Ten Years, One Abandonment

The nights in Vicente were a coexistence of order and gunfire.

Tonight was the wedding, ten years overdue, between Anthony Oliver, the don of the Oliver mafia family, and Mabel Samson, the woman who had stood beside him through bloodshed, betrayals, and underworld wars.

A top-tier luxury hotel had been cleared by the family's soldati. Below them glittered a sea of city lights; above them bloomed fireworks commissioned for the future Donna alone.

The man known for his ruthlessness knelt on one knee with a rare diamond ring, his eyes filled with rare tenderness.

"Mabel," he said, "you walked through hell at my side. Let me give you peace for the rest of your life."

It seemed that all the sacrifices and patience had finally led somewhere.

However, just as Mabel's fingers were about to touch the ring, a piercing scream came from above.

"Don't! Anthony! Save me!"

That single cry drew all of Anthony's attention away.

The girl was not unfamiliar to Mabel.

Two years earlier, Anthony's twin brother had been tortured to death by a rival mafia family while covering his retreat. His body was never recovered.

And Cheryl Reyes was the fiancée he had protected with his life.

Mabel watched as the man she loved abandoned everything without hesitation and ran toward another woman.

She stepped forward and tried to stop him.

"Don't go. The wedding isn't over."

However, when their eyes met, the Don accused her coldly of being heartless and selfish.

And in that moment, Mabel felt tired.

Perhaps it was time, just once, to choose herself over the Family.

The diamond ring, worth a fortune, fell to the floor and was kicked away by Anthony Oliver's hurried steps, skidding out of sight.

Before Mabel Samson could react, her vision darkened as the man slammed into her shoulder.

She wore ten-centimeter heels. Caught off guard, she lost her balance and fell hard. Her palm pressed into the thorns of a rose arrangement, blood spilling instantly.

Mabel had stayed by Anthony's side for ten years.

She had followed him from the days when he was a hunted, destitute illegitimate son to the man who now ruled the city's underworld as the Don of the Oliver family.

She had taken bullets for him and drunk herself into gastric bleeding for him. In the gun battle that cemented the Oliver family's standing, she had driven him out while he lay critically injured and unconscious, carving a path through gunfire to escape.

That was life-and-death loyalty etched into bone and blood.

Everyone said she was the Don's untouchable weakness.

Yet now, he crushed her dignity and abandoned her at their wedding, all to rush Cheryl Reyes to the hospital.

The guests' stunned stares and hushed whispers shattered her last illusion. Her throat felt stuffed with cold, wet cotton, suffocating her.

The pain in her palm was nothing compared to the chill spreading through her chest.

…

Late at night, Bastion Manor.

When Mabel returned to the main residence, she