I never imagined that within five or six years, every one of his elder brothers would die in turf wars and Commission purges, and the Ferrante family's contested succession clause would hand Dante the territory on a single condition: claim the dual-bloodline right, and the family was his.
Once the Commission ratified him, he simply slotted Gianna into the role of his wife and raised her children as his own.
By the time I dragged myself to his door, Dante had long since forgotten that my daughter and I existed.
So much so that when we died miserably in my past life, he didn't shed a single tear.
If anything, he was relieved he wouldn't have to write up divorce papers after all.
This time, no matter what it took, I would change my daughter's fate and my own.
Valentina and I knelt at the gates of the Castellano compound. The guards couldn't bear the sight of us and sent word inside five or six times. Two hours later, my father finally came out.
"Reduced to this sorry state, and NOW you remember you have a father?"
He held a walking cane in his hand and raised it as if to strike me. I didn't flinch, didn't move to dodge. Instead, I stepped closer.
"Your daughter knows she was wrong. Beat me, kill me, do whatever you see fit."
"I regret not listening to you back then. I put my trust in the wrong man."
Tears streamed down my father's weathered face. He didn't strike me. He threw the cane to the ground and pulled me to my feet with trembling hands.
"You were so heartless back then. You threw away your own father and your Family for a man. But since you know you were wrong, cut those ties clean and come home where you belong!"
"As long as you sever that cursed bond completely, you are still Serafina Castellano, and this compound is still yours."
He told me to change out of my rags, but I shook my head.
His expression shifted. "Don't tell me you still intend to have dealings with that man?"
I smiled faintly. "He wronged me this deeply. You think I can just turn the page? I need to make him pay first."
That same day, I took Valentina to the Ferrante estate and sent word inside.
"Tell Dante Ferrante his wife has come home."
The soldiers at the gate took one look at my tattered clothes, wrinkled their noses, and moved to shove us back toward the street.
"Where'd you beggars crawl out from? This is the Ferrante house."