Matteo Bellandi Buried the Wrong Woman

I was too tired to raise my voice. "This is not about Sofia. I just don't want this marriage anymore."

The crystal tumbler in Matteo's hand struck the table hard enough to crack.

"You lived with this for five years, so what changed tonight?"

He stared at me, then stood and reached for his coat. "We leave tomorrow, and I'm not doing this tonight."

The next morning, I still saw them before they left.

Not at a commercial airport, but at the private terminal Matteo used whenever he traveled with men, money, or secrets. Security moved luggage while the crew fueled the jet.

Sofia stood near the stairs in a fitted coat and dark glasses, one hand resting on a silver case of dive gear Matteo had bought for her. The second she saw me, she smiled.

"You know he came to my suite after midnight?" she asked lightly. "Said I shouldn't sleep alone before a flight. Did you two fight?"

"Then maybe you should keep him," I said, nudging Leo toward her. "Sounds like that's what you want."

She took it as surrender and looked delighted.

Matteo came back from speaking to one of his men, took Sofia's hand, and glanced at me.

"Send me your birthday wish," he said. "If it can be done, I'll make it happen."

But Leo was already pulling Sofia toward the jet. The three of them crossed the tarmac like a family I had no place in.

By the time I got home, I was burning with fever.

Half asleep, I dreamed of Matteo at twenty in our first apartment kitchen, testing the temperature of my medicine against his mouth before handing it to me.

"Elena," he said in the dream, "be good. Take it."

When I woke, my phone was vibrating.

"Why didn't you pack Leo's allergy medicine?" Matteo demanded. "You know the salt air sets him off."

"Yesterday, you said I didn't need to pack anything."

There was a pause, then his irritation rushed back. "Fine. Text me the name. You always manage to make things harder at the worst time."

When the call ended, I looked at the screen for a long time and finally let myself cry.

That was the moment it truly ended for me.

I sat down with my lawyer that afternoon and listed every account, property, holding company, and investment tied to our marriage. I did not ask for Leo's custody. Cruel as it was, my son had already chosen his side.

I asked for one thing only.

Matteo was not to have children with any other woman.

He had promised me that once, back when he first swore there would never be another heir to challenge Leo.

Before I left, I went to the Bellandi estate to see his mother.

When my parents died, she was the first person who had ever made me feel cared for in someone else’s home. But when I stepped into the living room, she was on a video call with Malta.