Chapter 3

The following evening, the Valdieri family held its annual banquet.

Damian ordered us to attend. Refusing one day before the custody order was signed would expose our plans, so I took Noah downstairs and reminded myself that this was the last Valdieri banquet we would ever endure.

But when the dinner began, the seats at Damian’s right were occupied by Sofia and her son, Luca.

Dessert had barely been served when Luca suddenly clutched his throat and collapsed, struggling to breathe.

Sofia screamed and rushed to him.

“Peanuts! He’s allergic to peanuts!”

The family doctor immediately administered medication. In the confusion, the chef checked Luca’s dessert and found crushed peanuts mixed into it.

Sofia held her son tightly, then looked toward Noah with red eyes.

“I saw Noah go into the kitchen earlier.”

Luca grabbed her sleeve and forced out the words between breaths.

“It was him... He said if I disappeared, no one would compete with him for Dad anymore.”

The banquet hall fell silent.

Every gaze turned toward Noah.

His face went pale as he shook his head.

“I didn’t do it. I only went into the kitchen to get water for Mom.”

Damian rose from his seat and walked toward him.

“Apologize to Luca.”

Noah stared at him.

“But I didn’t put peanuts in his dessert.”

“I told you to apologize.”

Damian did not raise his voice, but the entire hall went completely quiet.

Noah looked at him with red-rimmed eyes.

“Dad, you believe him, but you don’t believe me?”

Damian was silent for a moment before looking away.

“Luca wouldn’t risk his own life just to lie.”

Low whispers immediately spread around the room.

“He’s so young, and he already knows how to hurt another child.”

“How has the Donna been raising him?”

“How can a child like that become heir to the Valdieri family?”

I walked over and pulled Noah behind me.

“My son did nothing wrong, so he has nothing to apologize for.”

Damian frowned.

“Elena, this is not the time to indulge him.”

“I’m teaching him not to confess to something he didn’t do just to please the person in power.”

Damian’s expression darkened.

“Enough.”

One of the elders struck his cane against the floor.

“The heir refuses to obey the Don, and the Donna openly questions his judgment. Have you both forgotten the rules of the Valdieri family?”

Another elder spoke coldly.

“The child is young. If he made a mistake, then the mother who raised him should answer for it.”

The butler soon brought out the black leather whip used for family punishment.

Damian’s fingers tightened.

I looked directly at him.

If he said one word, no one in that room would dare touch me.

But Sofia was holding Luca, who had only just recovered, and quietly crying. Around them, the elders were waiting for their Don to defend the judgment he had already made.

Damian remained silent for a long time.

In the end, he said nothing.

Two guards stepped forward and held my shoulders.

When the first lash struck, Noah cried out and tried to run toward me, only to be stopped.

“Don’t hurt my mom!”

The second lash fell.

Noah struggled free and dropped to his knees in front of Luca.

“I’m sorry.”

His shoulders were trembling, but he still lowered his head properly, following the manners I had taught him.

“I put the peanuts in your dessert.”

The entire banquet hall went silent.

Noah slowly raised his red eyes and looked toward the man at the head of the table.

“Don Valdieri, I’m sorry.”

Damian’s expression changed instantly.

“Noah.”

He stood up so quickly that his chair scraped against the floor.

“What did you call me?”

Noah did not answer.

He walked to my side and carefully took my hand, avoiding the blood running down my wrist.

“Mom, let’s go.”

I removed the ring that symbolized my position as Donna and placed it on the long table.

Damian’s gaze dropped to the ring, and his face hardened.

“Elena, enough. Take Noah to the hospital. We’ll talk when you come back.”

I said nothing and walked out with my son.

At the hospital, my attorney photographed every lash and recorded Noah’s coerced confession. Before midnight, an emergency judge granted me temporary sole custody and prohibited Damian from taking Noah from me.

I no longer had to wait until Friday. I changed our flights and took Noah straight to the airport.

At three in the morning, our plane left New York.

Damian’s messages came one after another. He promised to confront the elders, replace Noah’s medallion, return our bedroom, and never let Sofia come between us again. When I didn’t answer, he apologized and asked which hospital we were in so he could bring us home.

He still believed I was waiting somewhere in New York for him to make things right.

He didn’t know that Noah and I were already flying across the Atlantic—and that this time, we would never return.