Expired Vows: The Don Won't Let Go

Lorenzo laughed as if he had just heard the funniest joke of his life. The corner of his mouth twisted with derision.

"You played the obedient wife for years, only to find it doesn't work on me. Now you're trying the retreat-to-advance trick?"

He took a long drag from his cigar and exhaled slowly. "Sofia, are you threatening me with divorce? Be careful, or you'll burn yourself and come crawling back to me."

His eyes sharpened.

"Now, go fetch Maria's dress and that necklace. Serve her properly, and I'll pretend I didn't hear a thing," he ordered. "Otherwise… there might be a new addition to the city's riverbed."

I let out a slow breath and spoke up, my voice calm and unshakeable. "I'm not playing games, Lorenzo. I'm done. Sign the papers, and I'll disappear from your sight."

Maria suddenly teared up, her eyes filled with feigned emotion. "Don Nostra, your wife must still be upset with me. Look how hard she's trying. Maybe I should skip the banquet. You should bring her instead. It might help calm things down."

Lorenzo's expression faltered, and he struck me again.

He snatched the papers, tore them to shreds without even looking at them, and tossed the pieces at my face.

"So you're just jealous and want to go to the banquet with me?"

He let out a cold laugh and looked me up and down with open contempt. "Do you ever stop to think about who you are? Someone like you, standing beside me in public? What a joke. Bringing you to a formal event would humiliate the entire family.

"Sofia, get it through your head. Someone like you doesn't belong anywhere except in this house, serving people. Nothing more. Don't even imagine it."

"I never said I wanted to go with you. I just—"

"Basta!" he snapped, loud enough for the guards in the hall to hear. "Are you still arguing with me after being caught? I've never met a woman as pathetic as you. Did you forget how you begged to stay? How you grovelled for years? And now you want a divorce? Don't make me laugh!"

He wrapped an arm around Maria's waist. His voice turned sweet. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's find you something to wear. You're the star tonight."

He shot me one last look and said, "As for a certain someone, her only worth is to lick your shoes."

Maria leaned into him, pretending to be embarrassed. "Oh, don't say that, Don Nostra. Your wife might get hurt."

"A housekeeper should know her place," he replied with a scoff.

As they walked out, Maria glanced back. She gave me a slow, triumphant smile. She mouthed, "Don't worry, Mrs. Nostra. I'll take very good care of him."

The moment they were gone, I turned and began packing.

Five years of humiliation were finally over.

Just then, my phone rang.

"Ms. Sofia," Riccardo Alessi said when I answered. He was the Don of another powerful family, a man who valued my skill as a designer. "We still have details to finalize. I'm at the Doncretti family's ballroom. Can you meet me here?"

I set aside the clothes in my hands and replied, "I'm on my way."

After changing into a couture gown that made my identity as a designer unmistakable, I entered the chandelier-lit ballroom and immediately bumped into Lorenzo.

He had his back to me. One of his arms was around Maria as he chatted with several Consiglieri.