Chapter 3

Dragging my small suitcase behind me, I went to see Professor Margarita Accardi. She was a close friend of Mom's.

When I gave up pursuing my master's degree in archaeology to marry Antonio, she was the only one who was completely against it.

She didn't attend the wedding ceremony, but she sent me a text that day.

"You're losing more than you're gaining. When you've grown tired of being a canary in a cage, remember there's a difficult but free path you can take."

Her words were almost prophetic.

In the early days of our marriage, Antonio's controlling behavior wasn't as obvious. He'd take me to various events with him. But then, someone stared at me a bit too long. His eyes darkened, and from that day on, I was never allowed to go to another event.

Things got worse when Elena suggested she could "take care" of me. That was when I truly lost all my freedom.

The door opened.

When Margarita saw me show up in a shabby outfit, her expression shifted to one of understanding.

"Come in, dear," she said, stepping aside. "I just made some coffee."

Tears instantly welled up in my eyes.

Margarita waited for me to calm down before speaking slowly.

"We just discovered a new tomb in Stonemoor, and I need an assistant for my team."

I looked up, my eyes wide. "Are you offering me a chance?"

"Yes, as long as you haven't forgotten your expertise. I don't want to bring a high-society socialite to an archaeological site."

"I can do it!" I declared at once. "I'm sure of it!"

Margarita finally smiled. "Good. Get ready. We leave tomorrow."

The scorching sun at Stonemoor felt like it would melt me alive. I kneeled in the excavation pit, carefully brushing dirt off the ancient tiles. Sweat trickled down my forehead, mixing with the dust and sticking to my skin.

Suddenly, I heard a shrill voice coming from behind. "Oh, my God! Isabella? Is that really you?"

I froze.

Turning around, I saw Elena, dressed in an expensive Chanel suit and holding a scarf to her nose while looking at my dirty appearance in disgust.

"I didn't know you had the guts to run away. Looks like you've degraded yourself to the point of mingling with these losers who dig up skeletons."

The expressions on my teammates' faces changed.

I stood up, stepping in front of my teammates.

"Elena, are you a dog? Why do you always come sniffing around?"

Her face turned red with anger. She was about to snap back at me when a tall figure stepped out from behind her.

It was Antonio. He was wearing a casual suit, looking like he was on vacation. When he saw my dirt-stained face, his expression shifted to one of surprise.

"What's going on?" he asked Elena, but his gaze never left me.

Elena immediately faked a tearful expression, her eyes turning red. "Don Antonio, I didn't expect Bella to find out that we're here and stalk us all the way here. I just wanted to talk to her about it, but she cursed at me..."

Antonio frowned at my dirty face. "Is this what you've been reduced to since leaving me? If you're stalking us to beg me for reconciliation, you'd better start by apologizing to Elena."

"Apologize?"

I pointed at Elena and scoffed. "I will never apologize to that witch who tortured me and dreams of being your mistress."

Antonio was clearly outraged. "Are you out of your mind? You came all the way here, and now you're pretending not to care? You've been gone for days. Don't you care about your mother's life?"

The hot wind blew across my face, but I felt cold inside.

I heard myself speak, my voice eerily calm. "Stop it. She died last week."

He immediately retorted, "The medical records from last week showed that she's fine. How long are you going to use that as an excuse to lie to me?"

When I didn't bother responding to him, he gritted his teeth and snarled, "Well, it seems like you haven't been properly punished in a long time."

Without hesitation, he made a call and barked, "Luca, put a stop to all of Isabella's mother's treatments!"

He'd done it so quickly that he didn't notice Elena's face turning pale. "Don Antonio, please don't—"

Antonio snapped, "She needs to be taught a lesson!"

On the other end of the line, Luca Santoro's confused voice rang out. "Don Antonio, Mrs. Rivera's mother passed away last week."

Antonio froze in place.

"What did you say?"