A Donna's Last Retreat

I was pushed down the stairs. I hemorrhaged and woke up in the ICU.

Malcolm handed me a document, his expression glacial.

"All the clubs in Manhattan," he said. "That's what your child is worth."

Pain tore through me, but I shook my head.

Malcolm listed several more family assets. I refused them all.

His anger flared, and he loomed over me.

"You don't want this, you don't want that. So what is it you want? For Penny to come here and apologize in person?"

He looked at me with contempt.

"Sierra Bonanno, know your place. Do you really think you're worthy of an apology?"

My gaze held his, steady and silent.

I twisted my wedding ring off my finger and tossed it into the medical waste bin.

"I don't need compensation. Just annul the engagement."

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1

"Annul the engagement?"

Malcolm leaned against the wall, a cold laugh escaping his lips.

His deep-set eyes raked over me, filled with undisguised disdain.

"Sierra, what's your game this time?"

"You can't even afford a decent life without me."

"Cut the crap and get out of this hospital. Penny's feeling guilty enough as it is."

I listened to his ridiculous words, a cold emptiness settling in my chest.

Every time Penny and I clashed, he blamed me without a second thought.

Even though Penny was the one being unreasonable every single time, he would only say one thing:

"Penny's just a kid. You're supposed to be the lady of this house. Is it so hard to let her have her way for once?"

It was as if every dispute was my fault.

Before, I used to fight back through tears, as if that was the only way to earn a sliver of his pity.

But this time, I touched my now-flat stomach, feeling completely drained.

To shatter his disbelief, I called my family's Consigliere right then and there.

"Antonio? It's Sierra. I want to annul my engagement to Malcolm De Luca. Please prepare the documents for me. Yes, as soon as possible."

After hanging up, I looked at Malcolm calmly and asked, "Now, do you believe me?"

A cigar was wedged between Malcolm's fingers as he stared at me, his gaze fixed.

After a moment, he sneered.

"Getting bold, are we, Sierra? Pulling a stunt like this."

He stubbed out his cigar and strode to my bedside.

He pinched my chin, forcing me to look up at him.

"You think I'll believe you?"

"Sierra, enough with the drama."

"You went through all that trouble to marry into the De Luca family. Wasn't it all for power? A woman with your ambition only knows cheap tricks. It's pathetic."

My steady breathing hitched for a second.

That line again.

Malcolm never got tired of it.

At a family banquet years ago, Malcolm had been drugged and locked in a room with me.

When we woke up, we were ambushed by the blinding flashes of media cameras.

They captured photos of us in disarray, splashing them across the headlines.

The De Luca family's reputation was damaged, and Malcolm was forced to marry me.

He was convinced I had set him up.

That I had stooped so low, stopping at nothing, just to latch onto the De Luca family.

The irony was, my heart already belonged to someone else. We were supposed to be together.