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Chapter 4

Author: Winter
The next morning, I came downstairs with my suitcase.

Sofia was eating breakfast in the dining room. Her gaze dropped to my luggage.

“Are you going to the hotel to get ready?”

“I’m leaving.”

“Why are you taking so much with you?”

I pulled the zipper closed.

“After today, I won’t be coming back here.”

Sofia froze for a moment, then laughed.

“Of course. Once you’re engaged, you’ll be moving in with Dante.”

She hadn’t understood what I meant.

“Don’t be late.” She lowered her head and continued eating. “I’m looking forward to seeing your face when you get my surprise.”

Emma was waiting outside.

I removed the engagement ring I had worn for three years, placed it in its jewelry box, and handed it to her.

“Give this back to Dante after the video ends.”

Emma accepted the box.

“Don’t worry. I’ll put it directly into his hands.”

By the time I reached the airport, Dante had sent me a message.

The stylist says you never arrived. Where are you? I’ll send a driver.

I didn’t reply.

With fifteen minutes left before boarding, Emma video-called me.

The ballroom was filled with members of the Moretti Family and its allies. Dante stood at the front, while the place reserved for me beside him remained empty.

Sofia approached him with her laptop in her arms.

“She’s probably still angry about the joke from two days ago. She’ll show up once my surprise video begins.”

Mom’s expression darkened.

“She’s becoming more immature by the day.”

Sofia smiled and invited the guests to turn toward the enormous screen.

“This is my engagement gift to my sister—a collection of her most adorable moments.”

The lights dimmed.

Sofia waited for footage of my panic attacks and humiliated tears to appear before the entire Moretti Family.

But when the screen came to life, I appeared instead.

“If you’re watching this, I’ve already left New York.”

The ballroom fell silent.

The smile vanished from Dante’s face.

“For years, you told me that Sofia had been sick and that I needed to be more understanding.”

“So I forgave her when she exposed my private journal, filmed my panic attacks, and stranded me in the middle of nowhere.”

“But I finally understand that people who truly love me would never demand that I endure humiliation after humiliation just to prove how forgiving I am.”

Sofia rushed toward the audiovisual staff.

“Turn it off! That isn’t my video!”

No one obeyed her.

“Dante, you were once the only person who protected me.”

“But when you joined their game, I lost my last reason to stay.”

“Today’s engagement gala is canceled.”

“And our engagement is over.”

The screen went black.

Tears immediately filled Sofia’s eyes.

“It was only a joke. How could she humiliate me like this just to get revenge?”

Mom grabbed her phone.

“She’s trying to force us to punish Sofia. I’m calling her and ordering her back.”

Dad instructed the staff to escort the guests out.

“When she returns, she can explain this entire spectacle.”

Even now, they believed I was throwing a tantrum.

Then my parents’ phones and Dante’s all vibrated at once.

The scheduled email had arrived.

Dante was about to open it when Emma stepped in front of him.

“There’s one more thing she asked me to return.”

She held out the jewelry box.

Dante opened it.

Inside lay the engagement ring I had worn for three years.

His face drained of color.

For the first time, he understood that I wasn’t coming back.
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  • Five Minutes Cost the Don His Bride   Chapter 9

    Six months later, I returned to New York on behalf of the Milan headquarters for the Group’s annual meeting.The acquisition I led had increased the European division’s profits by twenty percent. The board voted unanimously to confirm me as Head of European Mergers and Acquisitions.At the end of the meeting, the New York executive who had once encouraged me to give up the Milan opportunity came over and shook my hand.“Ten years isn’t long enough,” he said with a smile. “Headquarters hopes you’ll stay in Europe forever.”“That depends on whether they keep giving me work worth staying for.”I smiled as I answered.When I left the conference room, my parents were standing at the far end of the hallway.They didn’t approach without permission. They simply nodded to me from a distance.For the past six months, they had sent me one email each month. They no longer urged me to come home or asked me to forgive Sofia.Sofia had moved out of the estate, started living independently, and entere

  • Five Minutes Cost the Don His Bride   Chapter 8

    One month later, the board formally approved the acquisition.The Milan division held a dinner to celebrate the team’s success. In front of everyone, the division head announced that I would assume the role of Director of European Mergers and Acquisitions ahead of schedule.As the room filled with applause, I remembered the night I first received an offer from Milan three years earlier.Dante had held my hand and told me we would be married soon. He promised I would never regret staying for him.I had regretted it.Not because I had loved him.I regretted abandoning myself to prove that love.After the dinner, I found my parents waiting outside the restaurant.They had emailed in advance and asked to see me once. I agreed to give them twenty minutes.Mom had lost weight. Dad didn’t begin by demanding that I understand Sofia, as he always had before.“We’re not here to ask you to come home,” he said. “We only wanted to apologize in person.”Mom reached into her bag and took out an old k

  • Five Minutes Cost the Don His Bride   Chapter 7

    Sofia couldn’t accept that no one was protecting her anymore.Three days later, she emailed the footage of my panic attack to every senior executive in the Milan division.In the message, she described herself as a cancer survivor being punished by her jealous, vindictive sister. She also claimed that I was emotionally unstable and unfit to oversee an acquisition worth hundreds of millions of dollars.The head of Human Resources looked concerned when she forwarded the email to me.“If you need some time, we can postpone this afternoon’s negotiations.”“That won’t be necessary.”I didn’t show my colleagues the recording of Sofia admitting what she had done. Nor did I expose every cruel thing she had done to me over the years.I submitted only the roadside-assistance records, her harassing emails, and the metadata showing when the private videos had been created and distributed.“This is personal harassment. My attorney will handle it, and it won’t affect the acquisition.”The negotiatio

  • Five Minutes Cost the Don His Bride   Chapter 6

    By seven the next morning, I was already seated in the conference room.The design firm we planned to acquire had suddenly demanded a higher offer. If we refused, they threatened to accept a competitor’s proposal before noon.Everyone recommended giving them what they wanted.I finished reviewing the contract, then pushed one page into the center of the table.“They aren’t in a position to demand more money.”Three months earlier, the firm had used its core patents as collateral for a loan but failed to disclose it as required under our agreement. If we withdrew from the acquisition, the bank would reassess its entire credit facility.At eleven, the firm withdrew its demand and accepted a further three-percent reduction from our original offer.After the meeting, the head of the Milan division smiled at me.“Now I understand why New York didn’t want to let you go.”It wasn’t New York that had wanted to keep me.My family and fiancé had simply never imagined that I might choose my caree

  • Five Minutes Cost the Don His Bride   Chapter 5

    Emma kept the camera trained on Dante.He stood with my engagement ring clenched between his fingers, staring down at it for a long time.Whispers spread through the ballroom. Sofia stood nearby, tears already filling her eyes.“Dante, I was only trying to make her laugh. I didn’t know she would take it this far.”Dante didn’t answer.His phone vibrated again. My scheduled email was still waiting on the screen.He opened the attachment.Sofia’s voice and mine filled the ballroom.“Of course I knew you hated it.”“That was why I did it. If you laughed along with everyone else, where would the fun be?”All the color drained from Sofia’s face.She lunged for the phone, but Dante raised it beyond her reach.The recording continued.“I make you cry. I make you lose control. I make everyone believe you’re sensitive, cruel, and incapable of taking a joke.”“Then all I have to do is let my eyes fill with tears. They protect me and force you to apologize.”Mom went rigid.Dad had been ordering

  • Five Minutes Cost the Don His Bride   Chapter 4

    The next morning, I came downstairs with my suitcase.Sofia was eating breakfast in the dining room. Her gaze dropped to my luggage.“Are you going to the hotel to get ready?”“I’m leaving.”“Why are you taking so much with you?”I pulled the zipper closed.“After today, I won’t be coming back here.”Sofia froze for a moment, then laughed.“Of course. Once you’re engaged, you’ll be moving in with Dante.”She hadn’t understood what I meant.“Don’t be late.” She lowered her head and continued eating. “I’m looking forward to seeing your face when you get my surprise.”Emma was waiting outside.I removed the engagement ring I had worn for three years, placed it in its jewelry box, and handed it to her.“Give this back to Dante after the video ends.”Emma accepted the box.“Don’t worry. I’ll put it directly into his hands.”By the time I reached the airport, Dante had sent me a message.The stylist says you never arrived. Where are you? I’ll send a driver.I didn’t reply.With fifteen minut

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