The Don’s Runaway Wife

His jaw tightened slightly. It was the expression he wore whenever something displeased him.

The next second he set his teacup down, pulled out his phone, and made a call.

After speaking a few quiet sentences in Italian, he rose from the sofa and told us that something urgent had come up within the family organization.

He said he had to deal with it personally, but that he would come back to pick me up once the dinner was over.

The rest of the birthday dinner felt unbearable.

My father and mother seemed to have finally found an outlet for their irritation. From the moment Victor left, they took turns criticizing me, saying I lacked composure, saying the way I behaved at the banquet the night before had embarrassed the Rossi family in front of half the underworld.

Just as the atmosphere in the room was growing heavier and heavier, there was sudden commotion at the entrance.

Stella had returned.

Her eyes were red as if she had been crying, and her long hair was slightly disheveled, making her look unusually fragile.

My mother immediately stood up, worry filling her voice. “Stella? Why are you back already? I thought you were attending that charity dinner tonight.”

Stella sniffed softly and wiped her eyes. “Everything was going fine… but halfway through the evening a group of men in black suits burst in. They didn’t say a word. They just started smashing everything.”

My father shot to his feet, his face instantly darkening.

“Who did it? Find out immediately! I want names!”

Stella shook her head gently, her voice trembling with hurt. “There’s no need to investigate. I already asked the man leading them. He said… Elena was the one who ordered it.”

At that moment every pair of eyes in the room turned toward me.

I lifted my head and looked straight at Stella.

“What are you talking about? I have no idea what dinner you’re referring to, and I certainly didn’t send anyone to wreck it.”

Tears spilled down Stella’s cheeks instantly.

“I knew you would deny it,” she said softly. “That’s why… I brought the man with me.”

The front door opened again and a bald man in a black suit walked in.

I had never seen him in my life.

The moment he entered the room, he bowed deeply to me.

“I’m sorry, Miss Rossi. The job you asked me to do… didn’t go exactly as planned.”

In that instant everything became clear.

This was a trap Stella had prepared for me.

Framing me was hardly new to her. She had done it more times than I could count growing up.

My father slammed his hand down on the table, his face livid with anger.

“Elena! Your sister finally had a respectable opportunity to meet someone from a good family, and you had to ruin it? Do you hate her that much?”

My mother’s voice trembled with fury.

“Elena, how could you be so vicious? Stella is your own sister!”

The relatives around the table began whispering among themselves.

“This is unbelievable…”

“She’s always been jealous of Stella. Now she’s sabotaging her future too?”

A wave of humiliation and anger rose inside me so violently that it almost made me dizzy.

But I knew perfectly well that explaining myself would change nothing.

They would never believe me.

Victor—the only person who had ever defended me—was gone, and even if he had been here… maybe he wouldn’t have stood up for me anymore.

I looked at my parents with quiet disappointment. I hadn’t expected the last time I saw them before leaving to end like this.

I wiped the tears from my face and turned toward the door.

I didn’t want to stay here for another second.

I got into my car and drove slowly out through the gates of the Rossi estate.

I had barely made it fifty meters down the road when someone suddenly ran into the street from the side.

I slammed on the brakes.

But in the next instant—

she lunged forward.

A dull thud echoed through the night.

Stella’s body was thrown backward, landing several meters away on the pavement.

Did I just… hit Stella?