My Departure Made the Don Kneel

[Isabella's POV]

There was a long bout of breathing on the other end of the line. Then, Alexander Marino's low voice sounded.

"The Marino family is moving out in half a month. I'll come and pick you up then."

I was stunned momentarily, but I quickly recovered and chuckled out loud. I hadn't even told him a thing, and yet, he was already so sure that I wanted to leave. Still, he was right.

"Okay."

I knew that with Alexander's abilities, Vincenzo wouldn't be able to find me again—even if he went to the ends of the earth—by the time I was gone in half a month.

…

That day, my phone kept buzzing with text messages from Vincenzo, but I never responded to any of them.

Vincenzo started to panic. I didn't know where he got the news from, but he suddenly barged into the house in the middle of the night one day and saw me watching TV in the living room.

"Isabella? Why did you come back earlier than before?"

Vincenzo rushed up to me, exclaiming, "I sent you so many text messages too!"

He then pulled me into his arms, rubbing his chin affectionately against the top of my head. "I'm so glad that nothing terrible happened to you. I was so scared… Isabella, I could never live without you."

The loving look in his eyes didn't look fake. I knew that he was sincerely in love with me. However, I knew for a fact that I wasn't the sole receiver of his love.

I struggled away from his embrace and said in a calm voice, "The deal got postponed, and I turned my phone off. I didn't see your texts."

Vincenzo smiled and gently touched the tip of my nose. "It's okay if you didn't see my text messages. It's not like I'd ever blame you for it."

He then shook the car keys in his hand and asked, "Are you hungry? I made a reservation at the restaurant you've been dying to go to for ages. Let's go, Princess. You can order anything you want tonight."

He then reached out toward me with his palm facing up.

I looked at his outstretched hand and suddenly fell into a daze.

I was 18 years old back then, and Vincenzo had also reached his hand out to me like this with a smile even wider than the one he was wearing now. "Let's go, Princess. You can order anything you want tonight. My treat!"

The Vincenzo back then had only loved me and me alone.

Still, I didn't want to stay hungry, so I went with him to the restaurant.

He was his same old self. He was a mafia don and never had to serve anyone else—and yet, he would roll up his sleeves like it was the most natural thing to do and serve me. He'd cut my steak, pour my wine, and also let me have the first bite of his food.

My plate was filled to the brim with food when his phone suddenly rang, and I snapped back to the present.

"Answer it," I said, looking down at the food on my plate.

Vincenzo glanced quickly at his phone, apologized, and got up to take the call outside the restaurant. When he came back afterward, he looked anxious and apologetic.

"Isabella, I suddenly have an important meeting to attend, and I need to hurry over. I'm sorry that I won't be able to finish dinner with you. I'll take the day off tomorrow and accompany you the whole day instead."

I'd already caught sight of the caller ID on his phone screen earlier. It had been a call from Claudia.

I nodded and said, "Okay. Go."

After getting my permission, Vincenzo didn't waste another second and turned immediately, leaving the restaurant. I stared at the empty space opposite me and felt as though there was a needle stabbing into my chest. The pain was numbing.

I had only just managed to pull myself together and pick up my fork again when I suddenly got a video call request from Claudia.

She smiled innocently at the camera and said, "Say, Bella, you must still be having dinner! That's what I thought. I wondered why a certain someone smelled like steak after coming home today."

She made sure to emphasize the word "home" in the call, and I could tell that she was challenging me on that.

My expression turned icy. "You're too childish, Claudia. Have you forgotten who's the one legally married to him now? And who do you think Vincenzo will ask to stay if I forward to him all the messages you've sent me?"

Claudia's eyes glinted momentarily. A split second later, she smiled again and said, "But that wouldn't be any fun now, would it, Bella? By the way, don't you want to know whether Vincenzo loves me or you more?"

I thought about the question for a while and didn't end the call.

A while later, the video background changed, and Vincenzo appeared on the screen.

Claudia immediately turned around and lay on his lap, making sure that he couldn't see the screen on her phone.

"Vincenzo, are you still mad at me for running away with someone else back then? If I hadn't left you, you wouldn't have found Bella, right? You would've married me, right?"

Vincenzo frowned. "What's with all these 'what ifs'?"

"I was just asking for fun," Claudia said, her eyes turning red. She then asked in a softer voice, "I didn't mean anything bad…"

A few seconds of silence later, I saw Vincenzo open his mouth, his voice dry and hoarse. "Yes."

A single "yes" from him was more than enough to hollow out my chest.

So, I hadn't been the only one in his heart from the very start.

I suddenly recalled the day of our wedding.

Vincenzo had held my hand while facing the rest of our wedding guests. Then, he swore on his title as Don that he would only love me for the rest of my life.

I had cried so hard back then, thinking that I'd finally found true love.

But as it turned out, the vows he said at our wedding had been a lie too. I had never been his only love. Not before, not now, and not ever.

I had just been a convenient distraction while he and Claudia were at odds with each other. He was probably just reluctant to let me go because we'd been together for a while, and he'd finally started harboring some feelings for me. That was all.

At that thought, an ugly grin graced my lips. I began to laugh, but I also felt tears falling down my face uncontrollably.

I thought that I had at least possessed some of Vincenzo's love and affection for a short period of time, but I never had. Instead, I was a thief who took what had never been mine.

I lowered my head and tugged at the clothes around my chest, trying to catch my breath. However, I couldn't stop the lump in my throat from getting worse. Eventually, I just let my tears flow and drip onto the table.

That night, Vincenzo never came home.

Yet, I received a photo of him sleeping soundly in bed. Claudia sent it to me.

I stared at his face on the screen for a very long time. Finally, sometime around dawn, my heart went numb, and I finally managed to calm down.

I called my friend, Sophia Tanner, who was a divorce attorney.

"Sophia, I need your help to draft out a divorce agreement."