A Wilted Rose

Carlo was bottling all his anger in his chest as he glared at me, before finally scooping Gemma off the floor and leaving without looking back.

Ha! He wanted to throw me into the basement already? We did have some good memories together, didn't we?

I remembered things between Carlo and me weren't this bad when I was sixteen. I liked to shadow him wherever he went because I knew about the engagement between us and how we would become a family.

Once, he took me along to handle some family business, and we ran into an ambush from a rival family. He shielded me and took a knife to the back. It was cut so deeply that his bone was exposed. I was terrified and burst into tears, but he turned around and comforted me, saying it didn't hurt at all.

Back then, he was the type of man who would risk his life to protect me.

Now, he wouldn't hesitate to hurt me or yell at me for another woman.

But…

None of that mattered anymore.

Once Don Vinnie came back, I could finally end this ridiculous engagement.

I looked at the butler walking toward me, and said with a hoarse voice, "Can you call the family doctor in? My head's bleeding, and I think I have a concussion."

The old butler looked at me with pity, but he just shook his head in the end and walked away.

Soon, a maid walked over with a dog bowl filled with leftovers from the kitchen.

"Mr. Carlo's orders, Ms. Shaw. Here's your dinner," she said, shooting me a look of contempt before leaving.

I stared at the so-called dinner that was worse than animal feed, and my stomach churned.

Don Vinnie was rarely here throughout the year, and Carlo was the one who was calling the shots in this place. He had said it more than once that I wasn't part of the Gutierrez Family, and my life had nothing to do with him.

That was why everyone kept their distance from me. While he treated me like any other underling and sent me to handle dangerous family business, no one would care if I got hurt from it. I had to drag myself out to see a doctor to get my wounds treated.

But I was already used to it.

I cleaned my wound as best I could and packed everything up. The servants just watched coldly as I carried my things back and forth.

That night, I hauled all my luggage back to a rundown apartment building in the slums. This was where I was going to stay for the time being. Once I saved enough and severed the engagement, I would leave this city for good and leave everything behind.

It hadn't even been two days since I left the Gutierrez Family when Carlo called, giving out orders.

"Where are you? Handle the shipment at Warehouse Three right now."

I knew exactly what he meant. These were all jobs that I had handled so far, but I didn't want to do it anymore.

"I'm not going."

Carlo was stunned. Even his underling, who was reporting to him, fell silent.

I repeated myself, but no one was answering me. Just when I was about to hang up, Carlo's voice came through. I could tell the anger that was bubbling underneath it.

"Come again, Rosa?"

I closed the job site on my phone and brought my phone closer.

"I said, I'm not going to handle your business anymore. Didn't you call me a filthy street rat? That I pollute the air around you? That's why I left. Get someone else."

He was so angry that all he could manage was to laugh coldly.

"You're growing a backbone, huh? Bold enough to defy me now? Did you forget how you used to shadow me like a dog? You're leaving, right? Fine. Get out and stay far away! Stay out of my territory for good and never come back! I dare you! Don't think you can get my attention by pulling this stunt! I'm warning you... If you lay a finger on Gemma again, I'll throw you in the ocean and feed you to the fish!"

Throw me in the ocean?

My knuckles turned white as I squeezed my phone. It took me a while to find my voice again.

Meanwhile, Carlo simply thought I was scared and kept mocking me.

"What, scared now? These childish games will only make me look down on you even more. Go handle the business at the harbor and apologize to Gemma, then I'll pretend nothing happened."

I took a deep breath and said slowly, "Carlo, I'm not going to the warehouse, and I won't apologize to Gemma. I'm leaving your territory for good."

With that, I immediately hung up.