After Cicero left, the door was closed again. The room became silent. Roberto chuckled casually as he shook his head. “You’re quite tolerant of them,” he commented to Dante. He knew all too well how his grandchildren fought each other for power and influence in the underworld. It wasn’t just Dante’s younger siblings. His other grandchildren were the same way. They were family, but really, their relationship was more like competing royalty.Roberto sighed. “Your father’s inheritance was not small, but you didn’t take any of it. And even after all that, Anthony still doesn’t like you.”“I did that not because I wanted them to like me. Who cares how they pay me back?” Dante picked up the empty glass and poured himself some wine.“That’s good,” Roberto said softly. He was a man with five children. In the past, he had tried to be fair to them. However, divisions and disputes within the family persisted. One of his children had even died because of it. Dante had to be more careful than him
Natalie fell asleep with her hands still tied. The door to her room suddenly opened, startling her. She expected it to be Dante coming to untie her, but it turned out to be Cora.Cora entered and began to organize Natalie’s few belongings. It was the stuff that Dante had provided during Natalie’s stay.“What are you doing?” Natalie got up and asked in surprise.“Mr. Vittorio wants to move you tonight,” replied Cora, without looking at Natalie.“Move? Do you know where?” Natalie continued to probe.“No.”Natalie didn’t know if that was good or bad news. Inwardly, she wondered, Where would Dante move her to? What if the next place was worse than this mansion?“Can you untie it?” Natalie asked as she stood up from the bed. “Just let me.” Another voice suddenly sounded from the direction of the door. It was Laura, walking in with a pair of scissors. Cora immediately blocked her.“Miss, you shouldn’t do this, or Mr. Vittorio will be angry!” Cora said in a slightly bluff tone.“Nevermind.
In a dark prison cell, a large, fierce-looking female inmate threw a bucket and a mop into a corner of the floor. She pushed another female inmate into the wall.“From now on, you’ll be the one doing this disgusting work. Aren’t you so arrogant and consider yourself still a famous model? Rubbish!”Natalie Hale, the woman who had just been violently pushed, unconsciously clenched her fists. The look in her eyes became cold. “You’re no better than me.”A loud slapping sound rang out immediately. “You still dare to answer me, huh?!”The anger and hatred in Natalie’s heart grew even more intense. She held her red cheeks with a trembling body. Before she could return the slap, someone suddenly came over.“You two, stop fighting! Miss Hale, come with me!” a warden ordered.Natalie closed her eyes, trying to compose herself. She glanced coldly at her enemy before finally stepping up to follow the warden. Moments later, she was in front of an unfamiliar and mysterious man dressed in black.Sh
“Young lady, please follow me.” An auctioneer said to Natalie after the whole auction was over. She gritted her teeth and then wordlessly walked after him.The man escorted Natalie out of the auction house. A black SUV was waiting for her outside the exit. “Miss Smith, please.”Natalie tried to look calm. She opened the car door. The man in the hat, who had bought her for an outrageous price, sat in the passenger seat. He stared straight ahead.“Get in!” he ordered without turning around.The passenger seats were not separated, so Natalie sat right next to the man. She closed the door, and the car drove off. Not a word was said between them, and the longer it went on, the more uneasy Natalie felt.Questions raged in her head. She silently glanced at the man next to her. Her action was somehow immediately noticed by the man. She immediately turned her face out the window.Dante raised the corners of his lips. “If you want to know something, why don’t you ask, Ms. Smith?” His voice soun
Natalie gasped. A woman wearing the uniform of the head housemaid stood behind her, looking alert and probing. She was about 40 years old.“I...” Natalie felt scared and confused. She glanced downstairs and then quickly shook her head. “Can you-““Of course!” The head maid interrupted loudly and gave her a sharp look. She grabbed Natalie’s hand and dragged her downstairs. “Sir, someone’s looking for you!”Dante sat in a large, classic armchair made of velvet. Alex stood beside him, while in front of him, a subordinate was beating Tomas mercilessly. The man with the surname Vittorio looked like a king watching over them with a cold heart.“Miss Smith, please help me!” shouted Tomas, whose body was already battered. Seeing Natalie was like seeing an angel to him. He tried to crawl towards her, but Brent’s subordinates immediately kicked him to the ground.“Why are you doing this?” Natalie asked Dante cautiously. She was still a little taken aback by the head maid, who pulled her to face
“He knows my identity. He must know.”Natalie paced the room. After talking to Dante, she was becoming more and more certain he knew her identity as Natalie Hale, who should still be in prison. It made her feel even more uneasy.Two cruel men had threatened her and made her lose control of her life. Thinking about it only made her heart grow cold.“Getting out of prison isn’t as wonderful as I thought it would be.”Natalie closed her eyes. She used to be a cunning woman. Being in the competitive modeling industry for so many years required her to be ruthless and not easily bullied. However, what happened recently was beyond her capabilities.She had never faced the cruelty of a mobster. She had never been involved with the people of the underworld.Recalling her life’s journey of dirty things, Natalie was eager to live a quiet life after getting out of prison. She was tired and wanted to be a good woman who lived simply and stayed away from any conflict.However, from the moment she e
In the car, Natalie felt her legs go numb. She roughly removed her stilettos, making Dante smirk. He wanted to see how far she could go with her pretense.Women who make it in the modeling industry are not weak. They were sometimes cunning, seductive, and deceptive. Dante was very wary of those types of women.The car was moving toward Manhattan. Natalie didn’t say a word to Dante during the ride because she was in a bad mood. After nearly an hour, they finally arrived at a five-star hotel in the city center.Dante watched Natalie, who still hadn’t put on her stilettos. She looked so reluctant to move, as if she wanted to stay in the car. “Why aren’t you wearing your shoes yet?”“Tell me what your plan is, who we’re meeting, and what I should do,” Natalie replied with a flat expression. If she wanted to escape, then she had to know the situation.The man raised the corner of his lips. He reached into his coat pocket for something. A beautiful diamond ring appeared in his hand. “Nothin
To reach the toilet, Natalie needed to pass through a quiet corridor. There, she deliberately took off her stilettos and leaned against the wall. She sighed wearily. “You know, this hurts,” she complained.Bryan looked down, noticing Natalie’s blistered fingertips. Those beautiful feet looked pathetic as they were covered in red on the fingertips and heels.“Being a woman is never easy,” Natalie said. Bryan was silent, with a foggy mind. He scrutinized her body from top to bottom. The allure of her body was so strong. He was no Dante who could ignore such a beautiful and sexy woman.“Do you have any ointment or something?” Natalie asked.“No, I don’t. We never carry things like that.”Natalie’s expression became sullen. She bent over until her narrow cleavage was visible from the front. Her hands rubbed the tips of her toes. “I can’t walk anymore.”“Let me help you,” Bryan smirked. He pulled Natalie to her feet and carried her to the toilet.Natalie smiled meaningfully. She hugged Brya