I stumbled to my feet and rushed straight to the study, yanking open drawer after drawer until I finally found the file bag my mother had handed me on my wedding day.

Inside was a divorce agreement.

And it was already signed—by Alessandro.

I had no idea how my parents had managed to secure something like that from a man born into a mafia dynasty, but somehow they had. The terms were fair—far fairer than I expected.

My hands trembled as I stared at the papers, yet I signed my name without hesitation, almost as if I had been waiting for that exact moment my entire life.

Just as the pen left the page, my phone rang.

Alessandro.

His name flashed on the screen.

I answered, and his voice came through strangely restrained.

“Rosalie… are you okay?”

I stared blankly at the wall in front of me.

“Shouldn’t I be?”

There was a short pause before he let out a breath.

“Oh. Good. That’s… good. I’m glad you’re alright.”

His tone was careful, almost as if he was trying to sound concerned.

Then he continued.

“Look, I know I was hard on you the other day. I overreacted when I saw Camilla hurt.”

He spoke like a man trying to apologize while refusing to admit any fault.

It was almost laughable.

“I went back to find you,” he said, “but you were already gone, so I assumed you were okay.”

His words meant nothing.

“Did you call for a reason?” I asked coldly.

The sharpness in my voice must have irritated him, because the mask slipped almost immediately.

“I’m apologizing, aren’t I?” he snapped. “What more do you want?”

That familiar cruelty crept back into his tone.

“And let’s be honest—you were the one who caused the problem in the first place. I’m calling because Camilla has forgiven you for pushing her. She even wants you to attend the auction tonight. She and my brothers were planning to buy gifts for the baby. But with the attitude you’re giving me right now, you should be grateful she’s being kind at all. She’s ten times gentler than you.”

I let him keep talking.

I didn’t answer.

After a moment of silence, his tone softened again.

“Alright, enough dragging this out,” he said. “Camilla hurt her leg, and I’m staying with her for now. I’ll have the driver pick you up later.”

Then he ended the call.

Seconds later, my phone buzzed again.

A message from Camilla.

Camilla: You’d better show up tonight. I’ve arranged something special just for you. You know I care about you, right? Remember those pictures of you with Alessandro, Damian, and Roman? The naked ones? They’re going to be the final auction item tonight. No censoring. Everyone will see exactly what you look like.

Then the photos came through.

One after another.

Dozens of them.

My phone kept vibrating in my hands until I dropped it onto the floor.

The strength I had felt after signing those papers disappeared instantly.

Gone.

I had believed that losing the baby meant I was finally free.

But I understood then that as long as Alessandro, Damian, Roman, and Camilla were still in my life, I would never escape them.

My entire body started trembling.

I sank to my knees and called my parents.

The second I heard their voices—gentle, loving, safe—everything inside me broke apart.

When they asked if I was alright, I couldn’t hold anything back.

I told them everything.

Every humiliation.

Every betrayal.

Every horrible thing that had happened.

And when there was nothing left to hide, I cried and begged,

“Mom… Dad… can I leave him? Please. I don’t want to stay with Alessandro anymore. I can’t do this.”

Their voices shook as they answered.

“Oh, sweetheart,” my mother said softly, “you’ve been through enough.”

My father spoke next.

“We’re sending someone for you right now. Come home tonight. We’ll take care of everything else. Just come home and rest. You’re safe now.”

Alessandro’s driver arrived before my parents’ car.

I handed him the file bag.

“This is for Alessandro,” I said quietly.

Nothing else.

Then I got into my parents’ car.

And I never looked back.

During the drive, my phone kept ringing.

Alessandro.

Again.

And again.

And again.

I took out the SIM card, rolled down the window, and threw it away into the darkness.

**

At the auction, the night was almost over.

Alessandro stood near the front, glancing repeatedly toward the entrance.

Each time the doors remained closed, his expression grew darker.

Then his assistant hurried over, holding the file bag in both hands.

“Sir,” the assistant said quietly, lowering his head, “Mrs. Moretti asked me to give this to you. She said you should open it first. She’ll arrive later.”

At those words, Alessandro smiled.

A soft, almost affectionate smile.

The kind he had never once given me.

He opened the file bag slowly.

Then he saw what was inside.

The divorce agreement.

My signature.

And beside it, a small glass jar containing the tiny remains of the baby.

The smile vanished from his face at once.

At that exact moment, the auctioneer struck the gavel twice.

“Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced to the room,

“we now present the final item of the evening…”

Alessandro POV ~

The whole auction froze the second I stood up.

My voice hit the mic system before my mind even caught up.

“STOP THE AUCTION!”

Silence slammed into the room. Even breathing sounded too loud.

Camilla shot up beside me, clinging to my arm like a leech who smelled money slipping away.

“Baby, what are you doing?” she hissed. “This is the highlight of the night. I’ve been waiting for this. Why would you stop it!”

Her face twisted when she realized I wasn’t backing down. The sweetness vanished. All that was left was hunger and irritation.

Behind us, Damian clicked his tongue, swirling the wine in his glass like the whole thing bored him.

“Let it run, bro. It’s good entertainment. That girl’s probably crying somewhere but who cares.”

Roman raised his glass lazily.

“She won’t come anyway. Why bother playing hero now.”

I snapped before I even turned.

“Not. A. Damn. Word.”

I shoved Damian’s hand off my shoulder so hard the wine spilled across the floor.

He stood up. Roman stood up. For a second we were one breath away from breaking tables and necks but I didn’t give them the chance.

I walked out.

People called my name. I ignored them. Camilla chased after me, heels clicking like gunshots.

“Alessandro. Stop! Don’t embarrass me like this.”

I kept walking until we hit the private corridor the Camilla grabbed the file bag and smashed it against the wall.

I heard something inside rattle.

Glass.

I snatched it back and opened it.

Pulled out the small glass jar. Cloudy. Stained dark.

At the bottom was something small. Curled. Fragile.

Five weeks. Barely formed.

My chest tightened in a way I didn’t understand. Like someone was dragging a blade across my ribs from the inside.

Camilla’s face was drained of color.

“Wait. Is that a baby? Did Rosalie abort it? But she was excited. She was obsessed with you. Why would she abort it? Why would she put it in a jar?”

Her voice was shaking now. Not for the baby. For her own damn fear.

A torn piece of paper was taped to the jar.

Her handwriting. Rosalie’s handwriting. I knew it.

“You and your bastard twins can go to hell.

I know everything you did to me.”

My fingers trembled. I couldn’t stop it. Didn’t even try.

Fuck!

Behind us Damian and Roman had followed. They took one look at the jar and both went still.

Damian’s voice dropped, rough. “Is that the kid she was carrying?”

Roman stared. Eyes narrowing. “Holy hell! She really did it.”

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn't think. All I knew was that for the first time in my entire life. I felt like I was the one bleeding out.

…

I stormed out of the corridor, heart hammering, hands shaking so hard I thought I’d crush my phone if I held it too tight. I grabbed my phone and dialed Rancho, my guy who does whatever I tell him without asking questions.

“Find her. Now. Every move she makes, every call, every damn step. Track Rosalie. She does not get to do this to me without paying for it.” My voice was low, dangerous, full of venom.

Damian leaned over, smirking like the bastard he is. “Bro, chill. She’s probably just hiding. Or trying to play games with you. Let her try. She’ll pay for this. I swear it.”

Roman nodded, slow and deliberate. “Yeah, she thinks she can just mess with you, huh? That’s funny. She’s gonna regret it.”

“Of course I’m gonna make her pay for this,” I spat back, every word dripping poison. “She embarrassed me enough by aborting our child. A damn baby we made a bet on, and she goes and signs divorce papers without even looking at me. She’s testing me. She’s lucky I don't tear the world apart before I found her.”

Camilla tried to touch my arm, her voice soft, fake. “Alessandro, calm down. Think—”

“Not now, Camilla. Not now. I am so pissed off I could—ugh!” I shoved her hand away. My pride was shattered.

I called Rancho again, pacing like a predator in a cage, fists clenching until my nails cut into my palms. “I don’t care how you do it. I want her. Now. She has no right to disappear, no right to touch that baby, no right to walk away from me. She’s mine. Every move. Every breath. Find her.”

Rancho’s voice came back, cautious but firm. “Boss, we are everywhere. Surveillance is up, phones are tapped, every car, hotel, apartment she might have touched is being checked. But…” His voice dropped. “Boss… she’s nowhere to be found. It’s like she never existed.”

I froze.

Every muscle in me screamed. The calm bastard persona I kept for the mafia empire, for the world, for the brothers, it cracked. I slammed my fist on the steering wheel of my blacked-out car so hard the horn screamed. Tires squealed as I peeled out, burning toward the villa, the only place I knew she couldn’t hide from me.

When I got there, the villa was empty. Silent. Ghostly. Rosalie had vanished. Clothes, papers, personal stuff, everything gone. It was like she evaporated. My blood boiled. My empire felt like it could crumble in a second. I was obsessed. Desperate. Furious.

So I decided to crash her parents place.

I slammed through the gates like some rabid dog out of hell, shoving the guards aside when they tried to block me. I didn’t even hear what they were saying. My eyes were burning, my voice shaking from how pissed off I was.

I pointed straight at her parents and barked, “Give me Rosalie. Now! Bring her out before I burn this whole place to the ground. I swear I’ll do it.”

Her father stepped right in front of me like he wasn’t scared. Her mother was trembling behind him but she still didn’t move away. The old man stared at me down, cold as ice, and said, “Our daughter was married to you. If she ever came back here, she wouldn’t come whole. Why would she return to the people who sent her straight into your house?”

“She wouldn’t disappear unless someone helped her. Someone’s hiding her from me. Someone’s playing brave.” I snapped instantly.

Her father didn’t even blink. “If something happened to my daughter because of you, Alessandro Moretti, I swear you will regret the day your mother brought you screaming into this world.”

That set me off.

I slammed my fist into the table so hard everything on top jumped. I grabbed a vase and smashed it against the floor, shards flying everywhere. “She’s mine. She doesn’t leave unless I say she can. She doesn’t get to run.”

Her mother broke down crying, voice shaking but somehow still sharp enough to cut. “If you touched her… if you hurt her… if you broke her… you will pay for every bone in her body.”

Then my phone rang.

I froze. Heart pounding.

Rancho.

I answered, growling into the phone, “Tell me you found her. Tell me you have something.”

His voice on the other side sounded wrong. “Boss… something happened.”

I clenched my jaw. “What now?”

“The photos,” he said. “The ones that were supposed to be the highlight of the auction. The ones of you and her. And your brothers.”

My stomach dropped. Behind me, Damian swore under his breath, a long string of curses. Roman kicked the doorframe so hard dust fell from the ceiling.

Rancho continued, “They’re leaked. Online. Everywhere.”

The world tilted around me.

I roared so loud the windows shook. “What did I tell you!? Delete those! I wanted her found first! I said not a single person touches those files! Who the hell—”

I kicked a chair, sent it flying, wood splintering against the wall.

Then Rancho’s voice came again, quiet, deadly.

“Boss… the one who leaked the pictures and videos… it’s Camilla.”

Everything in me went blank.

…

I hurriedly went to Camilla's house and kicked the front door open so hard it bounced off the wall. I did not bother calling her name.

“Camilla!” I shouted, stalking through the living room, knocking over a chair just because it was in my way. “Get your ass out here. Now. I said now.”

She appeared at the top of the stairs all shaking, and eyes glossy.

“Alessandro,” she whispered. “Why are you yelling at me? I didn’t mean anything bad, I swear. I was just trying to help. I was scared. I didn’t know what to do.”

She even added the trembling lip. The little gasps. The tiny steps backward like I was some monster she’d never met. She had the whole act ready, like she practiced it every morning in the mirror.

I almost laughed.

Before I could get another word out, my brothers howed up. Roman came from the left, Damian from the right, moving in like two overgrown guard dogs that never learned manners.

Roman went first. “Brother, seriously, what the hell are you doing? Why are you screaming at her like that? She’s our girl. You know that. Our first love. You’re acting like someone snapped your spine in half.”

Damian snorted. “Yeah, man, chill. She’s literally shaking. You want her to pass out on the floor? You’re making it sound like she hacked the Pentagon. You’re blowing everything up again.”

The two of them stood there, arms crossed, ready to fight me for a woman who would sell any of us for a better offer. And for a second, just a second, my anger cracked. Because I saw what I looked like. Some idiot roaring in a room full of people who already thought he was losing it.

I rubbed my face and let out a breath. “Fine,” I muttered. “Fine. I got pissed because… whatever. I let my pride run my mouth again.” It tasted like swallowing nails. “She divorced me first. And the… the baby thing. It got in my head.”

I hated the words even as they left my tongue.

Before any of them could answer, my phone rang. The doctor’s name flashed. Everything in me went still.

I put it on speaker. “Talk.”

The doctor’s voice came out steady. “Mr. Moretti, we have the results. The baby Rosalie was carrying is yours. The DNA is a match. It’s not Roman. It’s not Damian. It’s you.”

Everything around me went dim.

Low sperm count. Near zero odds. Camilla’s empty womb because she's barren.

My legs gave out. I dropped to my knees like someone cut the strings. I didn’t even feel the floor under me.

In my head, all I saw was Rosalie’s face.

Those sad eyes. The ones she gave me before she walked away.

The ones I ignored.

The ones I deserved.