Chapter 3

The next morning, an Instagram notification appeared on my phone.

Giulia had made a post and tagged me publicly.

The caption read, "Place your bets—how many days can the gold digger who managed to hook herself a Don survive after running away from home?"

The comments came almost immediately.

Matteo was the first to join in.

"Half a day. The second she realizes the Don isn't chasing after her to drag her back and marry her, she'll panic."

Chiara followed. "I'll give her a day. We have to let her keep up the act for a little while, don't we?"

Then Enzo chimed in. "Loser buys the drinks."

Giulia replied without the slightest hesitation.

"You're all giving her way too much credit. She might already be on her way back home as we speak."

Then she added, "Anyone who genuinely wants to leave doesn't make a public spectacle of it. They just leave quietly. Everything she did last night was obviously meant to force Luca to swallow his pride and beg her to stay."

Her next comment was even more vicious.

"Too bad for her, Luca has me. He didn't fall for her little act. Now she'll have to find a way to save face. After spending five years getting this close, where else is she going to find another opportunity like this?"

Sofia jumped in with a laughing emoji. "How can you be so sure?"

Giulia answered shamelessly, "It takes one to know one. I used to date rich men, too."

Then, as if that somehow made her superior to me, she continued, "But there's one difference between us. My mother was Luca's nanny and helped raise him, so I've always had him looking out for me. That's why I was able to leave that life behind."

And then came the words that made the entire comment section turn uglier.

"What does she have? Nothing but the filth she crawled out of."

A flood of laughing emojis followed.

I kept scrolling, looking at one cruel comment after another.

And then, among all the people laughing at me, I saw a familiar account—Luca. He had liked the post, and that single like told me everything I needed to know.

Without a word, I closed Instagram.

Maybe because I had been too silent, an unfamiliar number called a few minutes later. I answered.

An anxious voice rushed through the line.

"Is this Don Camorra's fiancee? Don Camorra was attacked. He's been shot several times and is currently receiving emergency treatment at the hospital. You need to come right away!"

I couldn't help laughing when I heard it.

They had pulled the same trick far too many times over the past five years.

Once, I was in the middle of an important experiment. I was only moments away from obtaining a critical piece of research data when they called to tell me Luca had fallen off a cliff and disappeared.

I abandoned everything and rushed to the mountain like a madwoman.

Only to find them camping halfway up the slope.

The moment they saw me, they pointed at my shoes, which had fallen apart from running so hard, and burst into laughter.

They said I was so desperate because I was terrified that my dream of becoming Donna was slipping away.

Another time, my brother—the only family I had left—was hospitalized with severe food poisoning.

I was already sick with worry when they called.

This time, they told me Luca had been shot and was on the verge of death. I rushed to the hospital with my eyes swollen from crying.

But Luca was perfectly fine. He was sitting comfortably on a couch, drinking as if nothing had happened.

His friends slapped the table and roared with laughter.

They said I had such a natural talent for drama that I should join the contest for Best Actress.

Again and again, I fell for their lies like an idiot.

Not because I was stupid, but because I loved him.

Because no matter how much I wanted to doubt them, I could never bring myself to risk even the slightest chance that something had happened to him.

That was how they controlled me. They knew I would always choose to believe them if it meant keeping him safe.

But now? I didn't love him anymore.

And without my love for him, they had nothing left to hold over me.

My voice was cold when I answered, "Don Camorra and I have broken up. If you need anything from him, contact one of his men.

Silence stretched across the line.

Then Giulia spoke. "Mira, you're even better at this than I thought."

She laughed softly. "But don't think pretending you don't care is going to fool Luca."

A burst of laughter sounded in the background.

I ended the call without another word.

By the time I reached the airport, a former coworker called me.

"Mira, the Don came to the office just now. He looked furious. He asked if you had really resigned."

"What did you tell him?" I asked calmly.

"I didn't even get a chance to answer. A woman suddenly rushed over and pulled him aside."

I said nothing, waiting for her to continue.

"She told the Don that you were working with me. She said you were probably still putting on an act to scare him and warned him not to fall for it."

I didn't need to ask who she was.

I was about to get in line for security when my phone vibrated again.

It was a video from Giulia. The footage showed a dimly lit private room in a nightclub.

Luca sat in the middle of a couch, a glass in his hand. But there was something off about him. He looked distracted and uneasy.

Giulia was pressed close against his side, speaking softly as she tried to reassure him.

"Luca, don't worry. She's not really leaving. She's just putting on a show to force you to give in."

She leaned closer. "As long as you don't go after her, she'll keep changing her flight and sitting at the airport, waiting for you to come to her."

Her voice grew more insistent. "But if you go after her now, she'll have you under her thumb for the rest of your life."

Luca tightened his grip on his glass.

Frustration and uncertainty flickered across his face as he asked, "What if she really leaves?"

Giulia answered without hesitation, "If she does, I'll get down on my knees and apologize to her in front of everyone."

Just then, a security officer's voice broke through the noise around me.

"Ma'am, may I see your boarding pass and passport, please?"

I locked my phone and looked up.

Then I handed over my documents.

I didn't care about Giulia's apology. I didn't need it anymore.