Chapter 4
On the night of the contract award banquet, I arrived early.
My father was upstairs meeting with senior members of the family.
My identity had not been announced yet, so almost no one in the ballroom recognized me.
I stood alone in a corner and quietly sipped my champagne.
Sophia’s voice suddenly came from behind me.
“Vera?”
I turned around.
Ryan and Sophia were walking toward me.
Temporary guest badges were pinned to their clothes. They had clearly used one of Sophia’s father’s contacts to get inside.
After the night at the hotel, they had tried to contact me from countless different numbers.
I blocked every one of them.
Now that Ryan had finally found me, there was no guilt on his face.
There was only anger.
Sophia reached me first.
“Things really are different now that you’ve clung to Don Leone.”
She looked me up and down.
“Now you can even get into a Marino family banquet. You must have put in quite the effort to please him that night.”
I set my glass on the table and crossed my arms.
“Who did you cling to so you could get in here?”
Sophia’s expression changed.
She raised her hand to slap me, but Ryan grabbed her arm.
“Don’t make a scene here.”
He stopped Sophia, then turned to me with a cold expression.
“Did you block me because you were too ashamed to face me after betraying me?”
I almost thought I had misheard him.
Ryan continued.
“Vera, I’m willing to give you one more chance.”
“Go to Don Leone and ask him to put in a word with the Marino family for my company. If my company is put back on the shortlist, I might forgive you.”
The idea was ridiculous.
“Forgive me?”
“Why wouldn’t I?”
Ryan looked down at me.
“You were my fiancée, but you spent an entire night in another man’s room. Giving you another chance is already more generous than you deserve.”
I looked at him.
“What if I refuse?”
Ryan’s expression darkened.
“The Don is never short of women. Once he gets tired of you, what do you think will happen to you?”
As soon as he finished speaking, an arm wrapped around my waist.
Dante approached from behind and pulled me against him.
Ryan and Sophia’s expressions changed at once.
Sophia immediately put on a flattering smile.
“Don Leone. It seems you liked the gift we sent you.”
Ryan quickly spoke as well.
“As long as you’re willing to put in a word with the Marino family, Vera can stay with you from now on.”
Dante looked at them.
“Do you think she is some object you can hand over as you please?”
The smiles froze on both their faces.
At that moment, my father entered the ballroom with several members of the family.
Ryan saw him and immediately rushed over.
“Don Marino, I want to know why my company was removed from the contract shortlist.”
My father stopped and looked at me.
“The person in charge of the contract made the final decision. You can ask her why your company was rejected.”
Ryan turned sharply toward me.
“Her? What right does she have?”
His voice rose at once.
“She only got in here because of Don Leone!”
Ryan stared at me, growing more agitated.
“Vera, would you even know Don Leone without me?”
“Everything you have now is because of me. Instead of being grateful, you turned around and betrayed me!”
He walked toward me and reached out to grab me.
Dante kicked him in the chest.
Ryan crashed into the wine table behind him and fell to the floor.
Dante stepped in front of me.
“Her status is beyond anything you could ever reach. You are not worthy to touch her.”
Ryan held his chest but still refused to believe it.
“What status? She’s an orphan with no one behind her. She’s worthless!”
My father raised one hand.
The guards immediately forced Ryan and Sophia to the floor.
My father looked down at them.
“Is that so? Then open your eyes and see exactly who she is.”
He walked over to me.
“Come with me.”
The ballroom quickly fell silent.
My father led me onto the stage in the center of the room.
The butler brought over a black velvet box.
The box opened.
Inside lay a silver and black insignia bearing the Marino family’s thorn crest.
My father picked it up and looked at me.
He spoke in front of everyone.
“Three years ago, you left this behind and walked away from the Marino family.”
“Today, are you ready to take it back?”
I raised my head.
“I’m ready.”
My father stepped closer and pinned the insignia to my dress with his own hands.
The moment the cold metal touched the fabric, I remembered the person I had been when I removed it three years ago.
Back then, I believed it represented restraint.
Now I understood that it had never represented restraint.
It represented the identity, responsibility, and power I had once abandoned.
My father turned to the guests below the stage and announced,
“She is my only daughter.”
“The sole heir to the Marino family, Vera Marino.”