Chapter 2 Chapter2

A slender ladies' cigarette clamped between my fingertips.

Through the curling smoke, I watched as Lola was dragged and thrown onto the marble floor like a dead dog by two black-clad bodyguards.

She struggled to lift her head, her caramel-colored curly hair matted messily against her face.

Her once meticulously applied cat-eye makeup had smudged into a black, indistinct mess-looking exactly like a trampled tabby cat.

Yet the anger in her eyes blazed brighter than ever before.

"Anna! You venomous woman!"

She screamed. "Do you think you can scare me with Don Daniel's men? I'll tell you-he loves ME! He'll dump you sooner or later, you... you..."

"Shut up."

I didn't look up, merely tapping the armrest of the sofa lightly with my knuckles.

In the next second, the bodyguard standing behind her lifted his foot without hesitation, and the heel of his shoe crushed down hard on the back of her hand that was supporting her on the floor. A crisp sound of bone cracking exploded along with her scream, and the living room fell silent instantly, only her whimpering gasps for breath remained.

Only then did I slowly raise my eyes, my gaze sweeping over her face, contorted in pain, and the shoddy tattoo on her wrist-a cheap imitation of the rose totem on my collarbone, done with the money I gave her.

That was her first step in trying to mimic me.

"Daniel?" I scoffed, flicking the ash from my cigarette onto the expensive carpet.

"Do you really think it was his order that had you dragged here tonight?"

Lola's pupils contracted sharply.

Of course she wouldn't know. She'd only been out of the mountains for five years, having only seen Daniel's gentle and refined side-the man who would smile and praise her tattoo skills, who would buy her limited-edition bags when she pouted.

She'd never known that the man who always wore high-end custom suits, with clean, slender fingers, wore a black jade ring on his left ring finger year-round-a pass to the underground world of Ivan House.

Ivan House was a mafia empire spanning half of Europe, built single-handedly by Daniel White.

And I, Anna Brown-was not only the eldest daughter of the Brown family, but also the only woman Daniel publicly acknowledged as worthy of standing by his side.

I was his "madam," a figure even the entire Ivan House dared not disrespect.

Five years ago, when I brought Lola back, Daniel had glanced at her casually and said in a voice only we could hear: "This girl has ambition in her eyes-she can't be tamed."

Back then, I'd brushed it off as a casual comment.

After all, Lola had been so thin, so pitiful back then.

When she clung to the hem of my dress and said, "Sister, I want to study," the light in her eyes had looked exactly like mine, all those years ago, when I'd longed to escape the constraints of my family.

I stood up and walked over to her, looking down at her from above.

The tip of my shoe tapped her chin lightly.

"You say I'm relying on the Brown family's power?"

I bent down, leaning close to her ear.

"Then do you know that the Brown family has been able to stand firm in New York for a hundred years-not because of Wall Street stocks, but because of Ivan House's guns?"

I straightened up, patting her cheek gently, my thumb brushing the blood from the corner of her mouth.

"You used the money I gave you to learn tattooing. You carved 'Slut' on my chest. You called me a 'gold digger relying on men' online... Oh, and when I was in Paris for business, you snuck into Daniel's study and touched the fountain pen he never leaves without on his desk?"

Lola's face turned as pale as a sheet.

As I looked at Lola trembling on the floor, I suddenly remembered the first time I'd met her five years ago.

It was me who renamed her Lola.

It was me who sent her to the best art academy.

It was me who cut the ribbon at her graduation...

I'd thought I'd saved a lost lamb, never realizing I'd raised a poisonous snake that would bite its master.

I pressed the remote control, and the heavy curtains slid open slowly, revealing the night view of Ivan Pack's headquarters.

On the top floor of that seemingly ordinary office building, a light burned endlessly-that was Daniel's office.

"Do you know where that 'friend' of yours who sent you the video is now?"

I turned sideways, looking into Lola's terrified eyes.

"She took your money, helped you edit the video, bought you trending topics... and now she's lying in an abandoned warehouse of Ivan House, waiting to be 'disposed of'."

I paused, my gaze falling on her broken hand-the hand she'd used to carve those insulting words into my skin.

"As for you..." I walked over to the side table, picking up a sterilized towel handed to me by the housekeeper, and wiped my fingers carefully.

"You used the skills I gave you to hurt me. So I'm going to take those skills back."

I lifted my chin slightly.

Two men in white coats stepped forward immediately, holding a sterilized scalpel and a syringe of anesthetic in their hands.

Lola finally collapsed. She scrambled backward on the floor, letting out shrill screams.

"No! Sister Anna, I'm sorry! I shouldn't have been jealous of you! I shouldn't have touched your man! Please, spare me!"