"Rosalia, have you lost your mind?" Ginevra clutched her stomach, doubling over with laughter.
"Who do you think you are? Do you really believe you have the power to stop the ceremony before the Commission?" Nico smirked, his voice dripping with mockery.
"You think you're La Regina or something? Like a single word from you could sink my recognition before the Five Families?"
I lifted my head and locked eyes with him, unwavering. Then I stated with firmness, "That's exactly who I am. And the man in those photos? That's my brother. Cristiano Ferrante."
The laughter only grew louder.
"Rosalia, have you completely lost your mind?" Sal Vecchio laughed so hard he slapped the table, his tongue darting across his lower lip.
"If you're La Regina, then I must be Don Aurelio Ferrante himself, head of the Ferrante Empire!"
"That's right! That's right!" Others quickly joined in, treating me like a joke.
"If you're La Regina, we'll eat shit right in front of you!"
I swept my gaze over them, my lips curling into a slow, scornful smile. "Aurelio Ferrante is my father, not some ignorant fools like you."
Their laughter faltered for half a second, but I wasn't done. "You don't believe me? Of course you don't. Trash like you, who do nothing but spew garbage and blindly follow the crowd, must be used to eating shit every day."
My words struck a nerve and the room erupted in fury.
"Believe you? Believe that you're nothing but a whore who slept her way to the top?" The crowd's laughter swelled, the back room descending into chaos, their ridicule ringing off the paneled walls.
Nico shook his head, looking at me with a mix of pity and disgust, his tone dripping with contempt. "Rosalia, stop making a fool of yourself and get the hell out. You're contaminating my space. Don't you ever dare associate yourself with me again."
I clenched my fists so tightly that my nails dug deep into my palms. The fury inside me was suffocating, threatening to consume me whole. But I knew. Now was not the right time to lose control.
"Fine. I'll leave."
I took one last look at them, my voice steady and sharp. "But remember this. The humiliation you gave me today? I'll return it a hundredfold."
Laughter erupted around the room.
"Payback? Seriously?"