Chapter 40

As she spoke, a wave of pain washed over her. For the past few years, even checking online news about Sebastian had been a cautious act. The first year after leaving the Giovanni family, Valentina had continued to threaten her. This was the primary reason she returned to the Hart family and became engaged to Chris. Although Sebastian had rapidly risen to power, controlling Fiorenza's entire underworld in the last three years, she remained terrified the Casalini family could still threaten him. Seeing her vulnerability and his continued harshness, Stephanie felt even more aggrieved. She looked at him, her eyes red and brimming with tears.

“What about Valentina?” Stephanie asked, her voice trembling. She loathed the woman, wishing to erase her from existence.

Sebastian's response was curt. “She’s crippled. Imprisoned.”

Stephanie showed no surprise. “Imprisoned? You imprisoned her?”

Sebastian gave her a frosty look, his familiar gaze now edged with unmistakable anger. Stephanie tugged at his shirt, silently looking up at him with a pitiful expression.

Visibly irritated, Sebastian snapped, “Stop acting like a helpless kitten. When someone bullies you, don't self-pity! Remember what I taught you all those years?”

This time, Stephanie didn't flinch. She met his gaze directly. “You taught me everything, except how to be heartless.” She mused that heartlessness might have shielded her from hurt, as it did with the Hart family, but the Giovanni family was different. She couldn't shut her heart off from them. Her mother’s deep love, and the knowledge of Sebastian's role in her life since childhood, were undeniable. Her mother had raised her like a princess, treating her with the utmost tenderness.

Sebastian snorted coldly.

Unable to contain her impatience, Stephanie asked again, “How is Mom, really?”

Finally, Sebastian relented. “She’s doing well. Every day, she prays for you at church. And every snowfall, she worries you might freeze to death.”

Stephanie chuckled at her mother's concern. Freeze to death in the snow? In her mother's eyes, she was still so fragile. It was true; her mother had always treated her as a delicate flower.

Hearing that her mother had been praying for her for three years deeply moved Stephanie. She looked at Sebastian with wide eyes. “Seriously? She’s worried I’ll freeze to death?”

Sebastian flicked her forehead.

Stephanie winced, quickly covering her head, silent in her submission. Sebastian's tone softened slightly. “What happened three years ago truly worried her. But what about you? Why haven't I seen anyone from the Hart family? And Chris Hart?”