I stopped responding to Sofia.

She never got tired of it.

Any time Kayson was with her, my phone would light up. A photo. A message. Some smug little reminder that while I still wore his name, she was the one getting his time, his attention, his hands on her body.

I ignored every one of them.

At that point, there was only one thing I cared about.

Two more days.

In two days, I would be gone.

That afternoon, I took down the lacquered keepsake box from the back of my dressing room shelf.

For years, I had kept everything in it.

The handwritten cards Kayson used to leave for me. The black-and-white photo from the night we first met. The invitation from the gala where he publicly pursued me for the first time. A pressed white rose from the glass garden he built when he proposed. Even the silk ribbon from the box that had held my wedding veil.

I had saved them all carefully, foolishly, like they were pieces of a future we would one day look back on together.

Now they were only proof that I had once believed in a man who knew exactly how to love me and still chose to betray me.

One by one, I fed them into the fire.

That was when Kayson came in.

“Baby?” His voice reached me a second before his footsteps did. “What are you burning?”

I said. “I was clearing out the room and found a few things I don’t need anymore.”

At once, he came up behind me and drew me gently back from the fireplace, his hand firm around my wrist, then my waist, like protecting me was still the most natural instinct he had.

“Then let the staff handle it,” he said, already frowning. “Why are you standing this close to the fire? What if you got hurt?”

All of his attention was on me.

He never once looked into the flames.

If he had, he would have seen his own handwriting still visible on the half-burned edges. He would have seen his name before the fire swallowed it whole.

“Baby, I’ve finally cleared most of the family business off my plate,” he said, his voice warm, almost careful now, as if trying to make up for something without naming it. “I’m free today. I can spend the whole day with you. Anywhere you want to go, I’ll take you.”

His arm was still around my waist when he said it. His dark eyes were full of that same tenderness, that same indulgent affection the whole city knew him for.

Anyone watching would have thought this was love.

I said, “Let’s go to the shooting range. I haven’t been in a while.”

That was where we first met.

It felt fitting to say goodbye there.

Kayson smiled and nodded without hesitation.

“Whatever you want, tesoro.”

When we arrived, several of his men were already there.

His underboss. Two caporegimes. A few other core men from the family.

And standing beside them, dressed in black training gear that hugged her too well to be innocent, was Sofia Romano.

She did not look surprised to see me.

If anything, her smile deepened, bright and polished and far too comfortable, like she had known all along I would be brought here.

She stepped toward me first, all graceful confidence, and offered a smile so polite it was almost insulting.

“So you must be Miss Bellini,” she said. “I’ve heard so much about you.”

The air changed instantly.

Kayson’s arm tightened around my waist for half a beat before he let it go. His face cooled at once, and when he looked at Sofia again, his voice had gone flat.

“That’s my wife,” he said, each word precise enough to cut. “You will address her as Donna Moretti.”

Sofia’s expression froze.

Sofia’s smile froze instantly.

For a second, the look on her face turned ugly, but she still lowered her voice and said, “Donna Moretti.”

I gave a small nod, then turned and went to the dressing room to change.

I had barely sat down on the sofa when she followed me in.

The caution was gone from her face now. So was the politeness. The woman standing in front of me was nothing like the one she had pretended to be outside. Her eyes were full of contempt.

“You saw the messages I sent you, didn’t you?” She straightened on purpose, one hand brushing over her still-flat stomach, smugness written all over her face. “I’m carrying Kayson’s child now. Once the baby is born, he’ll marry me. If I were you, I’d save myself the humiliation and ask for a divorce before you get thrown out.”

I looked at her calmly.

“Is that so? Then congratulations.”

She blinked, clearly caught off guard.

My reaction was the last thing she had expected.

“Lucia,” she said sharply, “what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

“It means congratulations,” I said. “Future Donna Moretti.”

I had no interest in wasting words on a woman with no shame and even less dignity. I rose to leave.

Then her voice stopped me again.

“Oh, one more thing.” Her eyes locked onto mine, the smile on her lips sharp with triumph. “The doctor says I need somewhere quiet while the pregnancy settles. I was thinking the main villa would be perfect.” She tilted her head, studying my face. “What do you think happens if I tell Kayson I want to move in? Do you think he’d say no to me?”

The villa she meant was the one Kayson had built for me after our wedding.

I still remembered him holding me on the terrace, telling me it was my home, ours alone, the one place in the entire Moretti empire that belonged only to us.

No matter how far he had fallen, surely he would not hand that place to her too.

I said nothing.

I just walked away.

When we returned to the villa later, Kayson came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.

“Baby,” he murmured near my ear, his voice low and warm, “your birthday is in three days. Do you want to spend a few days in Santorini?”

I nodded.

He dipped his head and kissed me softly.

“Then go ahead first,” he said. “Shop a little. Get some sun. See the water. I’ll finish handling things here, then I’ll come join you. All right?”

In the past, if I ever suggested going away alone for even a day or two, he would never have agreed so easily. He was always too worried, too possessive, too unwilling to let me out of his sight.

This time, he offered it himself.

“Okay,” I said. “I’ll go.”

Kayson had the private flight arranged almost immediately.

When he saw me off, he even pulled me into his arms and held me for a moment, his voice still as gentle as ever.

“You go enjoy yourself first. I’ll deal with the family business here and come to you soon.”

Just before I got into the car, I looked at him.

“Kayson, stay in the council room at two o’clock this afternoon. Don’t leave.”

His gaze settled on me. “Why?”

I smiled faintly.

“I have a gift for you.”

He remembered.

By the time he returned from the private airstrip to family headquarters, he was already in the council room, exactly where I had told him to be.

He did not leave.

A little later, Sofia walked in carrying a cup of coffee. She moved around the long table as if she already belonged there and stopped beside him.

“Kayson, now that Donna is away getting some space, can I move into the villa today?”

Something dark flickered across his face.

His patience was already wearing thin.

“Can you be quiet for five minutes?” he snapped.

Then he reached for his phone and started checking the live status of my private flight himself.

Sofia watched him, watched the way his attention kept circling back to me even when I was already gone, and something bitter flashed through her eyes.

Then, in the next second, Kayson’s satellite phone rang.

He answered immediately.

“Don.” The voice on the other end was tight, strained. “There’s been an incident with the private flight to Santorini…”