Chapter 2

Elena's POV

"Did someone hurt you? Your mamma and I will head to the Costa residence and bring you back right now."

The tears I had held back all night finally spilled over when I heard Papa's voice.

He didn't blame me for making such a sudden decision. He only cared whether I was okay.

But I couldn't let them come.

Ever since our family went through that crisis years ago, Papa's health had plummeted, and Mamma had moved him from city to city just to settle down.

I didn't want them suffering on my account anymore, nor did I want them to see me like this.

I was typing "I can make it back on my own" on my phone when footsteps echoed from the foyer.

It was Antonio and Sofia.

I looked up, and before I could utter a word, my eyes locked onto the diamond-encrusted clover bracelet on Sofia's wrist.

He certainly had good taste. Every single diamond glittered under the lights, piercingly bright and making my eyes ache.

When Antonio caught sight of my bloodshot eyes, he paused. "What are you crying for?"

I didn't answer. My gaze was still fixed on that bracelet.

Sofia followed my line of sight down to her wrist, then lightly patted Antonio's arm. It didn't look like a reprimand. It looked more like flirting.

"This is your fault. You only thought of me. Why didn't you pick one up for Elena too?"

Then she bit her lip, seemingly making a difficult decision, before raising her hand to take off the bracelet. "Elena, if you want it, you can have it."

But Antonio moved faster than her and gently caught her wrist. "Don't give it to her. She doesn't deserve something this nice."

The moment he finished speaking, his eyes traveled over me from head to toe. The disdain in them was so obvious that he didn't even bother pretending otherwise.

I instinctively touched my clothes. The edges of my sweater were covered in pills.

Right, I didn't deserve it.

But I used to wear fine things once. I had sent those silks and cashmeres to the pawn shop piece by piece, all for him and Matteo.

As I stood there frozen, Antonio glanced down at his phone, and his expression shifted.

Grabbing my wrist, he pulled me into the study and slammed the door behind us.

My heart jumped into my throat. Had he seen my messages in the neighborhood chat begging for medicine? Was he feeling guilty?

The next second, he shoved his phone into my face. On the screen were the chat logs from the neighborhood chat.

"You went begging strangers for medicine?"

His voice dropped low, his jaw tight. "I told you I bought it, yet you still went begging to a bunch of strangers? What are the neighbors going to say? That my woman can't even get a box of fever medicine?"

I stood there, paralyzed. That ridiculous spark of hope in my chest was shattered like a slap to the face.

I turned, picked up the box from the nightstand, and held it up. "Is this the medicine you were talking about?"

"What's wrong with it?" he snapped.

Then he actually looked at the ingredients, and his voice died in his throat. "…I overlooked that."

He set the box down on the nightstand and softened his tone.

A moment later, he transferred some money to my account.

My screen lit up with the notification. The amount wasn't huge, but it was just enough to cover a month's household expenses.

Looking at the balance on my screen, I thought of the diamond bracelet on Sofia's wrist and how he hadn't even blinked as he pulled out his black card at the boutique.

Suddenly, I realized there was no point left to this marriage.

"Antonio," I said softly, "I want a divorce."