Lahat ng Kabanata ng One Hand Ruined, One Throne Taken: Kabanata 1 - Kabanata 9

The crowd cheered, eager for the spectacle to unfold."Play with her, Ms. Conti! Make her lose and shut her mouth!""Exactly! This is your territory. What's there to be afraid of?"Liliana's face flushed, then drained of color. She snorted coldly and responded, "Fine! I'll play with you. However…"Her voice turned vicious when she continued, "If you lose, you won't just lose your hand. I'll make sure you disappear into the black market. I'll make your life a living hell!"I ignored her threats and turned to the dealer standing nearby. "I'll shuffle."The dealer glanced at Liliana. Only after receiving her tacit approval did he hand me the cards.Liliana folded her arms. A smirk of contempt spread across her face as she waited.I knew how tricks usually played out in a casino.If the dealer pulled even the slightest trick while dealing, I'd lose for sure. However, my father had always said my hands were made for the cards.The cards danced through my fingers as I cut, stacked,

Liliana stared at the disconnected phone and laughed with brazen defiance.Less than five minutes later, a thunderous crash shook the entire casino, and everyone spun around in fear.The massive front doors of the casino were smashed apart as a black Hummer rammed straight through them from outside.Before anyone could react, doors flew open. From the Hummer and a long line of black sedans behind it poured out more than a hundred men in identical black suits.They moved as one, disciplined and precise.In less than 30 seconds, every one of Cesar's bodyguards was neutralized.The men who had been throwing their weight around earlier didn't even get the chance to draw their guns. Their weapons were yanked away, and they collapsed to their knees, trembling all over.My father, Rossi Corsini, stepped inside. He wore a long black coat. His posture was calm and unhurried, and he was surrounded by his elite bodyguards.His gaze scanned the hall, cold and unreadable, before settling on

Three months later, I was still at the palace in Montefina.My right hand underwent several surgeries performed by the finest surgeons in Aurasia. Visually, it looked almost fully healed. No one would've guessed how severe the injury had once been.However, I knew it was ruined.The doctors were blunt. The bones in my palm and the surrounding nerves had sustained permanent damage. It would never again tolerate intense, high-precision work.That meant my life at the tables was over. I would never again make cards dance between my fingers the way I once had.My father was consumed by guilt. To make amends, he assigned me the most enigmatic and formidable bodyguard in the family, Marco Ricci.A top-tier combat specialist and a master strategist, he became my constant shadow from that day on. He moved silently, expressionless and sparing with words.At a meeting of the family's core members, my father formally declared that arranging my engagement to Cesar was the greatest mistake o

Inside the abandoned opera house, the leader of Scorpio, Rico Ferraro, sat high on a decaying throne at center stage.When he saw that I had truly come to the meeting with only Marco at my side, his arrogance swelled. He looked at me with undisguised lust and greed.In his mind, I already belonged to him."So the Principessa of the Corsini family really does have guts." He clapped his hands, signaling for his men to bring over a table. "Well? How do you want to talk this out? Are you going to stay behind willingly, or should I tie you up and deposit you straight onto my bed?"The desperados around us burst into raucous laughter.Smiling, I walked to the table. "In Montefina, we have a traditional way of settling disputes."I pulled out a chair and sat down. My voice was calm. "We settle it with a gamble. One game decides everything. We'll play what you're best at—Parcosian roulette."If I win, Scorpio swears loyalty to the Corsini family. If you win, my life, along with the live