"THREE TIMES" Nicoletta's voice was a venomous whisper, "three times you thought you could snuff out my life, and now you're reduced to begging for scraps of mercy?" Her eyes locked onto Astrid's, the gaze a glacial chill that seemed to freeze the very air around them. With a detached curiosity, Nicoletta studied Astrid's desperation, her expression a mask of calculated cruelty.
As she gazed at the woman who had tried to kill her, Nicoletta's thoughts turned to the Frenchman who had once set her world ablaze – Julien De La Roche. Nicoletta's lips curled into a cold, mirthless smile as she recalled the way Julien's charm had been nothing more than a tool, a means to an end. The memories of their time in Italy were nothing but ash and dust now, a reminder of the naivety that had almost cost her everything.
"You're not even worthy of my pity," Nicoletta's voice dripped with contempt, her words slicing through Astrid's pleas like a razor-sharp blade. "You're a pathetic, used-up relic, clinging to the hope that I might spare your miserable life. You took my sister from me, Astrid. You took Sofia's life, and now you'll pay for it. You'll suffer, Astrid. You'll suffer in ways you never thought possible. And I'll be the one to watch you writhe, to savor every moment of your agony."
With a slow, deliberate movement, Nicoletta's hand reached out, her fingers closing around Astrid's throat like a vice. "The Italian sun will set on your life, Astrid," Nicoletta's voice was a cold, calculated whisper, "and I'll be the one to snuff out the light. Without a flicker of remorse. Without a hint of mercy. You'll die knowing that you destroyed a part of me, and now I'm destroying you."
Nicoletta's eyes gleamed with a malevolent intensity as she vowed to dismantle every aspect of Astrid's life. She would strip away her wealth, her status, and her influence, leaving her a hollow shell of the woman she once was. Astrid's husband, once a pillar of respectability, would be dragged through the mud, his reputation torn apart by the very hands that once held him in such high esteem.
But Nicoletta's ultimate target was Julien, Astrid's beloved son. She would watch as Astrid's world crumbled around her, as she was forced to witness the destruction of everything she held dear. And when the time was right, Nicoletta would deliver the final blow, extinguishing the last spark of hope in Astrid's heart as she took Julien's life, just as Astrid had taken Nicoletta's young sis Adriana.
The air seemed to thicken with anticipation as Nicoletta's grip tightened around Astrid's throat, the promise of a slow and agonizing death hanging precariously in the balance. "You'll watch as everything you love is reduced to ashes," Nicoletta's voice dripped with venom, "and you'll be powerless to stop it."