Chapter 3

I shoved Leonardo away.

"You killed my mother, and you left me unable to have children. And you call that love?"

Victoria laughed softly. "In families like ours, control is love. How did it take you this long to figure that out?"

I raised my hand to slap her.

Before I could, Leonardo grabbed my wrist and threw me aside.

I hit the corner of the table. Pain shot through my side.

The bodyguards rushed in and held me down.

Victoria clutched her stomach and leaned against Leonardo. "She almost hurt our baby."

I froze.

I would never be a mother.

And another woman was already carrying his child.

Just like that, my seven years of love became a joke.

My eyes burned.

"You're murderers!"

Leonardo's face darkened. "Enough. You wanted to know why the ring was a copy."

He looked down at me. The tenderness from last night was gone. "The real ruby ring belongs to the Donna. You have no family to protect you. You don't even know how to defend yourself. Giving you the real ring would only put you in danger."

I stared at him.

"You could have given me anything. Why copy the Donna's ring at all? Why lie to me?"

Leonardo was silent for a moment. "Because you wanted to marry me. A normal ring wouldn't have made you that happy."

He spoke calmly, with the kind of patience reserved for someone beneath him. "I had the setting made from platinum and picked the finest lab-grown ruby. It looks exactly like the real ring. The only difference is that it doesn't make you the Donna.

"I gave you the ring you wanted without putting you in real danger. Camilla, I've done more than enough for you."

The tears finally came.

"The platinum is real. The ruby is real. The only things you faked were its story and your love for me."

Leonardo frowned. "It's just a ring. Don't make it sound so harsh. Victoria and I are only getting engaged to unite our families. You're the woman I've loved for seven years.

"After she gives me a son, a nanny can raise the child. If you don't like Victoria, I won't even let her live here."

He held out his hand. His voice softened again.

For the first time, I saw his love for what it really was.

He remembered my favorite flowers, my food allergies, and every anniversary.

But he'd never cared about what I wanted.

I wiped my face.

"Don't bother. I'm leaving you."

Leonardo's face darkened. "Don't threaten me with that."

He gestured to the bodyguards. "Take Camilla back to the apartment. No one goes in without my permission."

Two of them started escorting me toward the door.

I pulled away.

"I can walk."

As I descended the steps, I looked back one last time.

Leonardo still stood there, his arm around Victoria's waist. His gloomy eyes stayed on me.

He thought I'd calm down once I was back in the apartment he'd bought for me, surrounded by his guards. Just like I always had.

But he didn't know Matteo had already booked me a flight to Florence for the next afternoon.

Back at the apartment, I felt strangely calm. I didn't cry.

Two bodyguards stood outside my door. I picked up a knife and held it to my throat. "If Leonardo won't punish you for letting me die, then stay. But if you follow me after today, you'll pay for it too."

The lead guard had known me for seven years. After a long silence, he finally waved the others away.

The walk-in closet was full of jewelry, clothes, and watches Leonardo had given me over the years.

I put the fake ring back in its black velvet box and left it where he could see it.

I took none of it.

I packed a few clothes, my passport, my old project files, and the restoration tools that had been gathering dust for years.

That was the future I had fought for before I ever met Leonardo.

That life belonged to me.

I pulled my mother's photograph from a drawer.

She looked healthy in the photo, standing in the kitchen with a gentle smile.

I stared at her for a moment, then placed the photo in my suitcase and zipped it shut.

On the way to the airport, I stopped once.

When I drove off again, the brown envelope on the passenger seat was gone.

The next afternoon, I arrived at the airport on time.

The terminal was crowded. Soon, the boarding call for my flight to Florence came over the speakers.

At that same moment, Leonardo and Victoria's engagement ceremony began.

The Moretti family gave up thirty percent of East Harbor's operating rights. In return, the Luciano family officially named Victoria their future Donna.

There were no reporters. Only the top capos from both families and heavily armed guards attended.

Every guest had to hand over their weapons at the door.

Only Leonardo kept a gun at his hip.

He'd been restless all morning.

I'd been too quiet.

No crying. No clinging. Not even an angry message.

He checked his phone again and again, opening our chat every time.

"How much longer are you going to keep this up?"

He typed the message but stopped before sending it. In the end, he deleted it.

A man as proud as Leonardo would never give in first.

He still believed I'd come back if he waited long enough. Just like I always did.

My mother's scarf?

If it couldn't be recovered, he'd hire the best craftsman in the world to make another.

And the fake ring?

If I really cared that much, he could send me a whole case of natural rubies.

Flowers, music, houses, jewelry. He could give me anything.

Anything except the right to choose.

The more he thought about it, the more certain he became that I was being unreasonable.

He had loved me for years.

What more could I possibly want?

When the ceremony began, I watched a livestream from the airport.

Wearing a formal black suit, Leonardo slid the real ruby ring onto Victoria's finger again.

The capos of both families welcomed her as their future Donna.

I opened my chat with Leonardo and sent one word.

"Goodbye."

The message went through.

At that exact moment, a bell rang on the livestream, marking the end of the ceremony.

Then the gate agent called for the last passengers to board.

I switched off my phone and pulled down my eye mask.

This time, I wasn't looking back.