Chapter 1

I grew up with the Vipera brothers. They have always considered me their younger sister and spoiled me silly.

But after that car accident, my relationship with them changes completely.

The accident leaves me with severe burns on my body, and I'm in constant agony. On top of that, my face is disfigured too.

The moment I'm wheeled out of the ICU, I call the Vipera brothers to let them know that I'm safe.

However, the only response I get from them is an impatient dismissal. "Sofia, Bianca hurt her fingers during the accident. We're taking care of her now. Don't bother us by throwing a tantrum."

Soon, Bianca Rossi uploads a selfie of herself with the Vipera brothers in a luxurious hospital room. She's wearing three wolf fang bracelets on her wrist. I'd given those to the Vipera brothers as a Christmas gift last year.

To get the fangs from the particular species of wolves they liked, I trekked through the jungle alone with a gun and battled feral wolves the entire night.

I completely let go of any remaining feelings toward the famiglia that raised me and decide to leave them for good.

When the Vipera brothers see me again at a grand banquet held by the Ferro famiglia, they are overwhelmed with regret.

Chapter 1

The day I was discharged from the hospital, I wore a face mask to conceal the massive scar on my face.

It was then that I received a call from a distant city called Lunebria. The voice on the other end sounded unfamiliar.

"May I ask if you are Ms. Sofia? Did you go missing when you were a child?" a man asked.

I froze for a moment. The memories that had been buried in the back of my mind for years suddenly came surging back.

The man continued, "The hospital reported your DNA information to us. It's been 20 years… We've finally found you!"

His voice trembled with emotion as he spoke. It seemed like he was on the verge of tears.

A tear slid down one corner of my eye, and I couldn't help but smile too. "So you're saying… I have a real famiglia now? Is that right?"

"But will your current famiglia agree to let you return to us?"

I thought of the selfie where my three adoptive brothers stood beside Bianca Rossi, smiling as they kept her company. My nose stung, and more tears slid down my face as sadness overcame me.

I replied softly, "I want to go home. There is no famiglia for me here."

The man fell silent for a moment before saying carefully, "I am the butler of the Ferro famiglia, Matteo Zanetti. I will arrange a private jet next week to bring you back. We will also schedule a skin graft surgery at a private hospital."

My heart began to race, and I bit my lip. It seemed as though the long winter gloom that shrouded me was finally starting to lift.

I took a cab back to pack my belongings. Just as I reached the gates of the castle, a luxurious van pulled up and blocked my way.

The automatic door slid open, and Bianca stepped out as though she were a princess. Three wolf fang bracelets hung from her wrist.

Bianca sneered, "Sofia, you vicious woman! How dare you come back to the Vipera famiglia's castle?"

She rolled her eyes at me. Then, she ripped the bandage on her finger and tossed it onto the ground.

"That car accident almost ruined my hand! I almost couldn't play the piano again. What was more, I nearly got killed in the accident!" she said, seething.

I didn't bother replying and walked straight toward the entrance.

Bianca rushed over and grabbed my shoulder. She ordered, "Hurry up and clear out your room. I'm moving in to recover from my injuries."

"You want my room?" I asked incredulously.

I had lived in that room for 20 years. I never even allowed the maids to enter it freely.

Bianca put on a fragile, pitiful expression. "Giuliano said I was badly shaken by the accident. He wants me to stay here and rest properly so that my hand can heal and I can play the piano for them again."

She then shoved me hard and spat, "You're just a stray who came from nowhere. You should've been kicked out of this household a long time ago!"

Bianca had pressed right on my burns when she shoved me. The pain flared instantaneously, itching and stinging all at once. It felt like ants were gnawing into my flesh.

Suddenly, Bianca collapsed onto the ground and clutched her wrist.

She cried, "I rushed over to see you the moment I was discharged. Why do you hate me so much? Were you planning to cripple my hand?"

Her loud sobbing drew whispers from the maids around us.

Hearing the noise, Giuliano Vipera got out of the car. He was the youngest of the three brothers, and he was a well-known doctor.

"Bianca, your hand hasn't healed yet. Did you hurt it again? Do you want me to take a look?" he asked worriedly.

The second Vipera brother, Bruno Vipera, glared at me. "You've gone too far, Sofia. Bianca saved you! Apologize to her right now!"

Mario Vipera, who was the eldest, stepped forward and thrust his thick arm at me. His fist stopped inches from my face.

He growled, "Sofia, enough of this nonsense! If you even think about hurting Bianca's hand again, I'll teach you a lesson with my fist."

The three of them surrounded Bianca and fussed over her. Beneath my mask, the scar on my face burned like it was on fire.

Chapter 2

I recalled everything Bianca had done so far. She had wanted me gone from the Vipera household for a very long time.

My face was ruined. I was in so much pain that I lost the courage to speak.

Bianca sat on the floor and sobbed miserably, "Sofia, if my nimble fingers make you jealous, then I promise I won't show up in front of you again. I won't trouble our brothers to take care of me anymore. You'll forgive me, won't you?"

Behind her back, she squeezed the nearly healed wound on her fingers until it bled again.

She said weakly, "All I ask is that you let me rest in the castle so that my hand can heal faster. Then, I can play the piano for our dear brothers again."

My brothers helped her up and walked past me irritably.

As Bianca brushed by my shoulder, she forced out a single tear. My brothers looked at her with aching concern. Then, they turned their annoyed gazes on me.

I wanted to explain, but cold sweat broke out across my back. A feeling of despair enveloped me, and the stabbing pain from my burns overwhelmed me again.

I clenched my teeth tightly, unable to say a word. They didn't want to hear anything anyway.

And so, Bianca took over my room. I moved into the maids' storage room, which was damp and freezing. It hadn't been cleaned in years.

The pain from my wounds kept me awake all night.

At dawn, I swallowed a sleeping pill. I had barely fallen asleep when the constant and noisy footsteps outside the door woke me up again.

Giuliano had hired the best medical aesthetic specialists in the country to treat Bianca. They were going to do facial care and hand therapy for her.

Across the corridor, I lay miserably in a room without any heating, wrapped in a moldy old blanket. The skin on my body and face throbbed painfully, as if it were about to split apart.

I noticed some soothing ointment on the doctor's cart.

I put on my mask and walked over to ask the doctor's assistant, "Could I have just a little of that?"

Someone snapped, "What are you doing here, Sofia? Because of your reckless driving, Bianca nearly ended up scarred from the accident. Be grateful that she only scraped her fingers. You're the reason why she's hurt. How can you still have the nerve to cause trouble?"

Giuliano shoved me back into the storage room roughly.

I had no choice but to hide beneath that unfamiliar, cold blanket and escape the painful reality for the time being. I swallowed a few more sleeping pills and forced myself to fall asleep as quickly as possible.

In my dream, I returned to the day I first arrived at the castle.

When I was six years old, I had gone out with my butler and accidentally gotten into a stranger's car. By the time I got out, I was at the Vipera famiglia's castle.

I didn't know how to tell them where my home was. Terrified out of my wits, I fell seriously ill and ran a high fever. Then, I lost consciousness.

When I woke up, Mario, Bruno, and Giuliano decided that they would take me in. That was how I became the Vipera famiglia's adopted daughter.

In the days that followed, we played and stirred up trouble together in the castle.

The Don of the Vipera famiglia and the father of my brothers, Antonio Vipera, lived in another castle. So, this place was a private paradise for my brothers and me.

I thought we were the closest famiglia and that nothing could ever tear us apart.

But my life began to fall apart without warning when Bianca moved into the guard's wooden cabin outside the castle last year.

She claimed she was Antonio's illegitimate daughter and my brothers' half-sister by blood. She often played Antonio's favorite piano pieces in the cabin outside the castle. Whenever my brothers heard those melodies, they thought of Antonio and became convinced that Bianca was truly their sister.

I took the initiative to invite Bianca to move into the castle. I believed that she would be happier living with her real famiglia.

But after that, my brothers stopped paying attention to me. Bianca became the one who was constantly by their side instead of me.

She grew bolder by the day. She would snatch my clothes and take my shoes without asking.

Then, she would tell the brothers, "I'm closer to you than Sofia will ever be. After all, we're bound by blood."

I was barely conscious as I lay on the bed. Shivering beneath the blanket, I could feel a fever coming on.

Bruno pounded hard on the old wooden door. Mario rushed in after him, clutching a piece of paper in his hand.

He exclaimed, "I can't believe I didn't realize sooner that you'd deliberately try to harm Bianca!"

His voice thundered in my ears, but I couldn't summon the strength to speak.

Mario's expression became increasingly grim, and his words came out in an incensed roar. "So you're the one who threatened her to deliberately crash into the rocks by the roadside! Bianca is my sister—if anything happens to her, I'll skin you alive!"

Chapter 3

Mario and Bruno took turns hurling accusations at me. Their merciless reproach rained on me like a torrent of rocks.

From the room across the corridor, Bianca's voice drifted over. "Mario? Bruno? Where are you? I need you with me."

They hurried back to her side right away, leaving me to suffer alone in the dank, suffocating room.

Mario had left behind the investigation report on the accident. With trembling hands, I picked it up.

It stated clearly that I had argued with Bianca inside the car and that I had deliberately swerved the steering wheel to threaten her. According to it, my reckless act was what caused the accident.

Summoning all my strength, I forced myself out of bed. I wanted to find my brothers and explain everything.

Bianca had just finished her skin treatment. Mario gently tucked a blanket behind her lower back and carefully adjusted it around her waist. Bruno was massaging her wrist, while Giuliano was busy pulling the curtains and fine-tuning the lighting to what he thought was the most comfortable.

My heart shattered in that instant. I turned to leave, but my foot accidentally struck the door as I spun around.

Mario noticed me, and a flash of irritation crossed his eyes.

He barked, "What are you doing here? Was the car accident not enough? Are you trying to hurt Bianca again?"

Bianca clutched Mario's sleeve and glanced at me with a pitiful expression. "Sofia, I promise I won't get on your nerves anymore. Please spare me. I still need to play the piano for our brothers."

Silently, I went up to the attic where we used to play together. There, I found the four small figurines that Mario, Bruno, Giuliano, and I had sculpted together on my birthday.

I threw them into the trash. They shattered into fragments, just like what remained of our relationship now.

…

After resting for a while and regaining some strength, I went to the storage room to pack my belongings.

My bookshelf had been filled with poetry collections Mario had bought for me. He used to say that he would invite poets to write exclusively for me if that was what I wanted.

Giuliano had given me countless bottles of perfume, saying he wanted me to experience the most beautiful scents in the world. As for Bruno, he had brought back limited-edition jewelry from all over the country. They were all souvenirs he picked up during his competitions abroad.

They had once wanted my entire life to revolve around them. But now, all of it felt like a burden.

I asked the maid to take everything out and throw them away.

As I cleared the last poetry book from the shelf, Mario stood at the door and stared at the empty space blankly. He looked like a wounded little boy.

"Why did you throw away the poetry books I gave you? Didn't you say you would treasure them for life?" he asked.

Bruno came to take a look after him.

His nose reddened as he questioned, "Didn't you love the necklace that I bought you from overseas the most?"

Giuliano rushed out and chased after the maid to ask where she had thrown my things. He even said he was willing to pay to buy them back.

I kept my head down and didn't bother explaining anything.

The next moment, I noticed the diamond earrings Bruno was holding.

"Are those for me?" I asked quietly.

Bruno's gaze wavered as he looked at Mario.

Clearly, they were not for me.

Mario cleared his throat and explained, "Bianca almost ended up disfigured. So, we're giving her some jewelry and taking photos with her to cheer her up."

Bruno hurriedly added, "I'll buy you something the next time I go for a competition. Don't be so self-centered now."

Chapter 4

I no longer wanted to believe a single word they said. So, all I did was nod calmly in response.

I turned to go back to my room to rest, but Bianca stood in the hallway and blocked my path. She was wearing my pajamas and my velvet slippers.

She said softly, "From now on, I am the only sister the Vipera brothers will spoil and love."

As I walked past her, I heard a sharp, mocking snort escape her nose.

After we brushed shoulders, her giggles and joyful chatter with my brothers rang out behind me.

She deliberately raised her voice and flaunted, saying, "I'm going to wear these diamond earrings for the rest of my life. Bruno, you're the best!"

She went on to lament about her poor, miserable childhood. My brothers instantly promised to compensate her double for every unfortunate thing she had suffered in life.

They had once promised me the same. They had sworn that they would love and protect me as if I were their real famiglia to make up for the famiglia I had lost.

But now, they chose Bianca, their half-sister, over me every single time.

Would they still remember me after I left the castle?

Lost in those thoughts, I eventually fell asleep in my room due to exhaustion and pain. When I woke up, the castle was empty.

Enjoying a moment of rare silence, I packed all of my belongings and erased every trace of myself in this place.

Matteo called to check on me. When he heard that my skin hurt unbearably, he arranged for someone to deliver a medical spray that would soothe the burns.

Not long after I hung up, I saw a video Bianca had posted on social media. She had deliberately tagged me in the comments section.

In the video, she and my brothers were on vacation at Belville Resort. They were throwing a pool party. Wearing the flashy diamond earrings, Bianca stood in the center as everyone surrounded her.

For the post, she had written, "From now on, this will be the vacation home for our famiglia of four. My brothers love me so much. I'm truly the happiest woman in the world."

My fingers trembled. My breathing became shallow and rapid.

My brothers had once promised they would take only me to Belville Resort for vacations.

I knew there was nothing I could do at this point. No matter what happened to me, Bianca would always twist it into something that made them misunderstand me even more.

I unfriended Bianca on my social media. From that moment on, my world would no longer include her.

Soon, my medical spray arrived. A maid agreed to help bring it in from outside.

I waited and waited in my room, but she never returned. The itching and prickling pain from my wounds made it impossible for me to sit still. So, I went out to the garden to distract myself.

When I reached the open area, I bent over to catch my breath. I was struggling to breathe, it hurt so much and my face mask was suffocating me.

A hand with its nails painted red shoved the medical spray into my face.

I looked up and saw that it was Bianca.

She pursed her lips angrily and scolded, "Sofia, you knew I came back early because of an allergy. How dare you purposely have the maid send me the wrong medicine? Were you trying to kill me?"

Chapter 5

I denied it immediately. "I didn't do it."

Then, I glanced at the maid beside us. She lowered her head and scurried away.

I reached out to take the medical spray from Bianca, but she deliberately stepped back.

The pain made it impossible for me to breathe. I collapsed onto the ground and began crawling toward her, inch by inch. If I could get the medicine, it wouldn't hurt this much anymore.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't reach Bianca. That short distance stripped away every shred of dignity I'd had over the years.

Bianca sneered down at me and raised the medical spray in her hand. "Sofia, this is proof that you switched the medicine to hurt me. Don't even think about destroying the evidence."

At last, I crawled close enough to grab her ankle. I begged her desperately to let me have it.

However, she twisted the cap open and poured the contents of the entire bottle into the nearby drain.

My blood rushed to my head. I sprang up instinctively, screaming as I grabbed her hand to stop her.

Suddenly, someone yanked me backward. Like a rag doll, I was flung into the muddy flowerbed. My face slammed into the dirt. The pain was so overwhelming that I couldn't make a sound.

All I heard was Bianca's mocking laughter.

When I finally wiped the mud from my eyes, I saw who had dragged me away.

It was Mario. He stood in front of me holding the medical spray.

"Bianca had an allergic reaction. How could you deliberately switch her medicine?" he asked furiously.

"No! That's not true! That's my medicine!" I explained hoarsely.

No one listened.

Bruno and Giuliano had already called for a private doctor as they escorted Bianca away.

They called out to Mario, "Bianca said she won't take the medicine unless all of us are there."

I struggled to my feet in the mud, desperately hoping that someone would reach out a hand to help me. But at my most helpless moment, Mario turned his back on me and ran toward Bianca.

"It wasn't me!" I shouted after him.

Mario didn't even turn his head as he barked, "If anything happens to Bianca, I won't let you get away with it!"

"That's my medical spray! I can't do without it!" I cried.

Giuliano shouted back in annoyance, "Why do you have to make a scene and pester us at a time like this? Are you deliberately trying to stop Bianca from getting better?"

Bruno glanced at me, but the look in his eyes was utterly foreign to me.

I collapsed back onto the ground and picked up the medical spray from the muddy ground. To my dismay, it was empty.

The private doctor and all the maids were fussing over Bianca. No one was around to help get me another bottle of medicine.

If I waited until the private jet arrived, I might die from the pain before it even touched down.

So, I called Matteo. "Can I have the skin graft surgery earlier? Please come get me at dawn tomorrow."

I packed a small carry-on bag and took nothing else with me.

At daybreak the next morning, a helicopter took me away from the castle.

I received countless calls from the three Vipera brothers. They said I had to apologize to Bianca after she recovered. They kept stressing that I owed her my life and that I should know how to behave.

I turned off my phone, removed the SIM card, and threw it into the trash.

On the private jet, my back was drenched with cold sweat because of the intense pain. I clenched my teeth and endured it.

Once I went home, I would begin an entirely new life—one with no ties whatsoever to the Vipera famiglia.

From this moment on, I was the Principessa of the Ferro famiglia—only daughter of Vittorio Ferro, the Don of the most powerful famiglia.