Episode 5

"How infuriating, Mary!" Stella fumed with rage in her room. "Did Angelina really have to show up at the end of dinner and steal all the attention for herself?!"

"Your sister has always been like that, Stella. I don't know why it still bothers you."

Even as the girls grew older, Mary continued to work in the family's penthouse. Now a housekeeper, she remained supportive and even encouraged Stella’s mean-spirited antics towards Angelina.

"Father didn't like it when I mentioned she was adopted, but I did it so everyone would know her place in this house. I am the sole heiress, the firstborn daughter." Stella was so malicious and negative that the air around her seemed to grow heavy.

"You did right, dear, but be careful when mentioning that. You can't ruin your father’s plans and he intends to marry Angelina off to someone very powerful. You do realize that most of the important mafia leaders are older men, right?" Mary asked, full of spite.

"It’s pointless being that beautiful and then being forced to marry some disgusting old man." Stella smiled as she imagined her sister’s fate.

"That’s assuming she’s still a virgin." Mary reminisced. "Otherwise, your father would have to send her off to the same brothel where he found her mother." Mary suddenly fell quiet, realizing she had said too much.

"Angelina's mother was a prostitute in a brothel?" Stella's eyes looked as if they might pop out of their sockets from shock at the new information. "What do you mean, Mary?"

"I've said too much. I shouldn't be talking about this." Mary moved to the exit of Stella's room. "I still have many things to organize tonight."

"Now that you've started, you’re going to have to continue." Stella said, preventing Mary from leaving the room.

Hesitant, Mary looked at Stella, unsure whether to share the story. Part of it was staff gossip and there was no way to confirm it.

"Well, I'll tell you everything I know. It's important so you don't think you're the sole blood heir of your father because Angelina is indeed his biological daughter." Mary took a deep breath and began to reveal everything she knew. "As soon as Angelina was born, her mother died in childbirth, and your father brought her here to be raised, as she had no other relatives. I was already your nanny at that time, and I recall Mrs. Olivia being quite disappointed with her husband, but she fell in love with the child instantly. Angelina was such a beautiful baby, she looked like an angel." The nanny smiled, remembering that moment, and Stella rolled her eyes impatiently.

"Even you, Mary?!" She exclaimed jealously.

"Calm down, Stella, you know you're my favorite, but I can't deny that Angelina has always been beautiful." Mary replied, continuing the story. "Until then, everyone thought the girl wasn’t Mr. Joseph's daughter and that he was merely being charitable by adopting her. However, when she turned five, she fell ill and ended up in the hospital for quite some time."

"I remember that. I was upset because mother practically abandoned me at home to be with Angelina in the hospital continuously."

"What you don't know is that Angelina needed a blood donation and due to her special blood condition, she could only receive it from a close relative. Being her father, Mr. Joseph was the donor."

"So, the wretch is not only adopted but also a bastard?!" Stella exclaimed, shocked. "The living proof of my father's infidelities. How could my mother accept Angelina in this house?"

Stella knew that Joseph was not a man faithful to Olivia, and she tolerated everything with considerable anguish, but Stella could never imagine that her mother had to live every day with the living proof of her husband's betrayals and still have affection and love for Angelina.

"I know no better person in the world than Mrs. Olivia, Stella. Like I said, she fell in love with Angelina the moment she saw that tiny, innocent baby."

"So Angelina's mother was a brothel prostitute?!" Stella whispered sarcastically. "Like mother, like daughter. She wants all the men for herself. It's in the blood. Do you know which brothel she worked in or what her name was?"

"That part is just gossip. No one knows who Angelina's mother was." Mary said, concluding the story. "And you shouldn't be interested in that. Your parents would not be pleased at all if they knew I told you this."

"Of course, she was a prostitute, Mary! Have you ever seen a decent woman get involved with a married man?" Stella laughed. "Father has always been wealthy and well-known in society. He had been married to my mother for two years already. It's nearly impossible that any woman in this city didn’t know who he was and that he was married!" Stella spoke in an eager tone, already devising various ways to harm Angelina with this information.

"Back then, there was a very beautiful girl working at the Red brothel. Many important mafia leaders took part in an auction for her first night." Mary began to remember. "All the mafia wives knew about this young woman, but I can't say she was Angelina's mother... Let's drop this topic. Take your bath and go to sleep." Mary left thereafter, leaving Stella alone in her room.

Contented with the new information about her sister, Stella contemplated how she would use it at the right time against Angelina. Being an adopted child elicits feelings of compassion and kindness from other women, but being a bastard is different. A bastard child is always the result of an extramarital affair, and no one would look upon that kindly.

Not only did Angelina have a reputation for being flirtatious, but now people would also know that she was a bastard. Stella knew that her sister had never really done anything wrong. Plenty of boys were after her, but it was always nothing more than innocent flirting. However, out of pure envy and jealousy, Stella took pleasure in speaking ill of her sister and amplifying the rumors about her.

All this completely contradicted Joseph's interests, who desperately wanted to keep the information about Angelina's mother a secret, for knowing she was a bastard would make it difficult to secure a good marriage for his youngest daughter. She might be beautiful, but the family traditions in the mafia were paramount.