Open Marriage Closed Heart

The next day, Sophia Ricci waltzed into the hospital room.She held a bouquet of white lilies—funeral flowers—and wore an innocent smile."Get out," I said. My voice was ice.She walked right in, put the flowers in a vase, and spoke softly. "Isabella, don't be like this. Damien already told me off. I just glanced at the files. I had no idea... I feel so awful."With one sentence, she turned a capital offense, leaking intel, into a little mistake. "Curiosity."I slowly stood up and walked toward her. "You think 'I didn't know' is going to keep you alive?"I pressed the cold steel of my gun to her forehead.Fear finally crept onto her face. She flinched back. "You can't… Damien, he…""He what?" I chambered a round.I sneered. The innocent act was pathetic.Damien had countless women, but none ever dared to threaten me.None ever dared to declare war."You think he'd go to war with me over a traitor?" I asked her.The next second, Damien's voice came from the doorway."Bella, stop!"He lu

Damien rushed to my side.He saw my tear-filled eyes and the shattered music box on the floor. Pain filled his face. "Bella, what happened? Your hands…"He reached for me, but I flinched away in disgust.Just then, Sophia ran in after him.She threw herself into her mother's arms, crying her eyes out. "Mama, are you okay? It's all my fault, I shouldn't have asked you to help… Miss Isabella, please forgive us, we didn't mean it!"Elena immediately started her act, looking at me with fake terror. "Damien, you have to talk to Isabella. She was like a madwoman just now, she said she was going to kill us…""I just told her not to touch my mother's things!" I pointed at the broken pieces on the floor, my voice ice.Damien's eyes darted between the crying Sophia and her mother, and me.His brow furrowed. The pain in his eyes was replaced by impatience and doubt."Bella, that's enough." His voice was laced with something I'd never heard before: disappointment. In me.I stared at the stranger w

After the meeting, I was "escorted" back to the manor.Two of Damien's men stood outside my door. They called it protection. I called it a cage.The room was still a wreck.Elena and Sophia's people had removed most of my things, leaving only what they deemed "unimportant."I sat on the edge of the bed. The cabinet where my mother's music box once sat was now just a hollow, empty space. After it was shattered that day, I never saw the pieces again. They were just… gone. I squeezed my eyes shut, fighting the familiar sting behind them. I refused to let a single tear fall. In my mind, I could still hear its ghostly melody. A song I thought I'd never hear again. A knock at the door shattered the quiet grief. "Come in."It wasn't a guard. It was Julian.He wore a black suit and held a small velvet box.His gaze drifted to the empty cabinet, lingering for a moment before meeting mine."How did you get in?" I asked."Your husband's men know better than to stop me," Julian said, clo

The call came at four in the morning, waking me from a dead sleep."What is it?" I answered, pretending to be groggy."Ma'am, it's a disaster!" Marco's voice was panicked. "The FBI just raided Pier 2!"I sat up, putting on a shocked voice no one could see. "What?""The Neptune was seized, all the cargo confiscated. And three of our guys were arrested.""How bad are the losses?""At least five million. Not counting legal fees and bail," Marco's voice trembled. "The Boss is losing his mind. He wants to see you.""I'm on my way."I hung up the phone. A cold smile touched my lips.The trap had been sprung.The meeting room at the main house was in chaos.The elders were gathered around the long table, every face dark as a thundercloud.Damien stood in the middle of the room, his face pale, his eyes bloodshot.Sophia was huddled in a chair in the corner, her eyes red and swollen from crying."Isabella!" Damien stormed over to me the second I walked in. "Do you know what happened?""Marco to

In the three days after the summit, Damien went completely insane.He had lost his family, his fortune, and his power.Most importantly, he had lost me.Julian's network told me Damien had locked himself in a rundown safe house, drinking himself blind and talking to the walls."It's all her fault," he repeated, over and over. "It's all that bitch's fault."But he wasn't talking about me.He was talking about Sophia.On the fourth night, gunfire echoed from the docks.Julian and I were in the main house study, planning the family's restructuring, when Marco burst in."Boss, there's a problem!" he panted. "A body was found at Pier 12."Julian frowned. "Whose?""Sophia Ricci."A silent understanding passed between us."Details," Julian commanded."Three shots. Two to the chest, one to the head," Marco said, wiping sweat from his brow. "The kill was professional. But the cleanup…""But what?""They left the Castellano family's signature. A white rose and their family crest."I almost laugh