I was on my way to pick up my son from school when I got a call from his teacher.

“Mrs. Corleone, you don’t need to come. Your husband — the one who’s been missing for five years — just picked up your son from school.”

My chest tightened with unease, and I quickly corrected her.

“Teacher, you must be mistaken. My boy's dad in Sicily on business. Where is this ‘other husband’ coming from?”

After a short pause on the phone, the teacher spoke again.

“Mr. Corleone said you don’t have to lie. He said he won’t kick you out of the Corleone family, since you gave him a son after you ran away from the wedding.”

“You only have to give your position as his wife to the woman who saved his life.”

I rolled my eyes.

Deliberately raising my voice, I sent a voice message to his uncle.

“Darling, come home immediately! Your nephew is back and trying to take our son!”

Then I heard a crash on the other end.

My fiancé, who had been dead for five years, unexpectedly came back to life.

Not only did he return with a delicate-looking woman, but he also wanted me to give up my position as his wife willingly.

“Cecilia sacrificed her virginity to save me. I’ve already promised to marry her. If you sign the divorce papers quietly, I’ll let you continue living in the manor.”

I spoke calmly, my tone completely unruffled.

“Actually, I’m already married to someone else.”

Leo Corleone let out a scornful laugh, as if he’d heard the most ridiculous joke ever.

“Stop being stubborn. Everyone in the mafia knows you loved me so deeply that you lost all dignity for me. I was gone five years. No way you married someone else."

But I wasn't that pathetic girl anymore. The one who gave him everything.

"I have no reason to lie to you," I said again. "I'm married."

"Cut the act!" Leo shot me a contemptuous glance and sneered. "Aurora, I’m not here to ask for your opinion. I’m here to inform you. Whether you agree or not, I will marry Cecilia!"

Cecilia chimed in, her voice all timid, eyes getting red.

"I'm sorry... this is all my fault. Leo, maybe I shouldn't have come back. I should just go back to my town, stop bothering you..."

She said it like she was letting go, but her fingers were clamped onto the sleeve of his suit.

The look she shot me was full of defiance. Ambition.

Pathetic acting. Only a fucking idiot like Leo would fall for that crap.

"Cecilia," Leo grabbed her hand, his voice so gentle I almost didn't recognize it. "I gave you my word. I'm not going back on it."

"Aurora always does what I say. She won't be a problem for our wedding."

I was about to laugh in his face, but he cut me off.

"Listen to me, Aurora! You've been squatting in my house long enough since I 'died'!”

“Cecilia is the real lady of this house now!You will make room for Cecilia!”

“If it weren't for the fact that you've waited for me for five years, I wouldn't waste a single word on you and would have thrown you out of this estate myself!"

I felt nothing. I almost wanted to laugh.

This loser had no right to throw me out.

Besides, what makes him think I’d wait for him for five years?

The day he abandoned me, I already gave up waiting for him.

My mind flashed back five years. A bloody afternoon.

I stood at the altar in my wedding dress, waiting to say my vows to Leo.

But he fled the wedding.

He was ambushed by a rival family on his way to elope.

His car exploded. They said there was nothing left to bury.

My family was losing its grip. We needed this marriage alliance to survive.

And Leo was the man my father had hand-picked for the job.

He could dishonor the Corleone name. I couldn't.

Besides, he wasn't the only man in his family.

For five years, I’ve been a wife. A mother.

If he hadn't come back suddenly, I would have forgotten all about him long ago.

So when we met again after all these years, I felt nothing.

“Let me make this perfectly clear, Leo. You and I have no legal connection.”

“By Family law, after five years missing, you were disinherited. Officially declared dead.”

“So, who you marry now is no concern of mine.”

Leo let out a mocking laugh, shaking his head.

“Aurora, that word should be coming from me. If it wasn't for this goddamn marriage alliance, why the hell would I have been in hiding for five years?”

“That car crash was the perfect escape..”

I stared at him.

I suddenly remembered the bodyguard who "escaped" with Leo.

He came back, said the car exploded and went off the bridge. Leo died instantly.

I thought it was strange then. If the explosion was that bad, how did the bodyguard get out clean?

Now I knew. The whole thing was a setup by this coward.

"Leo, you—"

"Sir!" A panicked voice cut me off.

Antonio, the head butler, rushed in. He saw Leo and his face went white.

"Sir, you cannot speak to the Madame that way!" he stammered, horrified. "She is the Don's wife! The sitting Don!"

He raised an amused eyebrow, looking from me to the terrified butler.

“The Don's wife?”

Cecilia beside me asked in a feigned innocent tone.

“Leo, didn't you say that once your father stepped down, he would pass the title of Don to you?

Leo's expression froze for a moment, then he looked at me indifferently.

“My father has only one son, and no one else is qualified to inherit the title of Don besides me.”

“Antonio, have you gone senile in the five years I’ve been away? Everyone in New York knows I am the one true heir to the Corleone bloodline.”

Antonio looked even paler, his voice shaking. "Sir, you... you misunderstand. The Madame is married to Don Cassiano. He is the head of the Corleone family now."

After Leo fled the wedding that day, I stood blankly in the church, surrounded by mocking stares from everyone around.

Just when I thought I would die of shame, the heavy cathedral doors swung open.

Cassiano walked in.

He wore a black, custom-tailored suit, his face as cold and hard as a marble sculpture.

“The wedding will proceed,” his voice was low, leaving no room for argument. “I will marry her.”

No one dared to question him. No one dared to object.

Because he was Cassiano Corleone. Leo’s uncle. The true power of the Family.

He saved my dignity. He saved my life.

If that's the case, why wouldn't I marry?

“I’ll admit, Aurora, it’s a clever move. But using my Uncle Cassiano as your shield? That killing machine who doesn’t even touch women? You really think I’m going to fall for that?”

Antonio kept persuading him: "Sir, this is the truth. You can check the news on social media, or ask the maids in the household if you still doubt it."

Leo turned to the other trembling servants. “And you all want to tell me,that this woman is now your mistress, hmm?”

The servants didn't dare look up. One maid whispered, her voice shaking, “…Yes, sir. The Donna… she is married to Don Cassiano.”

Another servant nodded as well.

Leo’s smile vanished from his face, replaced by the cold fury of a man who feels he’s been played for a fool.

He didn’t shout. His voice dropped to a low, dangerous growl. “Good. Very good. It seems everyone in this estate has learned to act in the five years I’ve been gone.”

“Aurora, your methods have gotten cheaper. Not only did you cook up this ridiculous excuse, but you paid off the entire staff to play along with this little charade to trick me?”

I calmly admired my diamond-studded nails, not even bothering to spare him a glance.

I was the Don’s woman. That was an unbreakable law.

Whether he believed it or not was completely irrelevant.

Leo was spoiled since childhood, and Antonio feared he might do something irrational，hastily ordered one of his men:

"Get a message to the Don!Tell him to abort the deal and get back to the estate. Now!"

Cassiano went to Sicily today, closing a heavy arms deal.

The old Don and his mother are not in the manor.

If they were here, Leo wouldn't have the balls to pull this crap.

Right in the middle of the standoff, a little voice called from the stairs.

"Mama, it's time for my target practice!"

The moment Leo laid eyes on Nico, his eyes blazed with rage.

Because Nico looks exactly like me, a perfect miniature version of myself.

Leo’s gaze darted back and forth between me and Nico.

After a long moment, he pointed a trembling finger at me:

"Aurora, how dare you betray me and even have a bastard child."

"Tell me, whose bastard is this?"

Nico had inherited his father’s temperament. Young as he was, he knew full well that the word "bastard" was vile and offensive.

Nico just shot back, “Who are you calling a bastard? My father always says those with a filthy mouth deserve a good lesson.”

"Watch your mouth, or Papa will have your tongue."

That made Leo's face even uglier.

Cecilia saw her chance and threw gas on the fire. "Leo, look... the child looks old enough to be in school. Could Aurora have been pregnant before she married you?"

That was all it took for the paranoid Leo to completely lose it.

The one thing a man can never tolerate is his wife’s infidelity, especially when she is the very woman who swears she loves him.

He pointed a shaking finger at me and screamed, "Aurora! You cheating whore! "

I spoke calmly: "Nico is four years old."

"Sir!" Antonio tried desperately to explain. "Master Nico is Don Cassiano's son! "

"Shut up! ”Leo was not listening to a word. “You’re still covering for Aurora and lying to me. Where are my parents? Who let her be so brazen? She cheated, yet she acts as if she’s in the right!"

“The old Don and your mother know everything.”

At these words, Leo’s fury flared completely.

His eyes were bloodshot.

"Who is the father of this bastard? I think he’s begging to die!"

I let out a sarcastic laugh.

Cecilia pretended to plead. "Aurora, you've been caught. Just confess. Tell us who the real father is, and Leo will forgive you."

I stared at the wannabe saint. "Drop the innocent act."

The words had barely left my mouth when Leo, blinded by humiliation, suddenly raised his hand and slapped me hard across the face.

CRACK!

“Aurora! You cheating whore,dare to reprimand Cecilia?

A sharp pain exploded across my face. I tasted blood.

Seeing his mother get hit, Nico launched himself at Leo's leg like a furious wolf cub.

His small fists hammered against Leo, weak but filled with the same ferocity as his father, Cassiano.

"You touch my mama," Nico screamed, "and I'll beat you to death."