Chapter 5

Aurelia’s Pov

The penthouse door clicked shut behind me with a soft, final sound that echoed like the closing of a tomb.

I stood motionless in the grand foyer, the city lights of New York glittering coldly through the floor-to-ceiling windows. My legs felt like they belonged to someone else. The bag slipped from my numb fingers and hit the marble with a dull thud, but I didn’t bother picking it up. What was the point? Nothing in it mattered anymore. Not after today.

I am done.

The words repeated in my head like a broken prayer. My heart was a raw, bleeding wound inside my chest, throbbing so violently I pressed both hands over it, afraid it might actually shatter. 

Hot tears burned their way down my cheeks before I could stop them. I stumbled forward, collapsing onto the wide leather couch that still carried the faint trace of Dante’s cologne- dark, expensive, intoxicating. 

The same scent that had wrapped around me last night when he’d claimed every inch of my body like he owned it.

Like he owned me.

I curled into myself, knees drawn tight to my chest, arms wrapped protectively around my middle where our baby- my baby was secretly growing. A broken sob tore from my throat.

Why does it still hurt this much?

Flashbacks assaulted me without mercy.

Dante’s powerful body pinning me to the mattress, his dark eyes blazing with raw possession as he growled against my lips, “Say it. Who do you belong to?”

My own desperate, shattered voice moaning back, “You- only you, Dante…”

The brutal, addictive rhythm of his hips slamming into me, the way I had begged so shamelessly, tears of pleasure streaming down my face. “Harder- please, Dante, harder- don’t stop!”

The way I had fallen asleep afterward in the cage of his strong arms, my cheek pressed to his chest, listening to the steady thunder of his heartbeat and foolishly believing- just for one fragile second- that I was finally safe. That I was wanted. Maybe, after three years, he was starting to see me.

A fresh wave of pain crashed over me. I buried my face in the cushion and screamed into it, the sound muffled but raw.

He never saw me. He was just using me.

I wanted to hate him. God, I wanted to hate him so much. But even now, a pathetic flicker of hope still burned in my chest like a dying ember. Maybe if I fight harder… Maybe if I prove I can be everything Aisha is… Maybe he’ll choose me.

My trembling hand shot out toward my bag. I fumbled for my phone, fingers shaking so badly I nearly dropped it twice. I dialed Dante’s number with my heart in my throat.

One ring.

Two.

Three.

Nothing.

I tried again. And again. Each unanswered ring felt like a knife twisting deeper.

On the fifth attempt, the line finally clicked.

“Dante-” My voice cracked with desperate hope.

“Mrs. Salvatore?” It wasn’t him. It was Dani- his assistant. His tone was polite, apologetic, and instantly crushed the last piece of me. 

“I’m so sorry, ma’am. Mr. Salvatore left his phone behind. He’s on his way to the airport to pick up Ms. Hayden. He asked me to hold onto it in case anything urgent came up.”

The world went silent.

The phone slipped from my fingers and clattered onto the marble floor. For one stunned second, I just stared at the cracked screen. Then the scream ripped out of me.

A raw, guttural, animal sound that echoed off the walls of the empty penthouse. I snatched the phone and slammed it down again and again, harder and harder, until the screen spiderwebbed and shattered into glittering pieces.

“Fuck you!” I snarled, voice hoarse and broken. 

“Fuck you, Dante Salvatore! I hate you!”

Rage exploded through me like wildfire. I grabbed the nearest cushion and hurled it across the room. It slammed uselessly against the wall. Another. Another. I kept throwing them, screaming until my throat burned raw.

When the fury finally ebbed, I was on my knees on the cold marble floor, panting, shaking, tears streaming freely down my face. My eyes landed on my bag again. On the plain white envelope tucked inside- the divorce papers Vincent had prepared for me in secret.

My hands wouldn’t stop trembling as I pulled them out. The black ink stared back at me, clean and merciless. This was it. The end of everything I had sacrificed for three long years.

I found a pen on the coffee table- one Dante used to sign million-dollar deals that destroyed lives. Fitting. I dropped to my knees again, spreading the papers across the low table. My vision blurred with fresh tears.

For a long moment, I couldn’t move. My hand shook so violently I was afraid I’d ruin the document. But then I remembered Aisha’s name. The way his secretary had casually mentioned she was already in his office. The way he had kissed me this morning like I mattered, only to run to the airport for her.

I pressed the pen to the paper. “Aurelia Salvatore.”

The ink flowed smooth and dark. I stared at my married name now crossed out by my own hand. A sob choked me.

“I hate you, Dante Salvatore,” I whispered, voice cracking into pieces. “I fucking hate you for making me love you this much.”

With numb fingers, I twisted the wedding band off my finger. The platinum ring that had once meant the world to me- the one I used to kiss goodnight when he was away. It felt heavy, like it carried every painful memory. I placed it carefully on top of the signed papers, right where he would see it.

A final goodbye.

I stood on unsteady legs and walked into the bedroom that had never truly been ours. The bed still carried the scent of last night’s passion. I opened the closet and began packing only what was truly mine. The few simple dresses I had bought myself. Old, comfortable sweaters from before this nightmare marriage. The small box of childhood photos I had kept hidden in the back like a secret treasure.

I didn’t touch anything he had given me. Not the diamond jewelry. Not the expensive lingerie he liked to tear off. Not the silk robe he loved seeing me in. Those things belonged to the old Aurelia- the one who had begged for scraps of his affection. She was dead now.

When the suitcase was finally zipped, I straightened and looked around one last time. My eyes lingered on the bed where he had made me scream his name. On the windows where the city lights still sparkled mockingly, indifferent to my shattered world.

“Goodbye,” I whispered to the empty room.

I wheeled the suitcase out, each step heavier than the last. Vincent’s driver was already waiting downstairs, as if he had known. He took the suitcase without a word and opened the car door for me.

I paused on the sidewalk, the cold night wind cutting through my sweater. “Sir… may I borrow your phone? Just one call.”

He handed it over silently. I dialed Mia with trembling fingers. Three rings.

“Hello?” Mia’s voice was professional at first. Then it shifted instantly. “Who is this?”

“Mia… it’s me. Lia.”

“Lia? Baby, whose phone are you calling from? Why do you sound like that? Are you okay? Where are you?” The worry in her voice nearly broke me all over again.

“Mia… I need a favor.” My voice cracked. I pressed a hand over my mouth to hold back the sob clawing its way up.

“Lia, you’re scaring me. What happened? Did he hurt you? Are you safe?”

“I’m safe,” I lied, though my voice trembled. “But I need you to promise me something. No one can know. No one. Especially not Dante. No one can know that I’m pregnant. That I’m carrying Dante Salvatore’s child.”

Silence stretched on the other end. Then Mia’s voice came back, low, fierce, and heartbroken. “Oh, Lia… oh God. What did he do this time?”

“He chose her,” I whispered, fresh tears spilling over. “He’s at the airport right now. Picking her up. I just signed the papers. I left the ring on them. I’m done, Mia. I’m really done letting him destroy me.”

Mia sucked in a shaky breath. “You’re sure? You’re really sure about this?”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.” Another pause. Then her voice steadied, soft but with steel underneath. 

“Okay. Then it stays between us. Doctor-patient confidentiality. I’ll make sure there are no records under your real name if we can manage it. No one will know. Not him. Not Vincent. Not your family. You have my word, Lia. I’ve got you.”

A trembling exhale left my lungs. “Thank you… thank you so much.”

“Where are you going now?” she asked gently.

“I don’t know yet,” I admitted, my voice barely audible. “But I’ll figure it out. For the baby. For me. I have to.”

“I’m here,” Mia said quietly, her voice thick with emotion. “Whenever you’re ready. Whenever you need me. You’re not alone, okay? You’re never alone in this.”

“I know.” I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. “I love you, Mia.”

“I love you more. Call me the second you’re somewhere safe.” I ended the call and handed the phone back to the driver. Then I finally slid into the back seat. The door closed with a quiet, final click that sealed my old life away forever.

I placed both hands protectively over my still-flat stomach, feeling the tiniest spark of life growing inside me.

This child would never know what it felt like to be unwanted. They would never cry themselves to sleep wondering why their father chose another woman. They would never have to beg for love the way I did.

I leaned my head back against the seat as the car pulled away from the penthouse—from the man who had broken me so completely. Tears kept falling, but for the first time in three years, there was something else beneath the pain.

Resolve. Strength. And a fierce, burning love for the tiny life I would protect with everything I had left.

Dante Salvatore could have Aisha. He could have the empire, the money, the perfect life he always wanted. But he would never have us. Not anymore.