Billionaire's Surrogate

"Go ahead with the divorce, Antonio. I've already signed the agreement."

I dropped the divorce papers onto Antonio Rivera's desk.

"Stop joking," he said without even looking up. He continued scanning his reports.

"I have a dinner appointment tonight. I don't have time for this nonsense."

"I'm not joking," I said, my words firm.

"I want a divorce."

Finally, he glanced up, clearly irritated.

"You know I don't like jokes like that."

His subordinates wisely excused themselves, shooting me pitying looks.

"I'm not joking," I said again with my fists clenched, forcing myself to look him in the eyes.

Antonio Rivera stood up, towering over me. The scent of his cologne mixed with cigar smoke made my throat tighten.

"Sweetheart."

He pulled me close, his voice low as it brushed against my ear.

"Your mother's medication costs a thousand dollars per pill, and she needs six pills a day. If you divorce me, she'll die."

I gritted my teeth, hatred flooding my chest.

I had once been mesmerized by his dominance, but now it made me sick.

"I don't need your medicine anymore!"

I shoved him away, shouting, "My mother is dead, and I just need you to sign!"

His gaze darkened.

"How dare you use that to trick me? Elena showed me a video of your mother taking a walk this morning."

I widened my eyes, about to deny it, but then his Consigliere, Elena Gallo, walked into the room.

"Don, we should leave."

He stood up immediately and gave me an order. "Stop making a fuss. We'll talk when I get back."

I knew the talk wouldn't happen.

To him, this was just me having another one of my "random tantrums".

In less than four hours, I'd be apologizing to him.

The old me would have done that.

Back then, I was terrified that if I upset him, he'd cut off Mom's medication. I'd agree to anything, just to keep the peace.

Even when people mocked me and called me "spineless", I would act like I didn't hear it.

But this time, it was different.

If only he had finished listening to my phone call to him a week ago, maybe I could have convinced myself that all of it was done out of love.

But when I started to talk, Elena had interrupted our call.

"Mrs. Rivera, are you going out to buy the latest jewelry collection again? It's not safe these days, and you can't even shoot a gun properly. You shouldn't cause trouble for Don Antonio right now."

I tried to explain urgently, "No! It's about my mom..."

"Your mom's fine," she interrupted sweetly.

"I visited her today, and she's eating well. You shouldn't lie about her health condition just to get permission to go out."

But the photos sneakily taken by the caregiver clearly showed that Mom was dying, and her life was hanging by a thread.

I was about to explain, but Antonio cut me off impatiently.

"Enough, Isabella. I'm busy. I don't have time for your lies. You're always lying to go out and have fun. Last time it was a toothache, now you're using your mother? Just listen to Elena. She knows how to take care of you well."

That was his response to every request I made.

Even though I was his Donna, I had to ask Elena for permission to even buy tampons, let alone go out.

She'd always find some excuse to shut me down.

"Your reason for going out isn't valid. If it's an ache from a wisdom tooth, just take some painkillers."

"You saved a kitten that ate poison? That's not my problem."

"Tampons? Just borrow some from the household staff."

That wisdom tooth ended up growing crooked because I never saw a dentist.

The kitten died in my arms.

The household staff looked at me with pity.

Antonio would send the latest dresses and jewelry from every season to the villa without delays.

But everything was locked up, and I wasn't even allowed to touch them.

It was laughable. While Mom lay dying, I was writing out a long letter just to request permission to leave the house.

Elena glanced at it for a second and rejected it.

"You need to apply three working days in advance to go out. You'll have to wait three days."

Desperate, I wept as I begged her, "Please, just let me go out for two hours. My mom really doesn't have much time left."

She smiled and said, "Is that so? But if it's her time, no matter if you go see her or not, she'll still die. I have to fulfill my duty to look after you. You can't go out without a proper reason."

Calls to Antonio were rejected, too.

Three days turned into five days, and then into seven days.

Mom's caregiver soon sent me a photo of Mom's dead body.

Even if I could still convince myself that Antonio had done all that out of "protection" or "love" before, now that my mother was gone, what reason did I have left to stay in this cage?

I wiped away my tears as I wrapped up my thoughts and started packing my things.

Suddenly, my phone lit up. It was a notification from Antonio. He had shared a social media post of Elena.

In the photo, she was standing next to Antonio, raising a glass to celebrate their collaboration.

The caption read, "A day in my life with Don Antonio."

Before I could say anything, Antonio sent a message.

"Did you see Elena's post? Don't overthink things. I'm telling you again, we're just coworkers. My family is cleaning up our reputation, and I don't want anyone thinking there's any conflict between my Consigliere and my Donna."

Whenever she was involved, he always stepped in immediately.

I didn't want to respond, but my anger was boiling.

Since I had nothing left, why should I be afraid?

Chuckling to myself, I typed out a response underneath the post.

"All families should hire Elena as their Consigliere. After all, she boldly controls the Donna's personal freedom and expertly exerts her authority by making the most of her power of approval. Please, once you've gotten my position, try to maintain that same 'fairness' for yourself."

After sending it, a little of the weight in my chest lifted.

I shoved the last simple dress into my suitcase.

The ill-fitting, expensive gowns, the house full of surveillance cameras, and Antonio's controlling love…

They wouldn't hold me back anymore.

My phone vibrated suddenly. It was a call from Antonio. I rejected the call immediately, just like how he'd ignored all of mine before Mom passed away.