Chapter 8
622words
I was wearing a long, red down with the skirt trailing long behind me. My hair was put up high, and my fair, slender neck was exposed.
In this place, I was no longer the weak designer known as Mia. I was Mia Corleone, the queen of this place.
Silvio was by my side. He had taken off his bloodstained cloak and replaced it with the dapper suit that was worn only by the Don.
"Mia, a report from Micosa has just been delivered."
Silvio placed a photo of Micosa's most dangerous slum in front of me. Ernest was crouching next to a heap of garbage as a group of beggars was beating him up over a piece of bread that had just been stepped on. His hands were once used to play the piano and sign contracts, but were now covered in dirt.
As for Anna, she had managed to live six months in the warehouse. Every piece of her skin was in horrible condition on the day she died. She even tried to bite off the kidney that did not belong to her right before she died.
I heard that my mother-in-law's legs were broken from trying to steal some tourists' money near the public toilet. She was now sprawled on the roadside while shouting to everyone passing by that her son was Ernest Marino. Unfortunately for her, all she got in return were taunts and people spitting on her.
After I finished reading the report, I closed it. I felt nothing for what I learned.
"Mia, we need someone to take charge of Micosa." Silvio looked at me expectantly. "Do you want to go back?"
I walked to the balcony of the old castle. Far into the horizon, the sun was slowly setting into the sea. The last of its rays looked like the color of blood.
"No, I don't want to go back there," I said softly. "Micosa was just a dream to the designer, Mia. I'm wide awake now. That Mia died on the surgery table."
That was when the butler came up to whisper something into Silvio's ear. A playful look appeared on his face. "Mia, a man called Rolf Giani is here to see you with half the Gianis' assets. He says he's in Severia to… ask for your hand in marriage." Silvio raised an eyebrow.
"He says that he owes you one back in Micosa, and he's here to pay his debt with his life."
I was reminded of the businessman from Micosa who had always taken a neutral stand, but was constantly hinting at me not to trust Ernest too much. He was a Giani, and his name was Rolf.
Rolf was the man who had always stayed in the shadows, but was sharp enough to see through Ernest's ambitiousness, and knew very well that I was never a weakling.
I smiled. It was a smile of fierce confidence. "Let him into the castle."
My red dress swayed in the air like a ball of flames as I turned. "What great timing. It's about time the Corleones set a new rule," I said as I looked at this land, which belonged to me.
I used to think that I hated bloodshed and how my father and brother forced me to accept everything dirty and unscrupulous about the Corleones. However, it was only now that I understood that this was a dog-eat-dog world.
True happiness came from the peak of power.
I was Mia Corleone, and I would make the rules.
