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홈 / Mafia / Matteo Bellandi Buried the Wrong Woman / Chapter 3

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Chapter 3

작가: Anna Smith
I was too tired to raise my voice. "This is not about Sofia. I just don't want this marriage anymore."

The crystal tumbler in Matteo's hand struck the table hard enough to crack.

"You lived with this for five years, so what changed tonight?"

He stared at me, then stood and reached for his coat. "We leave tomorrow, and I'm not doing this tonight."

The next morning, I still saw them before they left.

Not at a commercial airport, but at the private terminal Matteo used whenever he traveled with men, money, or secrets. Security moved luggage while the crew fueled the jet.

Sofia stood near the stairs in a fitted coat and dark glasses, one hand resting on a silver case of dive gear Matteo had bought for her. The second she saw me, she smiled.

"You know he came to my suite after midnight?" she asked lightly. "Said I shouldn't sleep alone before a flight. Did you two fight?"

"Then maybe you should keep him," I said, nudging Leo toward her. "Sounds like that's what you want."

She took it as surrender and looked delighted.

Matteo came back from speaking to one of his men, took Sofia's hand, and glanced at me.

"Send me your birthday wish," he said. "If it can be done, I'll make it happen."

But Leo was already pulling Sofia toward the jet. The three of them crossed the tarmac like a family I had no place in.

By the time I got home, I was burning with fever.

Half asleep, I dreamed of Matteo at twenty in our first apartment kitchen, testing the temperature of my medicine against his mouth before handing it to me.

"Elena," he said in the dream, "be good. Take it."

When I woke, my phone was vibrating.

"Why didn't you pack Leo's allergy medicine?" Matteo demanded. "You know the salt air sets him off."

"Yesterday, you said I didn't need to pack anything."

There was a pause, then his irritation rushed back. "Fine. Text me the name. You always manage to make things harder at the worst time."

When the call ended, I looked at the screen for a long time and finally let myself cry.

That was the moment it truly ended for me.

I sat down with my lawyer that afternoon and listed every account, property, holding company, and investment tied to our marriage. I did not ask for Leo's custody. Cruel as it was, my son had already chosen his side.

I asked for one thing only.

Matteo was not to have children with any other woman.

He had promised me that once, back when he first swore there would never be another heir to challenge Leo.

Before I left, I went to the Bellandi estate to see his mother.

When my parents died, she was the first person who had ever made me feel cared for in someone else’s home. But when I stepped into the living room, she was on a video call with Malta.
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  • Matteo Bellandi Buried the Wrong Woman   Chapter 9

    For a second Matteo just stood there.Then he broke."I ended it with Sofia," he said hoarsely. "I won't raise her child. I'll make sure the baby is provided for, but that's all. Just give me one more chance.""No. We don't have to become enemies, and sign the papers, Matteo. Let this end while there's still something left to bury."He closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he took the pen my lawyer had left on the desk and signed.I got custody of Leo.The first few weeks were rougher than either of us liked to admit. He tested rules, cried at odd hours, asked after Matteo when he thought I wasn't listening, and once called me from school just to hear my voice at pickup. But children settle where they feel safe, and safety turned out to be quieter than the estate and warmer than apology.To my own surprise, the part that healed fastest was watching my son and Ethan settle into each other. Leo followed him around the house, asked endless questions about boats and card rooms and wh

  • Matteo Bellandi Buried the Wrong Woman   Chapter 8

    Ethan kept showing up after that.Sometimes with coffee. Sometimes with legal names I needed to know. Sometimes just to take Leo for gelato or down to the docks, then bring him back sugared up and full of stories about tugboats, card rooms, and why every respectable man ought to tip valets properly.He also found me the kind of divorce lawyer men like Matteo usually hired before anyone else could. That alone should have told me not to underestimate him again. Somewhere along the line, Leo stopped watching him like a stranger and started waiting by the window when Ethan said he'd come.Sofia came to my restaurant two weeks later.By then the place was packed every night, all low lighting and expensive wine, the kind of room where politicians, captains, and women in backless dresses pretended not to clock one another's bodyguards. She stood out anyway, all diamonds and grievance."Don't flatter yourself," she said the second she sat down across from me. "One rooftop stunt doesn't mean Ma

  • Matteo Bellandi Buried the Wrong Woman   Chapter 7

    Vale Tower was already swarming by the time we got there.Press vans lined the block. Family security kept back the crowd. Somewhere above us, on a stretch of rooftop now lit by emergency beacons, Matteo Bellandi was threatening to throw himself off the building that now belonged to the man I had just spent the night with.That was how absurd my life had become.Near the barricades, Sofia stood in a pale coat with one hand braced under the swell of her stomach, screaming up at the roof. "Matteo! Get down from there! I'm carrying your child!"Reporters and medics clustered around her. People were already whispering about the damage this could do to the Vales—Ethan had only just taken control, and a public spectacle on his tower was the kind of thing enemies loved.Ethan's jaw tightened. "Unbelievable."We went up through a private elevator with three of his men and two city negotiators. The wind on the roof hit like a slap.Matteo stood near the edge with his arms loose at his sides and

  • Matteo Bellandi Buried the Wrong Woman   Chapter 6

    I never meant to see Matteo Bellandi again.The nurse kept her word. The death call was made. The paperwork held long enough. By the time Matteo got to Malta, there was nothing left to identify except a name, a file, and ashes he thought were mine.I came home quietly, moved every liquid asset my lawyers could legally shield, and bought myself a townhouse in the city under a clean holding company Matteo could not touch. Then I opened a small supper club in a neighborhood where people still appreciated low lights, strong drinks, and pasta that tasted like somebody actually loved them. Business caught faster than I expected. Before long, one location had turned into three, and I was spending my nights studying payroll, wine orders, and permits instead of waiting up for a man who never came home on time.Months later, on the night we closed our first truly ridiculous month in profit, my staff dragged me into the private lounge upstairs to celebrate.That was when Matteo's messages started

  • Matteo Bellandi Buried the Wrong Woman   Chapter 5

    Matteo's expression turned to stone. He caught my arm and dragged me into the corridor before I could say another word."Who the hell do you think you are?" he asked. "Coming in here and talking about my child?""Your child?" I yanked my arm free. "You promised Leo would be your only heir. The Bellandi name, your seat, the business - all of it was supposed to go to him."He gave a short, humorless laugh. "Leo is my son. So is the baby Sofia is carrying, if it's a boy. If it's a girl, she's still mine. What exactly are you trying to argue?""You really think that ends well?" I asked. "Today it's me you're pushing aside for Sofia. Tomorrow it will be Leo paying the price for that baby. Tell her to end it now."The slap landed so hard my head snapped to the side.When I looked back at him, Matteo's face was cold and unfamiliar. "No one speaks about her that way," he said. "No one speaks about my child that way."I pressed my hand to my cheek and stared at him.This was the man who had onc

  • Matteo Bellandi Buried the Wrong Woman   Chapter 4

    Mrs. Bellandi was smiling at the screen as if she were looking at something perfectly ordinary."Sofia is still young," she said. "Girls her age are not built for a life like ours. Be patient with her."Matteo ruffled Sofia's hair with open fondness. "She's got a temper. One wrong look and she starts a war.""Then don't cross her," his mother said, amused. "Sofia, sweetheart, eat a little more. You're far too thin."I was still standing by the foyer, damp from the rain, bag in hand. I had not even taken off my shoes.So that was the truth of it. Matteo had not run out of tenderness. He had simply given it to someone else, and his mother had made room for her.Mrs. Bellandi finally noticed me. "Elena. You're here.""Just passing through," I said. "Don't worry about me. I'm leaving."It was raining again when I stepped outside.I walked to the old park by the university because some wounds insist on being opened where they began. Once, beneath those trees, Matteo had kissed me and promis

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