For days, my life had become nothing but packing, sorting, and stripping away every trace of a love that had already died. I had my uncle Salvatore handle the legal end of selling my properties through a chain of intermediaries who knew how to move holdings without drawing attention from the Family or the Feds. One by one, I began letting go of everything Domenico ever gave me. The cars were signed back through front companies. The jewels went into a lockbox Salvatore would liquidate. Even the house that once symbolized our future, the estate Domenico had put in my name as a blood-promise gift, I was preparing to dissolve.

Every gift that had once felt like devotion now felt like chains I wanted nothing more than to shatter.

Ginevra's belongings were gathered too. I couldn't stomach the thought of her clothes and trinkets lying around my home as if she belonged here. Some were boxed and sent to the compound. Others, I simply had thrown out. The house smelled of dust and detergent, but at least it was mine again, even if only for a short while longer.

I was wiping down the table in the living room when I heard voices. Domenico's voice, low and careless, drifting from the back terrace where he thought I couldn't hear. I froze, the cloth in my hand damp and shaking.

"Mom, I heard you, okay?" His tone was sharp, irritated. "It doesn't matter if she doesn't want to marry me. So what? I don't care. She'll surely beg for it soon, so let her be dramatic."

My chest tightened.

"Who cares? Even if she's dead, I don't think I'd care about her funeral. I regret promising her the wedding. I was wrong."

The words hit me like blades. My knees almost buckled beneath me, but I gripped the table for balance. That. Those words. That was my last straw. After everything, after twenty years of loyalty, love, sacrifice, to him, my life, my death, my very existence was meaningless. I was nothing. Less than nothing. Less than the code, less than the debt he owed Ginevra, less than the dust on the floor of the back room where he made his deals.

I dropped the rag on the table and walked straight to the door. I didn't even care if he saw me anymore.

But I didn't make it outside before Ginevra's voice screeched behind me. "What's going on here? Why are my things outside? Why are you throwing everything away?"

I turned slowly, my voice calm though my heart raged. "This is my house. I'll do as I please."

Her eyes widened, then welled up instantly with tears. Practiced tears, I thought bitterly. She looked like a child running to her protector when Domenico appeared in the doorway, his frame filling the space the way it always did. The house went quiet around him. Even the walls seemed to contract.

"What's happening here?" he demanded.

Ginevra burst into sobs, clutching his arm. "She's throwing me out!"

My face darkened. "Domenico, you gave me this house. That makes it mine, and I have every right to do whatever I want with it. If I say Ginevra has to leave, then she leaves."

His jaw tightened, his eyes blazing. "You think you can just use that against me? Don't forget who put you here in the first place. I gave you this house, Serafina. Not so you could throw your tantrums and drive out whoever I let in."

I straightened, unflinching. "This isn't a tantrum. This is me taking back what's mine. If you want her here so badly, then fine. You can both leave. I don't want either of you under my roof."

Domenico's expression darkened further, his voice a low growl. "Are you acting this way because you think my mother will back you up? You think her favor gives you power?" He let out a bitter laugh and shook his head. "Pathetic. Fine. Ginevra's leaving anyway. I already bought her a bigger place."

My eyes flicked to Ginevra. Her tears evaporated instantly, replaced by a sly, triumphant smile. She ran her finger along the rim of the water glass she'd been holding, a slow deliberate circle that picked up speed. "You did?" she asked sweetly, feigning surprise.

"Yes," Domenico said with finality.

Ginevra's mask slipped into a polite smile, and she turned to me. "I'm sorry for overstaying here," she said, her voice dripping with false sincerity. She even stepped forward and hugged me, as if I would believe her act of gratitude.

But her whisper burned against my ear: "I'm leaving with him. I won't ever let him come back to you again."

I closed my eyes briefly, then pulled back, my face unreadable. "Do as you want," I said coldly. Then I looked directly at Domenico. "Go ahead. Get married. I'm settling with another man anyway."

His laughter exploded in the room. "You? Don't joke with me, Serafina. What man would want you after knowing you've been with me for twenty years? You think anyone would accept a woman like that?"

I met his mockery with silence, though my heart thundered with pain and fury. He would never know. He would never understand the worth of the woman who had given him her youth, her loyalty, her everything.

Domenico smirked as though he'd won. "Anyway, I'll be back once I let Ginevra settle in. We'll talk then. Especially since tomorrow is our scheduled ceremony at the courthouse, so you would shut your mouth already about us not getting married."

Before I could even respond, Ginevra suddenly covered her mouth dramatically. "Domenico, I feel sick. I think I'm going to vomit."

His entire attention snapped back to her, panic flashing in his eyes. At that moment, I disappeared to him completely, just as I always did when she was near.

I turned, opened the door, and stepped outside. The air was cool, the sky already dimming into the evening. Somewhere beyond the property wall, I could hear the low idle of an enforcer's car on perimeter watch. Even the guards answered to him. Even the night answered to him. My heart was heavier than ever, but inside me, a strange clarity formed.

Enough.

There's no wedding.

Tomorrow, I will leave. Tomorrow, I will end this cycle of humiliation and betrayal once and for all.

I packed through the night, every piece of clothing folded with numb fingers, every drawer emptied with a quiet, deliberate finality. No more ceremony. No more photo albums of false promises. Each item tossed into a box felt like shedding another chain. My fingers found the hollow of my throat, pressing against the bare skin where the saint's medallion used to hang. The skin was smooth and cool. Nothing there. Nothing left.

When I finally sat down, the silence of the house pressed against me. My phone buzzed on the table. Domenico.

What do you want?

I'm coming home tonight. I'll make it up to you and the promised wedding. Tell me, Serafina. What do you want?

My lips curved into a humorless smile. What I wanted? He couldn't give me what I wanted anymore. Respect, loyalty, truth. He never could. But he would understand this one last request.

I typed slowly, each word steady, final.

Bring me a blueberry cheesecake.

Not long after, another message came in. Not Domenico this time. Donatella. His mother.

I managed to convince him to actually go through with the wedding tomorrow. Maybe that would make you stay. If not… then at least let me help you leave. For all the things my son has done, let me be the one to make it right.

I stared at the message until my vision blurred. My chest tightened, not with love, but with the cruel ache of wasted years. Donatella was trying to clean up the wreckage Domenico left behind, but it was too late.

The cake, the wedding, his sudden desperation. All nothing but ashes.

Tomorrow, I would walk away. Not just from Domenico, not just from Ginevra, not just from this compound that had been both a palace and a prison. But from the girl who once believed in promises that turned to poison.

Tomorrow, I would leave everything.

I typed back with trembling fingers.

Nothing could change my mind anymore. I'm sorry, but thank you…

For a long time after pressing send, I just sat there, staring at the screen, waiting for the impossible. Waiting for him to walk through the door, waiting for footsteps that never came. Outside, the compound was silent. The soldiers on perimeter rotation passed the window at intervals, their shadows marking the hours better than any clock.

The hours dragged. Midnight came and went. Still, no Domenico.

My phone lit up at dawn. A message from him.

Ginevra needed me. She fractured her legs while cleaning and moving things. Don't worry, tomorrow we'll see each other at the ceremony. I'll make it up to you on the honeymoon.

I didn't even realize I was laughing until I felt the burn of tears on my cheeks. Ginevra was always the reason. Always her pain, her needs, her place beside him, while I was left with promises as brittle as glass.

That afternoon, Enzio arrived at my door, holding a white box. He placed both hands flat on the table, palms down, fingers spread, before setting the box gently upon it. He bowed. "From Don Domenico, Signora."

My heart stuttered. For one foolish second, I thought maybe, just maybe, he remembered. That he had listened. That he had brought my real favorite because he remembered us. Because he remembered me.

I opened the box. The scent hit me instantly. Blueberry.

I froze. My throat tightened as the truth sank in. He hadn't remembered me at all. I had always been allergic to blueberries. It was Ginevra who loved blueberries. Ginevra who devoured it every chance she got.

I just told him in case… hoping. But I stood there, staring at it, the final nail in the coffin of our years together. That was the last straw. Whatever hope still lingered inside me shattered clean through.

My phone buzzed again. This time, it wasn't Domenico.

"Serafina," Salvatore's deep, steady voice came through. "Everything is ready. I'll be waiting at the airstrip. Don't be late."

I closed my eyes, inhaling slowly as if to anchor myself. My fingers found the bare skin at the hollow of my throat, pressing against the place where the saint's medallion used to hang. My hands trembled, but not from fear. From resolve. The chains Domenico bound me with had finally snapped.

"Alright," I whispered into the phone, my gaze fixed on the untouched cake. "I'll be there."

The next morning, as I prepared to leave, I heard voices in the hall. Enzio again, this time whispering hurriedly into his phone.

"…Yes, Don Domenico is planning to propose to Signorina Ginevra later this evening. Everything is ready. And make sure that Signorina Serafina would never know about this. After all, the ceremony is gonna be fake."

My breath hitched, then escaped in a sharp laugh. A bitter, broken sound that echoed off the walls.

So this was it. Every promise, every vow, every touch, all lies. The ceremony, the future he painted, nothing but a performance while he gave his heart to someone else.

A hollow ache spread in my chest. Fool. That's what I'd been. Twenty years wasted on love that never existed. I should have left long before Ginevra, before betrayal carved me hollow.

But now… I wasn't broken. I was free. Once everything turns to ashes, there's nothing left to fear.

I walked out of that compound, my prison, my battlefield, my graveyard, and didn't look back.

At the gates, a voice called out. Nico, one of Domenico's old associates, the kind who had always hovered at Sunday dinners and Family gatherings, suddenly appeared, rushing toward me.

"Where are you going, Serafina? Wait, are you leaving? I thought today would be your special day with Domenico. That is why he asked me to come…" He looked stunned, laughing a beat too late, as though he couldn't quite believe I was truly leaving.

"Actually, it's his special day with Ginevra. I am marrying someone else."

His eyes widened. "You're really marrying someone else? Does Domenico know? Wait, what is happening?"

At the mention of Domenico, my smile faded. The ache in my chest threatened to crush me, but I shook my head. "No. He won't know." I glanced at the time. "It's late. I have to leave now. Tell Domenico my greetings."

I slid into the car, closed the door, and as it pulled away, the Valente compound shrank behind me.

Just as we reached the gates, another car passed ours. For the briefest moment, I saw Domenico's silhouette behind the wheel. He was gripping something small in his hand, something that gleamed faintly in the morning light. A ring box. A proposal for Ginevra, it seemed, as I would be left alone for the third time. But I refused.

I turned my head away, pressing my palm to my stomach as if to hold myself together.

He and Ginevra would never be separated again… as I finally had my freedom.