Famiglia from his treacherous uncles back then.

It could be said that I had