Chapter 163: "Set The Engagement Aside"

The doors to the meeting room were shoved open rather than politely turned.

Natalia Porto was dragged inside by two Sartori men gripping her arms, her hair disheveled and her clothes wrinkled from being restrained on the gallery floor earlier.

Behind her came her father, Giovanni, followed by the other three Dons and their respective subordinates.

As soon as the grand doors slammed shut behind them, the last trace of control vanished from Eduardo’s expression.

He was supposed to be with his son, who had been rushed to the medical wing for emergency surgery, yet here he was instead, forced to settle the matter before it escalated into an actual mafia war — right on the grounds of his own compound.

"Natalia, my dear," he said, his gaze settling on her with a coldness that carried none of its former warmth. "Start explaining yourself. Before I decide that not a single member of your House will be allowed to leave this place."

At the threat, Giovanni could only release a long, weary sigh.

Moments ago, he had been congratulating Eduardo, exchanging jokes with several of the other men.

Then, in the blink of an eye, his daughter had turned everything into a disaster that threatened the survival of their entire House, and now he was being forced into the role of mediator.

"Please, Don Eduardo, calm down." Giovanni waved both hands anxiously. "I’m certain this is some sort of misunderstanding. There is no way Natalia could possibly have shot Jordan deliberately. They’ve been friends since childhood."

Even while held between the two Sartori men, Natalia somehow maintained a composure that seemed completely at odds with the gravity of the situation.

"You are correct that I would never shoot Jordan on purpose, Father," she said calmly. "It was Ariana Lombardi whom I intended to kill. Jordan simply happened to play the hero at the worst possible moment."

At her confession, every man in the room seemed to freeze.

They stared at her in stunned disbelief, unable to comprehend how she could confess to something capable of triggering a gunfight between four Houses with such casual calm.

Giovanni looked as though he might faint. He surged toward her, both hands flying into the air in exasperation.

"My goodness, Natalia! What nonsense are you saying? Just what has gotten into your head?"

Gian and Caio, meanwhile, were easily the two most outraged men in the room.

"If that’s the case..." Gian’s eyes narrowed. "Does that mean everything that young Marchetti man accused you of earlier was true? Did you have anything to do with the scheme to kill my daughter during the competition out of jealousy, Lady Natalia?"

"Not at all." Natalia gave a casual shrug. "This has nothing to do with Nazario’s false accusations against me. It was entirely on impulse. I simply didn’t want to let your shameless daughter live."

"Natalia!" Giovanni’s voice rose sharply as he pointed at her. "Shut your mouth before this turns into a disaster I can’t fix! You still feel no remorse for what you did?"

"What else should I have done, Father?" Natalia shot back, her cold stare meeting his without hesitation. "Jordan was supposed to be engaged to me soon, yet he dared to kiss another woman in front of all those people? Could there be any greater insult to me? To our House?"

Giovanni’s fingers trembled as he stared at his daughter. His face gradually reddened with anger, but he had no answer for her.

At last, he turned away abruptly and exhaled through his nose, as though he couldn’t bear to look at her.

Eduardo, however, had no such difficulty. Folding his arms neatly across his chest, he fixed Natalia with a cold, uncompromising stare.

"Regardless of the cause, whether you tried to shoot my son or Don Gian’s daughter, this behavior is unacceptable. Don Giovanni, I’m afraid I must put our ongoing discussions regarding a possible engagement between our two Houses on hold."

At once, every trace of calm vanished from Natalia’s face.

"What do you mean, Don Eduardo?" she demanded, one eyebrow rising sharply. "Your son is with another woman while he’s supposed to be engaged to me, and you’re canceling the engagement itself instead of reprimanding your son or teaching him how to behave?"

Giovanni’s eyes widened in utter disbelief. He whipped around to face her.

"Natalia, how dare you spew such insolent nonsense?!"

Then, just as quickly, he turned back toward Eduardo, his expression becoming apologetic and pleading.

"You’re right, Don Eduardo. Perhaps it is time we set the engagement aside and focus on correcting this unfortunate mistake first. House Porto is willing to do whatever is necessary to make amends to House Marchetti for the sake of Jordan’s recovery."

Natalia could barely hear what her father was saying.

He was supposed to take her side. Instead, he was willingly allowing the engagement she had fought so hard to secure to be discarded.

"Father! You can’t just lower yourself like that!" she snapped. "House Marchetti isn’t respecting us at all, and you’re going to bow to them? You’re even offering to make amends?"

At that exact moment, Giovanni seemed to exhaust the last remnants of his patience.

He spun toward her, and his palm struck her across the face.

SMACK!

The impact cracked through the room like a gunshot.

Natalia’s head snapped to the side, her cheek flushing red beneath the force of her father’s anger.

Slowly, she lifted her head again, her eyes wide with disbelief as she stared at him. But Giovanni had already turned away from her and faced the other Dons.

"I am terribly sorry, gentlemen," he said, gesturing repeatedly as though trying to soothe the anger in the room. "It is my fault that I failed to teach my daughter properly. Let’s not make this situation any more complicated than it already is. I shall take her home, reprimand her thoroughly, and make certain she never makes the same mistake again."

Faced with Giovanni’s earnest pleading, however, the three Dons remained thoroughly unimpressed.

Caio was the first to respond.

His arms remained folded tightly across his chest as he leveled a cold stare at the Porto Don.

"Don Giovanni, surely you aren’t naive enough to think that’s sufficient to solve the problem. You couldn’t possibly believe that a simple slap is enough, after which you can drag your daughter away and expect all of us to forget about this by the end of next week."

He scoffed, his gaze shifting toward Natalia like a loaded weapon.

"Natalia Porto tried to kill my woman. Had that bullet struck the right place, I swear on my father’s name that House Sartori would fight House Porto for your daughter’s head."

The threat had barely settled over the room before Gian made the atmosphere even heavier.

"I’m afraid I must agree with Don Caio," he said, his tone calmer but no less authoritative. "House Lombardi requests a more severe punishment for Lady Natalia’s attempt to assassinate my own daughter, Don Giovanni."

Eduardo said nothing.

Given how close the two families were, and the fact that Natalia had openly admitted she had not been aiming at Jordan, Eduardo might once have found a reason to defend her.

But Jordan had taken the bullet anyway.

For that reason alone, Eduardo couldn’t bring himself to protect Natalia anymore.

At Caio’s and Gian’s demands, Natalia’s face twisted with fury. She opened her mouth, clearly ready to fire back with another sharp retort, but before she could speak, Giovanni had already made his decision.

"Very well," he said solemnly, clasping both hands behind his back. "If that is what it takes to settle this matter today, then I shall willingly accept."

He turned toward Natalia, and his expression became several degrees colder.

"In front of all the Houses gathered here, I declare that Natalia is no longer my appointed direct heiress to the Don’s seat. She will be confined to Porto territory for the next six months as punishment and for self-reflection, and I will appoint one of my other sons to take her position instead."

The words struck Natalia like lightning.

She stared at her father as though he had completely lost his mind, her voice rising with a mixture of rage and panic.

"Father! What are you talking about? You seriously want to demote me over this stupid mistake?"

Giovanni ignored her protest entirely. He turned back toward Gian, his expression once again softened by regret.

"And I shall make sure my daughter apologizes to Lady Ariana directly and properly, all under my personal supervision."

He stepped forward and clasped Gian’s hand, his face solemn with sincerity.

"You have my word."

Gian looked at the offered hand, then at Giovanni’s face. Having survived in Borgata’s underworld for this long, he knew better than to take every heartfelt display at face value.

Still, he was a father himself.

He understood the lengths another father might go to in order to salvage his daughter’s reputation and protect his House from the consequences of her actions — more than anyone in the room.

"Make sure your daughter apologizes properly, Don Giovanni." He gave Giovanni’s hand a firm squeeze before letting go. "House Lombardi will not accept having its only heiress threatened and insulted like this."

"Of course. Of course I will." Giovanni nodded repeatedly, visible relief washing over his face at Gian’s acceptance.

Natalia, however, was anything but relieved. Her rage only burned hotter as she watched her father lower himself once again.

"Father!" she shouted. "This is ridiculous! I am not apologizing to anyone, and certainly not to that bitch—"

Giovanni spun around on her, his expression hardening.

"Will you shut your damn mouth?!"

He waved toward the Porto men with cold authority.

"Drag her out of here before she says something even more stupid."

Several men from House Porto stepped forward immediately.

"Yes, Boss!"

They took Natalia from the two Sartori guards and began dragging her toward the door.

Natalia refused to go quietly. She twisted and fought against their grip, her voice rising with every step.

"No! Father! I’m not agreeing to any of this! Father, you can’t demote me for something this stupid! You promised me you’d make me Donna!"

Giovanni’s expression remained utterly unmoved.

"Take her away. Make her shut up."

Turning back toward the others in the room, he offered them an apologetic nod.

"I shall excuse myself to have a private reprimand with my daughter. Then I will take her to see Lady Ariana immediately."

"Of course," Gian replied with a nod. "Take your time. We shall also move to the medical wing now to check on poor Jordan and my daughter. I suppose we’ll see you there soon, Don Giovanni."

"Certainly. Certainly."

Giovanni continued nodding as he backed toward the door, bowing repeatedly in apology before finally stepping out with the rest of his men.

The grand doors closed behind them, shutting out the tense gathering that remained inside.

The moment the Porto men had dragged a still-screaming Natalia away from the main corridor and into a more secluded area, however, every trace of regret vanished from Giovanni’s face.

What remained was the cold, hardened expression of the true Don of House Porto — a man who had guided his empire through decades of delicate schemes without ever allowing his hand to be traced.

With furious strides, he walked straight toward Natalia, who was still struggling aggressively against the men holding her.

He seized her himself, pulled her away from the subordinates, and struck her twice across the face in rapid succession.

SMACK!

SMACK!

Natalia’s struggling stopped instantly.

Her screams died in her throat as she stood there in stunned silence, both hands rising to cradle her burning cheeks.

"Have you gathered your brain now?" Giovanni asked calmly. He gestured casually to one of his subordinates, who immediately prepared a cigar for him.

Natalia stared at her father in blank disbelief for several seconds. Before long, she forced herself to regain her composure.

She knew that calm voice better than anyone. It was the voice Giovanni used when his anger had reached its deepest point, when he no longer felt the need to maintain the cheerful, easygoing mask he wore in public.

Natalia instantly folded her hands neatly in front of herself and lowered her head.

"...Yes, Father," she said submissively. "It was... impulsive of me. I’ve made a huge mistake."

Giovanni didn’t answer immediately.

He merely accepted the cigar from his subordinate and lit it, drawing deeply before letting the smoke drift slowly from his lips.

"And do you know what your mistake was?"

"I let my jealousy override my judgment," Natalia answered at once. "I almost severed decades of effort that went into maintaining our relationship with House Marchetti."

"Good." Giovanni took another slow drag, studying her through the haze. "Lucky for you that bullet caught the boy’s shoulder instead of his skull, for fuck’s sake. But what can we do now? What’s done is done. I can’t go back and fix your mistake."

Natalia lowered her head further.

"I understand, Father."

"If you do, then let one of your brothers be appointed heir for now." He gestured vaguely with the cigar. "Meanwhile, you can start directly overseeing the shipments we’re stealing from old Eduardo behind the scenes for the next six months."

His brow furrowed deeply.

"Make up for this stupid mistake. You hear me?"

Natalia wisely made no attempt to challenge him, no matter how much she disliked the order.

"...Of course, Father."

"Wonderful." Giovanni took another long drag. "It’s about time we got out of this place. I’m sick of attending his stupid competition every single year already. Such a complete waste of my time."

He flicked his hand dismissively.

"Now go apologize to that Lombardi girl."

That was the one thing Natalia wanted to resist more than anything. Hatred burned fiercely inside her, but this was hardly the moment to argue with her father.

She clenched her hands tightly at her sides, forcing the resentment back down before answering through gritted teeth.

"...Yes, Father. I shall make sure to apologize to her properly."