Chapter 2

Caius grabbed his coat and stormed out.

The Maybach sped out of the underground garage, and in the darkness, Selena's phone lit up.

An address and a password appeared on the screen.

"No place to stay, right? Take this apartment as severance. Pack up and move in as soon as you can. I'm busy these days, but I'll send someone to change the locks soon."

After reading the message, Selena switched off her phone.

She dragged her aching body and quietly began gathering her things.

She had lived in this villa for three years, every corner holding traces of her life and the sweet moments she once shared with Caius.

The phone lit up again.

It was Caius again.

Selena thought, by now he was probably with Charlotte, holding her hand like a lovestruck boy, watching the meteor shower.

"I've blocked you on social media. Don't contact me again-Charlotte would get jealous."

Staring at the message, Selena suddenly laughed out loud-then laughed until the tears came.

Ten years of unwavering love ended, brushed aside as if it meant nothing.

She wiped her tears and continued packing.

There wasn't much worth taking, but plenty to throw away.

The fire in the fireplace burned brightly.

Selena pulled the photos out of the album one by one, lingering on each memory before tossing them into the flames.

They kissed atop the Ferris wheel, celebrated anniversaries and Valentine's Day, and she once brought flowers to mark his graduation...

She remembered sleeping with Caius for the first time at eighteen.

She remembered sleeping with Caius for the first time at eighteen.

"What will we be like ten years from now?"

Caius nibbled at her earlobe with a muffled laugh. "We'll definitely still be together. Maybe by then my father will have taken me back. I'll become the Godfather, and you'll be the Godmother."

The flames curled the edges of the photo paper.

Their faces warped in the firelight before crumbling into ashes-a symbolic severing of what once was.

He was indeed acknowledged by the Capone family and became the Godfather, but she was never the Godmother, nor did she walk with him into that tenth year.

Selena was seventeen and still in high school when she first got involved with Caius.

He excelled in his studies but, as an illegitimate child, endured constant scorn and lived in a dark, damp basement.

Caius fixed his brooding gaze on Selena in her school uniform, looking to him like a soft, tempting piece of cake.

"I'm in the mafia, living with a knife at my throat. Any second could be my last. Think it through, Selena. If you're with me, there's no future waiting for us."

Back then, Selena was naive yet stubborn.

She buried herself in Caius's arms, clinging to him as if her life depended on it.

Her clean uniform got smeared with dust, carrying the scent of Caius with it.

Selena rose on tiptoe, offering her first kiss with reverent devotion.

"I don't care about the future. I only want you. I just want to be with you-one day at a time."

Selena never went to college. Instead, she followed Caius into the mafia, wielding guns and blades by his side.

Through countless firefights, in a storm of bullets, they both survived.

In the stench of blood and disinfectant, they made love with such wild abandon that they collapsed into unconsciousness, only to wake and start again.

In the height of pain, they reached the peak, savoring ultimate pleasure.

Caius once said that when he became the Godfather, the very first thing he would do was marry Selena-granting her supreme honor, his undivided devotion, and the title of the Capone family's revered Godmother.

Tomorrow, he would ascend as the Godfather.

And yet, the first thing he did was break up with her-choosing another woman to be the Godmother.

Selena burned the last photo, brushed off her hands, and rose to her feet.

She was twenty-seven now.

She could no longer afford to be reckless-running away from marriage, throwing tantrums at the Menezwa Godfather.

What Caius didn't know was that the arms dealer he was so desperate to curry favor with-Orion Wodehurst-was the very man eager to marry Selena.