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Chapter 4

Author: Flora Johnson
The old me would have been so hurt that my eyes turned red, and I would have demanded to know why Luca was treating me like this.

But when I met Ella's provocative gaze, I curved my lips into a picture-perfect smile.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Larsen.

"I'm the thoughtless one who frightened you. You're Luca's right hand. Please be gracious and forgive me."

Hearing how sensible I sounded, Luca's body went rigid.

Seeing me so humble, he couldn't help feeling a flicker of panic.

"Don Luca, I've apologized. May I go now?"

By my count, it was time to leave for the airport.

Without looking at Luca's face, I turned and walked toward the door of the hospital room.

"Hold on."

Ella leaned back against the hospital bed and looked me up and down.

"Luca, there's something I need to point out."

Ella turned to Luca and spoke in a strictly businesslike tone.

"I've been going through the company accounts these past two days. You've spent far too much money on Lia.

"The couture coat she's wearing is priced at sixty-eight thousand dollars, not to mention the jewelry she usually wears and the sports car she drives. Luca, even if you were keeping an obedient plaything, no one spends money like that.

"She's only your assistant. Spending like this is excessive.

"If those funds were invested in the deal, they could bring in huge returns."

The implication couldn't have been clearer. I didn't deserve any of those resources.

The moment she finished, Luca called Emilio.

"Freeze all the family's subsidiary accounts Lia has access to. Suspend every dedicated luxury supply."

Emilio was silent for a moment, then reported truthfully, "Two days ago, Ms. Summers already notified the storeroom to stop all gift deliveries made in the family's name."

Luca froze, then looked at me with something close to approval.

"Lia, you really have grown sensible."

"May I go now?"

I didn't want to drag this out any longer.

"Not so fast."

A calculating glint flashed in Ella's eyes.

"Since we're keeping the books clean, the couture coat Lia is wearing was also bought with family funds. That makes it family property. As the project supervisor, I have the right to reclaim it. Take it off."

I looked at Luca in disbelief. I hoped he would step in and put a stop to this humiliation.

But when our eyes met, he turned his head slightly and avoided my gaze.

In that moment, all my years of companionship and devotion were weighed against profit and trampled into the dust.

He did love me. But that love wasn't enough for him to offend Ella, who held all the bargaining chips in the deal.

I quietly raised my hands and undid the buttons of my coat one by one.

The first button, then the second.

Just as the coat was about to slip off my shoulders, a dark men's overcoat was suddenly thrown over me.

Luca half pushed me out of the hospital room and shoved me into the car waiting outside.

"Be good. Go back to the estate first and wait for me to finish up here."

I looked at the face that had made my heart race countless times and forced a faint smile.

"Okay. I'll wait for you."

As soon as the car pulled out of his sight, I spoke to the driver.

"The airport, please. As fast as you can."

I used to naively believe that as long as I was capable enough and sensible enough, I would eventually earn equal respect.

Only now did I finally understand. Respect that someone hands out only after weighing it against their interests vanishes the moment the scales tip.

The plane soared above the clouds, heading for Serevast.

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  • I Chose Myself Before He Could    Chapter 10

    I watched Luca sway on his feet and tore away the last fig leaf between us."Deep down, you truly believe the family's interests come before everything. You recognize my abilities, and you enjoy having me hold down the home front for you. But the moment a bigger bargaining chip shows up, you instinctively put me on the scales to be weighed."You never look for the cause in yourself. You never dare to admit that it was your lofty arrogance, your own failure, that brought us to this point."Luca was stunned for a moment, and pain flashed in his eyes.He finally understood. What he had seen as redemption was, in my eyes, nothing more than shirking responsibility.I paid no attention to Luca as he fell apart, and I didn't spare Ella a single glance.I simply turned around and quietly shut the door on the whole absurd scene.Later, I heard that Luca had fallen seriously ill and that his bodyguards had carried him onto his private jet overnight.Ella had been taken away too.As for

  • I Chose Myself Before He Could    Chapter 9

    I cut off Luca's excuses and looked him straight in the eye, my gaze clear."Do you remember when I helped you crush the rebellion inside the family? When I got intelligence into your hands through a hail of bullets?"But the moment Ella showed up, you instinctively decided her business skills were worth more than everything I'd given you. You called my seven years of loyalty nothing more than a lover's jealousy."The favor you showed me was real. But that love came with conditions. I had to stay in my place behind you, be your assistant, be the future Donna waiting for your affection. The moment a bigger profit came along, I could be sacrificed for the time being."I'm not making myself suffer. I just want a life where I'm not something to be weighed and traded away."After I finished searing the steak, I picked up the plate to carry it to the table. When I turned around, I saw Luca standing in the loft's wooden doorway.A thin layer of snow from outside had settled on him, and

  • I Chose Myself Before He Could    Chapter 8

    Luca probably figured that if he cut off the peaceful life I had right now and backed me into a corner, I would face reality and obediently return to the place that belonged to me.The local farmer who supplied my inn with ingredients tore up our supply agreement without warning.The convoy that delivered firewood for heating stopped pulling up to the cabin.A few days later, my landlord came to me holding a check for an astonishing amount, looking awkward."A gentleman from Balkn has bought this cabin. He's asked me to inform you that you need to move out within three days."None of this surprised me.That was because Luca showed up every day. He didn't do anything. He just sat by the fireplace, watching me bustle around with a heavy gaze.So I simply closed the inn for the time being. I borrowed an ax from the friendly local who lived next door and went up the mountain myself to gather firewood and stock up on fuel to stay warm.Back with the Vito family, I had carried out co

  • I Chose Myself Before He Could    Chapter 7

    Lia's POVTowering snowy mountains stretched across the horizon. The water of the fjord glimmered a deep blue, and a crisp, clean sea breeze drifted in through the cabin's windows.I sat at a log desk, going over my income in the ledger.After leaving the Vito family, I had sold all the jewelry and luxury cars Luca had given me. That was my pay for seven years of blood, sweat, and tears. With that money, I bought a small cabin on the fjord and turned it into a little inn.I no longer had to keep my nerves on edge every day, analyzing bloody gang intelligence, constantly reading Luca's moods, or staying ready for open attacks and hidden knives from within the family.Here, I didn't have to wear restrictive couture gowns or keep up the proper bearing of a future Donna.In the six months since I came to Serevast, I had let go of the guard I'd held for so long.Before, my nerves and my body had always been strained to the limit.Now, after all the wind and sun, faint sunspots had a

  • I Chose Myself Before He Could    Chapter 6

    Emilio's voice was unusually grave."The final round of negotiations for the international deal with the Serevein consortium starts this afternoon. This deal will decide the Vito Borgata's territory for decades to come, and Ms. Larsen is the only one who can handle all of their terms. If you leave now, everything we've spent so long setting up will collapse. The family elders will never let it go."The words on the other end of the line hit Luca like a bucket of ice water and jolted him awake.On one side was the family empire, hanging by a thread. On the other was Lia, who had walked away without looking back.A cruel choice lay before him.It seemed everyone already knew what his answer would be.On the third day after Lia left, the international deal was officially signed.The Vito Borgata's power soared, and the entire Palmyrean mafia world celebrated the victory.A lavish victory party was held at the family estate, with glasses clinking and guests packing the halls.Luca

  • I Chose Myself Before He Could    Chapter 5

    Third-Person POVElla claimed she felt dizzy and unwell and needed to stay under observation, so Luca spent the entire night at the hospital.All night long, his mind was filled with the look in Lia's eyes as she apologized in that hospital room and unbuttoned her coat without a moment's hesitation.That calm stabbed into his heart like a needle.When Ella finally fell asleep, he rushed home as fast as he could.On the way back, he made a detour to buy Lia's favorite berry pie and the tactical watch she had been talking about for ages. It was a piece of gear she had always wanted for her intelligence work.In Luca's mind, Lia was just upset for the moment.Once she saw these gifts and saw him make the first move to patch things up, she would surely throw herself into his arms like before, return to his side, and go on assisting him as his future Donna."Lia, I'm home."Luca took off his suit jacket and tossed it in the entryway. The house was quiet. The figure who always came

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