7 Chapter 7
“Don’t tell me you’re trying to imply you have something to do with my uncle?” 1
“Disrespecting your elders? Do you still think you’re my wife, Isla’s sister–in–law?”
“Darling, he’s asking if I climbed into your bed.”
Rocco’s mother tried to intervene but I shoved her away.
“This scar… how did…”
It was Rocco who reacted first.
Isla was stunned, covering her swollen face as she hid in her mother’s arms.
Seeing this, Carmela began to wail.
I turned to look at Salvatore.
Rocco looked up at me.
I looked at these members of the Corleone family, a sarcastic smile playing on my lips.
Then I slapped her again.
An ugly, winding knife scar ran from my collarbone down to my chest, exposing all my
secrets to the light.
Isla even spat in my
direction.
Carmela had intended to praise Salvatore and belittle me, hoping to make a good
impression on the Don.
Rocco immediately let go of me and rushed to her side, lifting her from the floor.
I slapped Isla one last time.
“Uncle is such a noble man. How could he possibly be involved with someone like her?”
“What kind of elder are you?”
The guilt that had just begun to surface vanished,
For the first time, he felt things slipping from his control.
“And this one is for disrespecting your elders.”
The scar was old, marked by time.
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7 Chapter 7
He mocked me, all while cradling Carmela,
Their eyes held the same disdain.
“You can’t have a child of your own, so now you want to kill mine. You really are vicious.”
I let out a cold laugh.
Carmela, nestled in his arms, whispered softly.
But Salvatore showed no reaction.
She collapsed into his arms, sobbing softly.
But why didn’t he know?
Her words made Rocco’s brow furrow.
“A woman like you, scheming to get my brother back, you’d even go after his child.”
For the first time, he wanted to reach out, to cover it. For the first time, a strange,
sickening guilt washed over him.
She was about to say more, but I kicked her squarely in the shin and slapped her hard
across the face.
The scar was too grotesque, too real to ever be faked.
The sneer on Rocco’s face intensified.
The more Rocco stared, the more panicked he became. He lunged forward, grabbing my
arm to stop me from covering myself.
“This slap is for your slander.”
Thankfully, Carmela had reminded him.
“You show off those fake scars. What for? Hoping that if Carmela loses the baby, my
brother will come back to you?”
He looked me up and down.
Rocco didn’t know why, but his heart was in turmoil.
“My stomach… it hurts so much. Rocco, Rocco, please, look at me…”
If my truth came out, hers would too.
It was only then that everyone realized he hadn’t said a word this entire time.
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7 Chapter 7
“Rocco, don’t say that. Lucia is only acting out because she sees how much you love me.”
Isla looked at me indignantly.
“What? Couldn’t seduce me, so now you’re trying to climb into my uncle’s bed and
become my aunt?”
“My parents can’t stand the sight of you.”
“Rocco, are we going to lose our baby? Is it because I fell before? Does he think I don’t want him, so now he’s trying to leave me?”
Carmela knew that she could not let my secret be revealed.
“I broke off our engagement years ago. The Corleone family has nothing to do with you.”
He remembered me “pushing” Carmela at the manor.
“This one is for stirring up trouble.”
Rocco’s eyes widened, his breath catching in his throat.
“Uncle came here today for my brother. Who do you think you are, trying to seduce him?”
Her sudden cries shifted everyone’s attention.
I was a vile, venomous woman, and he had almost fallen for my act.
My words made Rocco laugh with rage.
“I’m not only her elder, I’m yours too.”
“Tsk, in your dreams. You’re barren, and even if you stripped naked, no one would give
you a second glance.”
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