After returning to the villa, I went straight to the bedroom upstairs, intending to pack a few coats. But then, I discovered that the closet was filled with Liliana's clothes.

I looked around the room and saw that Liliana's belongings were scattered everywhere. There was her lipstick on the nightstand, and the sexy nightgown casually tossed onto the bed. Every corner of the room carried traces of her presence. There were strands of her bold curls beside my pillow.

For a moment, I couldn't even tell whose home this was. Giorgio had once promised that this home would forever belong to me. Only now did I realize that I had never truly belonged here.

My heart clenched tightly as waves of dull pain slowly spread through me. My eyes reddened as I shoved clothes haphazardly into my suitcase.

I dragged out the safe from beneath the bed. I had never opened it since we got married. Hence, a thick layer of dust had already gathered on its surface.

I opened the door and, with trembling hands, took out the divorce agreement. Giorgio had left his signature at the bottom of the page long ago.

It was bold and sharp, exactly the same as the signature he had used seven years ago when he bought me out of the underground auction house, no matter how much it cost him.

To repay him for saving my life, I had risked my life to pass along calls for help when he was trapped in a hotel. I had disguised myself as a dancer to seduce the Capo who controlled the outskirts. On top of that, I had helped him complete an assassination and eliminate traitors within the famiglia.

Once, I had even taken three bullets for him when he walked straight into an ambush. I had very nearly died in the emergency room that time.

And on the day Giorgio became the new Don, what I received was not another mission, but a family signet.

He had gently placed the signet in my palm and said, "Bella, I have a new mission for you. It is one that will take us a lifetime to complete together. Are you willing to do it?"

It should have been the moment my dream came true, yet I was trembling with fear.

The gap between us was far too great. I had been afraid that happiness would disappear in an instant and that Giorgio was only acting on impulse. I was even more afraid that he would one day grow tired of me, and I wouldn't even have any way of getting out of our union.

But Giorgio said nothing. On the night before our wedding, he simply tossed a few sheets of thin paper—the divorce agreement—to me.

He pulled me gently into his arms and ruffled my hair. "I love you, Bella. We're equals. I swear on my life that I'll never allow anyone to hurt you, including myself."

But only a year after we got married, he brought Liliana home and allowed her to humiliate me however she pleased. Every time I objected, all I got in return was Giorgio's increasingly impatient explanation.

"I'm just repaying the old Don's kindness. Why are you holding grudges against a child?" he said in exasperation.

The man who had once gone through life and death with me gradually drifted farther and farther away.

"Don Vitoriano."

Hearing the servants greeting him in the hallway, I quickly stuffed the divorce agreement into my inner pocket. I hastily grabbed my suitcase, preparing to leave.

Just as I opened the door, I saw Giorgio standing outside.

The moment his gaze landed on the suitcase by my side, his expression darkened instantly.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

Giorgio stood at the doorway, still wearing his black coat. The lingering irritation he had been suppressing ever since returning from the Darkcrow Club was evident from the faint frown on his face.

I tightened my grip on the suitcase handle and met his gaze unflinchingly. "I'm leaving this place."

He glanced at the suitcase by my feet and snapped as though he had finally run out of patience. "Bella, all this just because of that kiss tonight? I already told you. It was just a game!"

Just a game. Just childish behavior. Just fooling around.

Over the last seven years, Giorgio had always found countless excuses for Liliana and never held her accountable for anything.

I looked at him and suddenly felt that even arguing was meaningless now.

"It's not because of tonight. It's because I finally realized that my presence is unnecessary in this household." I removed the family signet from my finger and placed it in front of him.

Giorgio's gaze was trained on the signet instantly. It was the same signet he had personally put on my finger the day he became the new Don.

Back then, he had asked me to stand by his side. He had also promised that I would be his only wife.

But afterward, Liliana could push open our bedroom door in the middle of the night and sit on our bed wearing nothing but a nightgown. She could even order the kitchen to remove the dishes I liked and replace them with her favorites.

And Giorgio would always do nothing more than frown and tell me not to argue with her.

I spoke softly. "Do you know what people outside call her? They call her 'the Little Donna.' She looks more like the lady of this house than I do. She seems more like the one who will stand beside you in the future."

Giorgio clenched his jaw with displeasure, his voice turning dangerously low. "I never approved of that title."

I pushed the signet another inch toward him. "But you allowed her to get away with everything she did. If you can't bear to upset her even a tiny bit, then I'll leave. That way, you won't have to be conflicted as to who to side with anymore."

This time, Giorgio didn't refute me immediately. He only stared at the signet in silence for a long time. He stayed mum for so long that I almost thought he had accepted that I would be leaving.

But in the next second, he picked up the signet and held it firmly in his palm.

His voice was low and husky as he said, "Bella, I never thought of letting you leave."

I smiled faintly without saying anything.

Giorgio frowned hard at my response. He hated losing control, and he hated the feeling of anything slipping beyond his grasp.

I had loved him too much previously. I had been too obedient. In fact, I was like a familiar old possession that was bound to him and would never leave. So, he had never imagined that one day, I would stand before him calmly with a suitcase and tell him that I wanted to go.

"I'll make it up to you for tonight," he said.

He reached out and gripped my wrist. His hold wasn't painful, but it allowed no escape.

"Not just the anniversary, but also everything you've suffered before. I'll make it all up to you," Giorgio promised.

"Like how?" I questioned.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he found himself at a loss for words, which was uncharacteristic of him.

After a long pause, he finally spoke in a low voice. "Give me one night."

I had wanted to refuse. But upon seeing the rare tension in his eyes, I slowly released my grip on the suitcase.

It wasn't really forgiveness. I just wanted to see what the man I had loved for seven years could still offer in an attempt to keep me from leaving.

An hour later, the lights in the dining room came back on.

The candles on the long dining table had been replaced with the warm golden ones that I liked. The silverware had been polished spotless. Even the record player was playing the old song from our wedding night.

Giorgio had taken off his coat and stood by the table in only a black dress shirt. It was as though he had deliberately pushed aside every other matter for this occasion.

He pulled out a chair for me, his voice much gentler than usual. "Sit. No one will disturb us tonight."

I sat down and watched as the maids served the dishes one by one. But with each dish that was put onto the table, warmth gradually seeped away from my fingertips.

There was black truffle veal steak, pan-seared langoustines, saffron seafood risotto, and finally a butter cream cake topped with crushed hazelnuts.

Not a single dish was something I liked. Every one of them was food that Liliana had specifically requested whenever she came to the villa.

I stared wordlessly at the food for a long time—long enough that even Giorgio noticed something was wrong.

"Why aren't you eating?" he asked.

I didn't answer.

Instead, I looked up at the maid arranging the dishes nearby and inquired, "Who decided on tonight's menu?"

The maid's face turned pale as she lowered her head cautiously. "Donna Vitoriano, we just prepared the dishes as usual."

As usual.

So, even his attempt to make it up to me had merely followed the habits Liliana had left behind in this villa. It felt like my heart was slowly breaking apart into tiny fragments.

Giorgio followed my gaze, and his expression darkened as well.

But I no longer wanted to wait for his explanation.

I set down my knife and fork and said in a light voice, "Look, Giorgio. Even when you say you were making it up to me, what you prepared wasn't even meant for me."

The moment my words fell, the villa's doorbell rang.

The person standing outside the door was none other than Liliana. She held a large bouquet of white lilies in her arms, smiling brightly and innocently.

"Giorgio, I came to apologize to Bella," she chirped.

The moment I saw the flowers, my breathing hitched.

I was severely allergic to lily pollen. Giorgio knew that, which was why not a single white lily had appeared in this villa ever since we got married.

But now, Liliana stood before me carrying them openly in her arms.

Giorgio pulled a long face and asked sternly, "Who said you could bring those in here?"

Liliana seemed to suddenly realize her mistake.

She sounded aggrieved as she explained, "I didn't know. I just thought lilies complemented the romantic atmosphere of a wedding anniversary."

Feigning ignorance, she took another deliberate step forward.

The heavy scent of pollen rushed toward me. My throat tightened instantly, and my chest felt unbearably heavy.

I gripped the edge of the table, my voice hoarse and constricted as I forced out the words with great effort. "Take them away…"

Giorgio snatched the flowers from Liliana and threw them to a nearby maid.

"Throw them out! Call the doctor!" he commanded urgently.

But it was already too late. My vision blurred, and my ears rang. I couldn't even stand on my feet. Right before I lost consciousness, I felt Giorgio scoop me into his arms.

When I woke up again, the sky outside had already gone completely dark.

I was lying in bed. The needle marks were still visible on the back of my hand, and the air was thick with the smell of medicine.

Fragmented voices drifted in from outside the room.

Supporting myself, I walked to the door and realized it hadn't been fully closed. Someone had left a narrow crack. Only a single wall lamp was lit in the living room.

Liliana stood beside the liquor cabinet, her voice tinged with cruel mockery. "Gio, was it really necessary to get that angry at me for her sake? She's just some cheap woman you picked up from the underground auction house. Without you, she would've died long ago."

Giorgio stood in the shadows, his side profile cold and rigid. "Shut up. I told you not to talk about her like that."

Liliana laughed softly. "Am I wrong? A lowborn woman is still lowborn, even if she marries you. Padre only agreed to let you marry her because you promised him she would never give birth to an heir for the famiglia."

My fingers that were on the doorknob froze.

Liliana continued, as though she were determined to twist the knife deeper. "The only reason you were able to secure your position as Don was because Padre approved of you. He made it very clear that the future Donna had to come from a respectable background.

"A woman like Bella is only fit to stay by your side as a trophy wife. Why has she never gotten pregnant all these years? You know the answer to that question better than anyone. Weren't you the one who let her keep taking those 'health tonics' the family doctor delivered each month?"

I clamped a hand tightly over my mouth to stop myself from making a sound.

So, the reason I couldn't conceive wasn't that I was unhealthy—it was Giorgio.

The husband I had loved for seven years had personally destroyed my chance of becoming a mother.

I shuddered to imagine what would happen if I had insisted on telling Giorgio that I still had a chance of getting pregnant.

What would he have done? Would he have pretended nothing was wrong while secretly increasing the dosage of those "health tonics"? Or would he stage an "accident" to make me lose my uterus entirely?

A shiver ran down my spine.

The living room fell silent for a long time.

When Giorgio finally spoke again, his voice was hoarse and low. "That's enough. Get out."

But Liliana didn't leave. Instead, she stepped closer and adjusted his collar for him.

Her voice softened as she purred, "I'm just worried about you. You've already given her everything, but she still insists on leaving. She's not worthy of you at all."

Giorgio didn't respond.

Only the sound of ice clinking against the walls of a glass echoed through the room again and again. Then came the sound of hard liquor being swallowed.

No one knew how much time passed before a suppressed gasp suddenly came from the living room. Next, there came the sound of fabric rustling.

Liliana chuckled coquettishly. "Giorgio, stop drinking. You're drunk..."

In the next second, a man's heavy breathing pressed down and muffled her voice. The wet sound of lips and tongues smacking filled the air.

Then, there came the low, husky breaths I knew better than anyone. Those were the sounds Giorgio made only when he was aroused.

Leaning against the door, I felt cold all over. Through the slightly ajar door, I listened to my husband passionately kissing another woman on the very night I had barely survived an allergic shock.

I didn't continue listening. Turning around, I picked up the divorce agreement and threw on my coat. Quietly, I dragged my suitcase toward the door.

As I passed through the living room, the two people on the couch were practically glued together. Giorgio leaned back against the couch with his shirt collar pulled open. Liliana sat on his lap, her red lips trailing kisses down to his Adam's apple.

No one noticed me, and no one cared about me.

I gently placed the family signet onto the entryway cabinet before pushing open the villa's back door.

…

The sea breeze at the dock was freezing cold.

A black car was parked at the end of the pier. When the door opened, I saw a tall figure step out from the darkness.

The man said in a deep voice, "Bella, I came to take you home."

My eyes stung with unshed tears as I followed him into the car.

I gave the city behind me one last look. This was the place that held seven years of my love and endless waiting.

And now, it was all over.