Chapter 167
KATYA POV
The silence that followed my internal realization was broken by a sound that made the hair on my arms stand up.
It wasn’t the heavy, rhythmic thud of Roo’s boots or the soft whir of Nonna’s wheelchair.
It was the sharp, clipped click of heels—a sound that echoed with an newfound, arrogant confidence.
The door swung open, hitting the stopper with a loud clack. Gina walked in. She looked different.
The cowering maid who had dropped the cane in terror was gone. Her posture was straight, her chin tilted high, and she was carrying the white and black uniform over her arm like it was a prize.
"You!" Nonna’s voice cracked through the room, the Iron Matriarch trying to resurface through her grief.
"I dismissed you, Gina. Get the hell out of this room. Out of this wing!" Gina didn’t flinch. She didn’t even look at Nonna.
It was a slap in the face more jarring than the one Nonna had given Marina. She didn’t acknowledge the woman who had ruled this house for decades; to Gina, Nonna was already a relic of a dying era.
She walked straight to the foot of my bed, her eyes scanning with a cold satisfaction. "Good to see you awake, Katya," Gina said.
Her voice was no longer had that soft arrogance. It was sharp, mimicking the tone of the woman she now served. "Now stand up. You have work to do."
"She is in no condition to stand!" Nonna hissed, her hands white as she gripped her wheelchair. "I will have Roo’s head for this!"
Gina finally spared a glance toward Nonna, a small, cruel smirk playing on her lips. "The Don is the one who gave these instructions. He has officially placed Katya under the jurisdiction of his fiancée. And The Donna has requested her presence imdiately."
The Donna. The title felt like a physical blow. Marina and Roo isn’t even married legally, yet she was already being called the mistress of the house.
Gina turned back to , dropping the fabric onto my legs. The weight of it felt like a mountain.
"The mistress is waiting," Gina said, leaning down so only I could hear her. The scent of that cloying peppermint perfu clung to her skin—Marina’s scent.
"She says she has a few things she didn’t get to finish this morning. Don’t keep her waiting." I looked at Nonna, whose face was a mask of helpless horror.
My ntal health was a fragile string that had finally snapped. I wasn’t a person anymore. I was a tool being passed from one hand to another to be broken.
I forced my hands to grip the edge of the bed. My back scread as the movent pulled on the fresh scabs, the fire returning with a vengeance that the morphine couldn’t touch.
"Don’t do it, Katya," Nonna whispered, her voice trembling. "Stay down." But I saw the guard standing in the hallway behind Gina.
I saw the cold light in Gina’s eyes. Roo had given them permission. He had signaled that I was open season. If I didn’t get up, they would drag .
I pushed myself up, a low, guttural groan escaping my lips. The room spun. The white walls blurred. "That’s it," Gina encouraged, her voice dripping with mock sweetness as she watched struggle.
"Learn your place, shadow. It’s going to be a very long night."
Nonna’s wheelchair screeched against the floor as she scrambled to position herself directly in front of , blocking Gina’s path.
Her eyes were swimming with unhedged tears, her face a map of absolute desperation. She was shaking her head so violently her silver hair began to spill from its pins.
"Don’t do this, Katya," she pleaded, her voice a broken thread. "Stay in this bed. I will go to him. I will drag Roo to this room by his throat if I have to. He cannot do this. He will not do this."
I felt the room tilt as my feet hit the cold floor. The pain in my back wasn’t just a burn anymore.
It was a physical weight, dragging at my muscles, trying to pull back into the abyss of unconsciousness.
But I couldn’t let her go to him. I couldn’t let her beg for a girl who had already been discarded. "Nonna," I whispered, my voice thick.
I forced my trembling hand up, my fingers brushing against her wrinkled cheek, catching a tear before it could fall. "It’s alright. Please... don’t go to him."
"It is not alright!" she choked out, grabbing my wrist with a strength that surprised . "You are my family, Katya. I will not let him treat you like this."
I looked at her—really looked at her—and saw the destruction I was causing. "That’s why it’s different," I said, my heart breaking into a thousand jagged pieces.
"You are his family too... and I don’t need you in that situation. I won’t be the reason you lose your grandson. I won’t let you be the one to beg for my life."
I pulled my hand away before her warmth could tempt to stay. I needed to move. I needed to leave before I collapsed in front of her.
I bypassed her chair with a clumsy, staggering step, my head bowed. I didn’t want her to see the fresh hot tears that were finally spilling down my face, hot and stinging against my skin.
Every step felt like walking through glass.
Gina, who had been observing our goodbye with a sick, evil smile, let out a sharp, mocking laugh.
She turned on her heel, her head held high. "Touching," Gina drawled, her tone dripping with venom.
"Truly. But we’re on a schedule. Keep up, shadow. The Donna doesn’t like to be kept waiting, and your slow pace is already grating on my nerves."
She didn’t wait for . She marched out of the room, her heels clicking a rhythmic, cruel beat against the floor.
I followed her, my vision blurred by tears and pain, leaving the only person who loved behind in a room that felt more like a tomb.
I didn’t look back.
I couldn’t. Because if I saw Nonna’s face one more ti, I knew I wouldn’t have the strength to walk into the nightmare waiting for in the Marina’s room.
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