Chapter 4

Sofia lowered her head shyly, a faint blush spreading across her cheeks, while Damiano remained completely oblivious to the way everyone around them was looking at the two of them.

We crossed paths outside the entrance of the Valenti family's private medical center.

She was still in his arms.

I intended to walk past them without saying a word, but Sofia shifted uncomfortably against his chest, her face flushing an even deeper shade of pink.

"Damiano... you can put me down now."

He frowned.

"The doctor said your back needs to rest. Stop moving."

Only then did he notice me.

"What are you doing here?" His brows knit together. "Are you sick?"

I raised the paper bag containing my medication.

"I've been having trouble sleeping."

For a moment, he didn't speak.

Then he said quietly, "I'll have someone bring fresh lavender to the villa. Put it beside your bed. It might help."

It almost sounded like concern.

He looked as though he wanted to say something else.

Before he could, Sofia suddenly winced and instinctively grabbed the front of his shirt.

At that exact moment, the lights throughout the hospital flickered violently.

The entire building lurched.

A deafening explosion echoed somewhere outside, followed almost immediately by the piercing scream of the emergency alarm.

Then everything went dark.

The backup generators hadn't kicked in.

Every light inside the corridor went out at once.

Someone shouted that the estate's main power station had been attacked.

Another voice barked orders for all security personnel to take defensive positions.

My breathing caught in my throat.

Before I even realized what I was doing, I had crouched against the cold marble wall, my entire body trembling uncontrollably.

I had always been terrified of darkness.

Ever since I was kidnapped as a child by one of our family's enemies and locked inside a shipping container for nearly three days, I couldn't bear being trapped in unlit spaces.

Damiano knew that better than anyone.

"Viviana?"

His voice echoed somewhere nearby.

"Viviana..."

"Are you okay?"

"I..."

My voice shook so badly I could barely force the word out.

Silence followed.

Then I heard him speak again.

"Sofia, let me put you down for a second. Viviana's afraid of—"

Before he could finish, Sofia clutched him tighter.

"But I'm scared too, Damiano."

Her voice trembled pitifully.

"Please don't leave me."

After that...

He never called my name again.

Every gentle reassurance.

Every quiet promise.

Every comforting word.

They were all meant for Sofia.

I wrapped my arms around my knees, my palms damp with cold sweat as I struggled to steady my breathing.

This wasn't the first time.

Years ago, Damiano and I had been caught in the middle of a gunfight during a meeting between the Valenti family and a rival syndicate.

An explosion had collapsed part of the underground tunnel beneath the old winery where negotiations were taking place.

The emergency lights had failed.

We'd been trapped in absolute darkness.

Back then, fear had stolen my voice.

I could only shake helplessly.

Damiano had pulled me against his chest without hesitation.

He'd wrapped his suit jacket around my shoulders, even though it was soaked with dust and blood.

He'd spent hours talking to me, stroking my hair, keeping me calm until the rescue team finally dug us out.

Just...

As he was comforting Sofia now.

"Damiano..."

The darkness weakened every wall I had spent months building around my heart.

Warm tears slid silently down my face.

For one foolish second...

I wished he'd come back.

Instead, I heard his quiet voice.

"Sofia's injured."

The tiny spark of hope inside me disappeared.

I lowered my head and waited silently until the generators finally roared back to life.

One by one, the lights flickered on.

When the elevators resumed operating and the security lockdown was lifted, I walked out of the hospital without looking back.

**

Even after returning to the villa, my heartbeat refused to settle.

My mother had already sent several encrypted files through the Vitale family's private communication network.

Each contained a different wedding gown commissioned for my marriage to Leonardo.

I couldn't bring myself to open any of them.

Instead, I sat beside the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the afternoon sunlight slowly crawl across the hardwood floor.

It wasn't until evening that Damiano finally came home.

He carried a bundle of fresh lavender in one hand and a takeout box from my favorite restaurant in the other.

"I brought dinner."

I opened the container.

Inside was creamy lobster bisque.

For several long seconds, I simply stared at it.

Damiano had forgotten.

I'd developed a severe shellfish allergy when I was eight years old.

Even a few bites would leave my body covered in painful hives.

Only then did he notice my silence.

A trace of embarrassment crossed his face.

"I forgot."

He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"You haven't eaten yet."

"Go ahead while it's still hot."

I lowered my eyes.

Without saying a word, I picked up the spoon and slowly finished every last mouthful.

Not long afterward, angry red welts spread across my neck and arms.

I pretended not to notice.

"Come home for dinner tomorrow."

My voice remained calm.

"It's your birthday."

He looked genuinely surprised.

After a brief silence, he nodded.

"I'll be back."

I quietly stood and retrieved my allergy medication from the cabinet.

Cooking had never been my greatest talent.

The only dish Damiano had ever sincerely praised was the handmade pasta I prepared for him every year on his birthday, following an old Vitale family recipe my grandmother had taught me.

That night, however, no matter how many times I started over, I couldn't get it right.

Every batch fell apart.

Rather than throw them away, I ate them myself.

As darkness settled over the villa, I watched the hands of the antique clock inch toward midnight.

I'd already made my decision.

Once Damiano came home and finished his birthday dinner...

I'd leave.

This time...

Forever.

But he never returned.

Instead, my phone vibrated.

A message from Damiano appeared.

Sofia burned her hand making dinner. I'm taking her back to the hospital.

Don't wait up. Eat first.

His lies...

Had never been particularly convincing.

I quietly opened another encrypted file someone inside the Valenti family had anonymously sent me earlier that evening.

A video began to play.

Damiano and Sofia stood side by side before a lavish birthday dinner inside one of the family's private restaurants.

Candles flickered across the table.

Someone cheered as Sofia fed him the first slice of cake.

Beneath the table, their fingers remained intertwined.

Both of them were smiling.

My phone vibrated again.

Viviana?

Another message from Damiano.

Did you see my text?

I closed my eyes.

Then I typed my reply.

It's fine.

Take your time.

After sending the message, I emptied the untouched birthday dinner into the trash.

Damiano no longer loved me.

Perhaps letting him go would finally free us both.

I picked up the luggage I'd packed days earlier and quietly walked out of the villa.

Before leaving the Valenti estate, I uploaded every photograph, every surveillance clip, and every security recording that documented Damiano's growing intimacy with Sofia onto the family's encrypted internal network—a system accessible to every captain, consigliere, and blood relative within the organization.

If I was leaving...

I wouldn't leave quietly.

When my car finally crossed the heavily guarded gates of the estate, I sent Damiano one last message.

Happy birthday.

After a long pause, I typed two final words.

Goodbye, Damiano.

I never mentioned canceling our engagement.

After seven years together, we'd never legally registered our marriage, never exchanged vows before either family, and never signed the alliance contract that would've united our two Mafia dynasties.

There was nothing left to dissolve.

Not even the two children I'd given up because he'd insisted the timing wasn't right had ever changed that.

I was about to block his number forever.

Before I could press the button, my phone lit up.

Damiano Valenti calling...