On my birthday, I go out to eat with my family. I make a wish, hoping that we will always stay happily together.

When I open my eyes, I see my son, Luigi Marino, holding up his tablet.

On the screen, a line of text reads, "Dad, Maria says she's pregnant with your baby. Am I going to get a new mom?"

Giovanni Marino is busy taking pictures of me with a Polaroid. He glances at the screen casually before writing a reply on the back of the photo.

"No. I made a promise with your mom. If either of us betrays the other, we will have to disappear from the other's life forever. I can't live without your mom. So, you have to help me keep this from her. Even if Maria's baby is born, they will never appear in front of your mom."

After writing that, he looks at me and asks in a gentle voice, "What's wrong, my love? Why are your eyes red? Did the smoke from the candles irritate them?"

My tears are about to fall, but I force a smile and reply, "I'm fine. The birthday gift you all prepared for me is wonderful. I'm so touched that I can't help but cry."

He doesn't know that my dyslexia was cured a week ago.

It seems I no longer have to hesitate about the job offer from a well-known international nonprofit that teaches children with dyslexia how to read.

The paperwork will be done in seven days. When that time comes, I will disappear from their world completely.

"My love, what were you just writing? I'm curious."

Under the table, my hand clenched tight, my nails digging into my palm. But I felt nothing.

"Just wishes for you. Luigi wished you a happy birthday on the tablet just now. I can't let his love for you outshine mine."

Giovanni Marino picked up the photo and kissed the image of me making a wish. "I didn't even ask. What did you wish for? Your husband can make it come true."

"No need," I said softly. "I wished for our whole family to stay happy together forever."

He froze for a moment, then pulled me into his arms, deeply moved. "Chiara Faraci, you really know how to make me love you! What a beautiful wish. Why wouldn't you say it all these years?"

Yeah. I never said it. Because I was afraid that if I said it out loud, it wouldn't come true.

Only now did I realize that I had been making things difficult for the god all along. What I wished for was never something that could come true.

My chest tightened painfully. I reached for my wine glass and accidentally knocked it over. Red liquid spread across the white tablecloth, spilling over the edge and dripping onto my dress.

Giovanni immediately grabbed napkins and dropped to one knee to wipe it. His brows were tightly knit, and his voice was urgent and fierce. "Is the wine cold? Which idiot put it there? It shouldn't have been there! Where's the manager? Get them over here!"

His eyes were full of concern. The servers nearby looked at me with envy. But I felt like an actress who had lost her script, unsure how to play along.

Everyone knew that the Donna was the Achilles' heel of Giovanni Marino, the most powerful Don in Cyrese. Yet, the very man known for loving his wife so deeply had taken advantage of my dyslexia to deceive me without restraint.

I caught his wrist and shook my head. "It's fine. I'm a little tired. I want to head back first."

Giovanni immediately stood up, ready to go with me. But our son, Luigi Marino, suddenly tugged at his sleeve and shoved a phone into his hand. "Papa, your phone has been vibrating for ages. Take it!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw it clearly. The contact name on the screen read "Little Baby Maria".

If I remembered correctly, Giovanni once said he'd saved my contact as "Big Baby".

His expression changed instantly. He ended the call without thinking. When he saw that I didn't react, he tapped Luigi lightly on the head. "What did your Mamma teach you? Don't answer someone else's phone. You must check who it is first."

Luigi stuck out his tongue, unconcerned. "Mamma can't read anyway. She always gets tricked. I can read. I just wanted you to answer."

A dull ache spread through my chest. Did he like Maria Lorenzo that much that even when celebrating my birthday with me, he couldn't bear to ignore her call?

I pulled my hand free and pressed Giovanni back into his seat. "If you've got something to handle, go ahead. I can go back on my own."

I turned and left, giving him no chance to stop me.

At the elevator, I saw Maria step out from the elevator across the hall. She didn't notice me. She just walked straight toward the private room next to mine, the one filled with Giovanni's friends.

Luigi immediately ran over to greet her, his voice bright with excitement. "Maria, you're finally here! I suggested throwing you a party to celebrate your pregnancy. Do you like it?"

"I love it. But more than the party, I love you, Luigi!"

Hearing that, Luigi tilted his face up, letting Maria kiss his cheek. The familiarity between them was as if they were the real mother and son.

Holding Luigi, Maria walked straight to the center seat, right beside Giovanni. He didn't push her away. He even wrapped an arm around her waist.

"Oh, wow! She just came, and you're already so clingy. You two really can't keep your hands off each other." His friends joked, completely unfazed by this scene.

Luigi even grinned and walked off, giving them space.

So, everyone knew about them. Everyone but me.

"Gio." Maria leaned against his shoulder, guiding his hand onto her stomach. "The celebration's already done. What do you plan to do about Chiara? You can't keep hiding this once the baby's born."

Giovanni's expression turned cold instantly. "Chiara is not to find out."

"What are you worried about?" His friends burst into laughter. "She's dyslexic. Even if you put the chat logs right in front of her, she wouldn't be able to read it. As long as everything's on paper, you'll always look like the perfect husband to her."

"Exactly! Papa, don't worry. Mamma won't find out. She's basically blind!" Luigi shouted. "Last time, when she went to school to accept my award, she didn't even realize she was holding the certificate upside down!"

Laughter filled the room. But I felt like I'd fallen into an icy abyss. I didn't even know how I managed to stumble out.

The neon lights on the street were dazzling. Yet, all I saw was a blur. I couldn't see clearly. I couldn't understand anything.

He always said our love story was a book that would never end. But now, the story of his life had already begun a new chapter with someone else.

And I couldn't even read the ending he'd written for me.

When I got home, I didn't turn on the lights. I just sat on the couch, staring at the ceiling in a daze.

Memories came rushing back in waves.

When I first got together with Giovanni, he never minded my dyslexia. Every Valentine's Day, he would write me a love letter by hand. Knowing that I couldn't read it, he would read it to me line by line under the night sky, beneath the stars.

He once said, "Chiara Faraci, your world is missing a window, but I'll be your light."

After we got married, he labeled every bottle in the house with colors. Red for condiments. Blue for cleaning supplies. Green for medicine. Even without reading, I'd never pick the wrong one.

Later, Luigi was born.

Every night, Giovanni would hold him beside me, open a picture book, and read it out loud. On the surface, he was reading to Luigi. But I knew he was reading to me too.

He once told Luigi, "Luigi, your mamma may not be able to read words, but her heart understands. She's smarter than anyone. No one is allowed to bully her. Not even you."

Luigi answered in his baby voice, "Okay! I'll protect Mamma!"

I thought days like that would last forever—until a month ago.

I secretly went for professional training. The results were good. I could slowly recognize common words now.

I rushed home, excited, wanting to surprise them. But the house was empty.

When I walked into the study, Giovanni's computer screen was still on. On it was Maria's pregnancy checkup report and a message from him saying he'd go to her place that night.

My hands trembled as I called him. But it was Luigi who picked up. "Mamma, can you stop bothering Papa? He brought me to discuss family matters. He's very busy. If you're really that bored, clean up the house. I left a leather notebook in the study. Put it back in my room for me."

Following his words, I looked at the notebook. It was open to the last page, with the words written across it, "Mamma held my award certificate upside down again today. I hate how she can't understand anything. Maria is so smart. I wish she could be my mamma."

So, even in Luigi's heart, he had long wanted to replace me.

The pain in my chest pulled me out of the memory. I opened the email from an overseas non-profit organization. It was a job offer to help children with reading disabilities learn to read.

I gently pressed "Accept".

This time, I would leave their world completely. I didn't want either of them anymore.

The sound of the door unlocking rang out. I closed my eyes and didn't move.

Giovanni turned on the light. "Baby, why are you sleeping here? You'll catch a cold."

He lifted me in his arms and carefully placed me on the bed. I pretended to wake, slowly opening my eyes. He smiled and leaned down, his lips wandering and his warm breath brushing against my neck.

Before, I would've responded eagerly. But now, all I could see in my mind were his intimate messages with Maria and her pregnancy report.

I shoved him away and sat up.

Giovanni stumbled back against the nightstand, but didn't get angry. Instead, he cupped my face, seeming even more anxious. "What's wrong? Are you not feeling well? Should I call a doctor?"

I looked at him and said calmly, "It's nothing. I just had a dream. I dreamed that you betrayed me, and I wanted to leave."

His eyes reddened instantly as he pulled me tightly into his arms. "Chichi, that was just a nightmare. It won't happen. It will never happen. I really, really love you. Don't leave me… I can't live without you."

His voice in my ear sounded so sincere. But my tears wouldn't stop falling.

He said he loved me. Yet, he lied to me, hurt me, and betrayed me.

Since he wouldn't honor the promise of "whoever betrays first disappears", then I'd do it for him.

Perhaps Giovanni noticed something was off about me the night before.

The next day was a rare free weekend. Instead of going to handle family business, he suggested we go to Sunny Coast. "We've wanted to go to the beach for a long time. We just never had the time."

His voice softened as he asked, "Come with me and Luigi today, okay?"

Luigi was unusually excited. "My classmates all say that beach is super fun, but it's just too crowded. But this time, Papa booked the whole place for us. Papa is the best!"

Before I could refuse, he had already packed the swimsuits. So, I could only follow along. I told myself this would be the last weekend I spent with them before leaving.

When we arrived at the beach, the sea breeze was strong. Luigi grabbed my hand and ran across the sand, his laughter scattered by the wind. Giovanni followed behind us the entire time.

When I rubbed my arms from the cold, he draped his jacket over my shoulders. When I glanced at the ice cream cart in the distance, he immediately ran off to buy three ice creams. This time, he even joined me for a dive, something I'd mentioned many times before but he'd never been interested in.

Luigi had never laughed this happily in front of me before. Giovanni looked a little tired, but his eyes were bright.

On the way home, Giovanni pulled over by a street sketch artist. "It must be fate. Let's have him draw a family portrait for us."

I didn't refuse.

When it was done, Giovanni held the drawing up in front of me. "Look, our family. Together forever."

Luigi leaned in too, smiling sweetly. "Mamma, I'm so happy today! I wish every day could be like this, just our family, having fun together."

In the drawing, the three of us stood close together. But my heart felt like it was being torn apart.

When they said these things, were they really happy? Or were they lying to me again? I couldn't tell, and I didn't want to try to figure it out.

Noticing my silence, Giovanni took my hand and pressed it against his chest. "Chichi, my heart belongs only to you, always. We'll never be apart."

I met his gaze blankly, my voice soft. "Are you sure I'm the only one in your heart?"

He froze for a second. A flicker of panic crossed his eyes but was quickly covered by a smile. "Of course… And Luigi too."

Luigi teased from the side, "Mamma, are you jealous of me too?"

Before he could finish, Giovanni's phone rang. He stepped aside for a brief moment. When he came back, he looked apologetic. "Chichi, I'm sorry. Something came up at the docks. I need to handle it."

He adjusted the jacket on my shoulders. His tone was gentle but left no room for refusal as he said, "Let the driver take you home first. Get some rest. I'll come back and be with you once I'm done."

Then, he looked at Luigi, who immediately grabbed his hand. "Papa, I want to go with you! I want to learn how to handle family business too!"

With that, Giovanni led Luigi away, urgency written all over his face.

But the moment he turned earlier, I clearly saw the name on the phone screen he hadn't had time to lock. The call was from Maria.

I looked down at the family portrait in my hands and let out a bitter laugh. Then, I tore it into pieces and threw it into a trash can by the roadside.

Since they cared so much about their new family, I'd give them what they wanted.

Over the next few days, neither Giovanni nor Luigi appeared during the day. Giovanni would occasionally come back late at night, exhausted, but he was still gentle with me. He'd kiss my forehead and softly explain that he'd been busy lately and that he'd make it up to me soon.

I never asked questions. I acted like I was still the same Chiara from before, the one who understood nothing.

Meanwhile, Maria's updates flooded boldly into my life through social media, and I quietly erased every trace of myself from the house.

On the first day, Maria posted a video of Giovanni and Luigi watching fireworks with her, while I gathered every photo of us in the house, ripped them apart one by one, and threw them into the fireplace.

On the second day, Maria shared a romantic scene of Giovanni decorating a countryside villa in roses. And I called in workers to have the glass greenhouse in the backyard, the one he had built for me with his own hands, completely demolished.

On the final day, Maria posted a photo of Giovanni and Luigi pressing their ears to her stomach, captioned, "Listening to the heartbeat". Meanwhile, I had already finished packing all my things.

Just as I was about to leave, I saw Giovanni and Luigi, who had been gone for days, standing at the door.

After days apart, Giovanni's eyes were bloodshot, as if he hadn't slept in a while. In his hand, he gripped a document tightly, his expression extremely tense. "Chichi, this report says… that you accepted an offer from an overseas non-profit organization. Is that true?"