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หน้าหลัก / After Seven Years as the Don's Mistress, I'm Done / Chapter 2

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Chapter 2

ผู้เขียน: Arya
On my way home that night, I saw a new post on Domenica’s Instagram.

It was a photograph.

She stood in a warm, beautifully furnished living room holding a cake. Raffaele was looking at her, an easy smile on his lips.

The caption read:

[Moved into our new home today. Here’s to waking up next to Raffaele every day for years to come.]

Several members of the family had already left their congratulations beneath it.

Raffaele had replied with one word.

[Always.]

I stared at the words “our new home” until bitterness filled my mouth.

As expected, Raffaele wasn’t home when I arrived.

I lay in bed, my thoughts drifting in circles until sometime after midnight.

At three in the morning, a nightmare jolted me awake. Out of habit, I reached for the warmth beside me, only to find cold sheets.

I sat there blankly for a moment before calling Raffaele.

“Where are you?”

His voice was thick and unfocused, as though I had woken him.

“What? I’m home.”

Barefoot on the cold floor, I slowly curled my fingers around the phone.

“Which home, Raffaele?”

Ten minutes later, he came through the door carrying the chill of the night with him.

He found me standing in the dark, guilt flickering in his eyes.

“You know the Valenti Family has been watching Domenica lately. I’ve been busy getting her moved somewhere safe, and I was so exhausted I fell asleep in the study.”

“Were you waiting long?”

“Where did she move?”

I asked casually, though I already knew.

Raffaele hesitated.

“The estate is the safest place for her right now. I gave her the east wing so she’d have her own space.”

A laugh slipped out of me.

Of all the places Raffaele could have put her, he had chosen to bring his new wife under the same roof as me.

Raffaele had ground what little dignity I had left into dust.

It had never occurred to him how much this might hurt me, or what people would think when they saw what he was doing.

I looked away, my chest so tight it hurt.

Raffaele seemed to notice. He stepped closer, his voice turning coaxing.

“Don’t be angry. Give me a little more time. Once I divorce her, I’ll straighten everything out.”

I lowered my eyes. All I felt was exhaustion.

The next morning, Raffaele had just finished breakfast with me when the doorbell rang.

I got up and opened the door.

The moment I saw who was standing outside, my body went rigid.

The elder Don and Donna Moretti stood on the other side.

The smile vanished from Mrs. Moretti’s face the instant she saw me. Her gaze swept over me with open displeasure.

“A mistress has the nerve to live in a Moretti property?”

My nails dug into my palm.

I wanted to tell her this was my home. That Raffaele and I had been together for seven years. That I had never been the one clinging to him.

But her palm struck my face before I could answer.

My head snapped sideways, my ears ringing.

Mrs. Moretti held her hand raised.

“I’ve put up with you long enough.”

“If no one ever taught you how a mistress is expected to behave, then I will teach you the rules of the Moretti Family.”

Raffaele heard the commotion and came out of the dining room.

The instant Raffaele saw the mark on my face, his pupils tightened. His gaze lingered on my swollen cheek before snapping to his mother.

“Mother, how could you hit her? Don’t you know she’s my—”

The words died on his lips. As if suddenly realizing what he had almost admitted, Raffaele fell silent.

Mrs. Moretti gave a cold laugh. “What is she? Nothing but a mistress trying to ruin someone else’s marriage.”

My hands clenched at my sides. Once again, Raffaele had chosen not to stand by me. This time, I would speak for myself.

“I have never lowered myself to destroy another woman’s marriage. The person who really—”

“Enough.”

Mr. Moretti rested both hands over the silver head of his cane, his expression unreadable.

“The Moretti Family has never opened its doors to a mistress, Raffaele.”

“Domenica is your brother’s widow. I will not allow her to be treated with anything less than respect.”

Raffaele looked at me, a flicker of pain crossing his eyes. But in the end, he still said, “I understand, Father. I’ll handle it.”

He had chosen to sacrifice me again.

“You’d better.” Mr. Moretti’s gaze shifted to my hand, then stopped.

Mrs. Moretti followed his gaze and immediately seized my wrist.

“Why are you wearing the Moretti Donna’s wedding ring?”

She looked sharply at Raffaele. “Did you give it to her?”
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  • After Seven Years as the Don's Mistress, I'm Done   Chapter 9

    Livia's POVSix months later, the restoration of the Saint-Clair Theatre was complete.At the opening ceremony, the project director handed me my new appointment letter. I would no longer serve as a deputy lead. Beginning with the firm's next commission, I would direct a restoration team of my own.I looked down at my name on the page and remembered the internship offer I had abandoned seven years earlier.After everything, I had finally found my way back to the life I was meant to build.When the ceremony ended, the receptionist told me two visitors from Italy were waiting in the conference room.I opened the door and found Raffaele's parents inside.Mr. Moretti, once too proud to bow his head to anyone, leaned heavily on a cane, his back noticeably stooped. Mrs. Moretti wore black. In six months, her hair had turned almost entirely white, and the severity I remembered had vanished from her face.When she saw me, she rose. Her lips moved several times before she managed my name."Liv

  • After Seven Years as the Don's Mistress, I'm Done   Chapter 8

    Livia's POVThe night I landed in Paris, the bleeding started again.The project director who came to meet me at the airport took one look at my face and drove me straight to the emergency room. When the doctor learned I had boarded a long-haul flight the day after a miscarriage, he was furious. He ordered me to rest for at least two weeks.I was terrified the firm would withdraw its offer.Instead, the project director brought a laptop and a stack of files to my hospital room."Your position will be here when you're ready. A building that has stood for three hundred years can wait a few more days."I remained under observation for two days.After I was discharged, the director urged me to take more time. I refused and asked to begin with the interior survey work. That was how I officially joined the restoration of the Saint-Clair Theatre.A fire had cracked the main dome and buried the original colors of the frescoes beneath years of smoke damage. At the first project meeting, most of

  • After Seven Years as the Don's Mistress, I'm Done   Chapter 7

    Raffaele's POVAfter Alessandro's death, my mother went to the family chapel every week to pray for him.Domenica had known exactly when to strike. My mother had brought only a driver with her when Domenica slipped into the chapel through the old tunnels.I ordered my underboss to seal the grounds, then entered alone.Candlelight flickered along the dark nave. The air was heavy with gasoline. My mother was bound beside Alessandro's memorial, with Domenica standing behind her. A gun pressed against my mother's temple. In Domenica's other hand, a lighter burned."Move your men back." She smiled at me, and there was madness in her eyes. "Or all three of us die here today."I signaled my underboss to withdraw, then lowered my gun to the floor."Let my mother go. Whatever you want to say, I'll stay and listen."Domenica's eyes flooded with tears. "I knew you could never really bring yourself to kill me. Raffaele, everything I did was for you."She told me Alessandro had discovered her secre

  • After Seven Years as the Don's Mistress, I'm Done   Chapter 6

    Raffaele's POVI returned to the estate that night.My underboss had laid out the traffic footage, vehicle data, and a month of Domenica's movements across my desk.On the video, Livia's car cleared the intersection while Domenica followed at a careful distance. The light ahead turned red. Domenica pressed down on the accelerator and drove straight into her.There was no loss of control. No delayed reaction. No attempt to brake.She had planned it from the beginning.My underboss handed me a bank record. "The day before the crash, Domenica used a private account to wire twenty thousand dollars to an employee at an obstetrics clinic. The employee confessed. Domenica paid her for Miss Bellandi's medical records."I stared at Domenica's authorization on the transfer, and the pain in my chest tore open all over again.She had not merely known Livia was pregnant.She had known how far along she was. She had known the dates of her appointments. She had known everything.I closed my eyes. "Br

  • After Seven Years as the Don's Mistress, I'm Done   Chapter 5

    Raffaele's POVI stared at the phone where it had fallen, all the blood draining from my face.My underboss went pale. He snatched it up and thrust it into my hand.I took it from him. "Which hospital?"By the time I reached the hospital, Livia's room was empty.The nurse recognized me and hurried over. "Mr. Moretti, have you managed to reach Miss Bellandi? She left without giving us a new number, and none of our calls have gone through."My throat tightened until it hurt. "How far along was she?"The nurse stared at me in shock. "You didn't know she was pregnant?"The question went straight through my chest.A doctor arrived a few minutes later and placed Livia's chart in front of me, along with a bloodstained ultrasound report."She was twelve weeks pregnant. There was no fetal heartbeat when she arrived. From the point of impact and the extent of the bleeding, there is no question that the collision caused the miscarriage."I looked down at the page. Beneath Livia's name, the words

  • After Seven Years as the Don's Mistress, I'm Done   Chapter 4

    The moment Raffaele saw me lying pale in the hospital bed, his expression changed.“Livia, what happened?”Losing my baby had left me hollow. I stared blankly at the man in front of me, unable to tell whether I hated him or regretted ever loving him.Domenica stepped forward before I could answer.“It was my fault. I followed Livia because I wanted to apologize for yesterday, and I rear-ended her car.”Her eyes filled with tears.“I swear I didn’t mean to hurt her.”Raffaele looked from her to me, his face hardening with concern.“Since it was an accident, there’s no reason to take this any further. Livia, whatever compensation you want, I’ll give it to you.”I let out a bitter, broken laugh.“Compensate me?”“Livia, it was an accident.” His voice lowered. “My brother is dead. I promised him I would protect her. I can’t let one mistake destroy her standing in the Family.”“So what do you want?”Raffaele drew a document from the inside pocket of his coat and placed it on the bedside tab

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