Chapter 3

The innuendo was obvious. It made my stomach turn and my lungs seize.

Alessia poked her head out from behind him, smiling with wide-eyed innocence.

"You scared the future Donna!"

She grabbed me from the doorway and dragged me to the center of the room. The overhead light bore down, leaving me nowhere to hide.

That's when I looked at Ethan.

He sat in the corner, idly swirling his whiskey glass, watching everything unfold.

He smiled at me—the same gentle smile as always.

This was the man who'd promised to love me. And now he'd turned me into a rat scurrying through the gutter.

A glass of hard liquor was thrust in front of me, cutting off my line of sight to Ethan.

Alessia beamed at me. It sent a chill down my spine.

"Iris, I was wrong about the needle thing. I'm just clumsy—I made you suffer. I owe you an apology. Drink this, and forgive me, okay?"

"And about those photos online…"

She pulled out her phone with feigned naivety, zooming in on the pictures, her tone laced with theatrical concern.

"Iris, is this really you? If it is… who took these? You wouldn't have gone behind Ethan's back…"

She glanced at Ethan, cutting herself off at precisely the right moment.

"But never mind—I believe you. Ethan definitely believes you too! Go on, drink up, Iris. Once you're drunk, all the pain goes away!"

Her words drew laughter from everyone in the room. They whistled and cheered.

Ethan looked somewhat resigned and set a glass of warm water beside her.

"Alessia, don't drink too much. You're a nurse—you should know alcohol damages the body."

Alessia pouted and looked at me apologetically.

"Well, in that case—Iris, would you mind drinking mine for me?"

Every eye in the room fell on me. I wanted to decline, but Ethan lifted the glass directly to my lips.

"Just drink it. Alessia's my sister—which makes her your sister too. What's the big deal about having a couple of drinks for her?"

I froze.

He'd forgotten that I was a patient whose cold still hadn't fully cleared—a patient who'd been getting IV drips just two days ago.

He'd also forgotten that this drink was supposed to be Alessia's apology to me.

Now the person being apologized to was being forced to drink on behalf of the person who'd wronged her. How laughable.

I finally saw Ethan for what he truly was. All those times he'd seemed to go along with whatever I wanted—he'd never actually cared.

Because it didn't matter to him, he just said okay to everything.

I swallowed the bitterness and took the glass.

"If I drink this, can I leave? I'm tired. I want to go home."

Ethan blinked, then finally nodded—under the weight of Alessia's wounded stare.

The liquor scorched my throat and set my whole body on fire.

I set the glass down and turned toward the door.

The moment my hands closed around the door handle, my body went limp against my will.

My panicked reaction ignited their cruelty. They cheered and closed in around me.

My body was failing—I couldn't make out the faces or the objects in front of me. My breathing turned ragged.

I looked, disbelieving, at Ethan—who was calmly holding a glass of water to Alessia's lips as she swallowed a hangover pill.

"You drugged me. Together with all of them."

The Underboss crouched down and blew a smoke ring in my face. A cold metal lighter smacked against my cheek—twice, hard.

"This stuff's made for call girls. Once you take it, you get real obedient—whatever anyone says, you do it. Don had this brought in special from the red-light district, just to make Alessia happy. That's what you get for making Alessia unhappy."

"I've told you before—Alessia is the most important person in Don's heart. You wouldn't listen. You had the nerve to make her cry—and demand an apology?"

"A Donna can be replaced. Can a sister?"

"Who are you to deserve an apology from Alessia? Looking forward to your performance… Iris."

They whistled, their eyes crawling over the skin exposed beneath my gown.

One Capo seized my chin.

"Bitch. Bark like a dog for the boys."

I bit down hard on the tip of my tongue, desperately trying to look toward Ethan.

"Ethan! Take me to the hospital—please…"

Don't let me be humiliated like this.

But through my blurring vision, his indifferent gaze and Alessia's gloating smile melted into one.

"Woof—"

Before I lost consciousness, I saw Ethan stand and take a sip of whiskey.

"Over the clothes. Don't take it too far."

"Relax, Don. Once the drug wears off, she won't remember a thing from tonight!"

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