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Autor: Shawn
Five days after Victor signed the agreement, the South Port manager called me.

"Ms. Vitale, members of the Rinaldi family have arrived at the central building with Ms. Costa and a group of clients. The invitation was signed in your name."

I said, "Send them through the visitor entrance."

He lowered his voice. "Ms. Costa refuses to take the clients through the visitor entrance, but she isn't cleared to use any other entrance... The clients all think you changed your mind at the last minute to embarrass the Rinaldi family."

Irene had invited them in my name, then blamed me when she couldn't open the door.

Victor let her do it.

Once that was clear, I left for South Port.

I wasn't going to clean up after them. I was going to protect both my name and the Vitale family name.

I got there half an hour later.

The lobby was full of people. The nameplate on my office door had been removed and replaced with Irene's name.

She stood beneath it, wearing Victor's coat as if she already owned the place.

She saw me and relaxed immediately.

"Adriana, thank goodness you're here."

She kept her voice soft, but loud enough for the people beside her to hear. "I really didn't want anyone to think you were refusing to hand South Port over to me."

Several clients began looking at me differently.

Victor saw me and frowned. "You should have handed South Port over to Irene long ago."

I ignored his comment and asked one of the South Port managers, "Who approved changing that nameplate?"

He went pale. "Members of the Rinaldi family brought it. They said the Don had already approved the handover."

Victor said, "Irene is the representative I appointed. Of course her name belongs on the door."

I scoffed. "South Port answers to me. I'm the Vitale heir."

Irene immediately clutched his cuff. "Don't fight with her over me. It's my fault. I'm not as capable as Adriana. I don't have her power."

Victor's gaze turned colder.

"There are people all around us. Don't back her into a corner."

Several clients looked away.

My former subordinates stood by the door with clenched fists, but none dared defy Don Rinaldi.

Irene said quietly, "Maybe I shouldn't go in after all. Unless Adriana approves, it doesn't matter what I'm wearing."

Victor looked at me. "Give her temporary clearance."

I took the pen.

Relief crossed his face. He thought I'd backed down and would keep the meeting under control for him again.

I signed off on the lowest level of visitor clearance.

Outer corridor access only. No access to manifests or the routing room. No authority to speak for South Port on any subject. Expires in forty-eight hours.

The manager stamped it immediately.

Victor read the terms, and his face darkened.

"Do you have to make this so ugly? I don't just want her through the door. I want her representing the Rinaldi family."

"Then have the Rinaldi family give her a port of her own."

Somebody in the lobby sucked in a breath.

Irene lost a little color.

A few clients were already checking their watches. Victor suppressed his anger, held my gaze for a few seconds, then led the group inside anyway.

At one point, a client asked, "Is Ms. Vitale no longer handling South Port?"

Victor said, "Her only job now is finishing the handover."

Three years of my care and hard work, erased in one sentence.

After the meeting, he praised Irene in front of everyone and straightened the brooch on her himself.

"From now on you wear it."

Irene touched it and asked quietly, "What happens after forty-eight hours?"

Victor said, "Adriana will renew it."

I looked at him. "I won't."

Victor let out a short, humorless laugh. "Adriana, you don't get a choice."

He pulled Irene close and reassured her. "Don't worry. Once the public handover is complete, I'll have her sign the clearance over to you."

I looked away and tightened my grip on my folder.

It wasn't just the temporary clearance that would expire in forty-eight hours.

Back at the estate, I put the last of the contracts in my suitcase.

My lawyer's message came in at the same time.

[The marriage contract formally dissolves in forty-eight hours.]

I replied: [Proceed as planned.]

Victor thought I was waiting for him to give in.

I was waiting for a door to close.
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  • The Don’s Regret After Signing the Divorce Papers Without Reading Them   8

    A week later, I walked into the law office.Victor was already there.He was wearing the black suit he had worn on our wedding day, with the final divorce documents in front of him.Three things sat beside them.My wedding ring. The old silver clasp from the necklace, now shortened. And a necklace the jeweler had made to look very much like the one my mother left me.My lawyer asked whether we could begin.Victor nodded, and my lawyer slid the documents across to him.He paused for a long time when he reached the attached dissolution agreement.That was the same document he had signed fifteen days earlier.He lingered on that page, pressing a deep crease into the paper."Mr. Rinaldi, the cooling-off period for that document has ended," my lawyer said quietly. "Today, we're only confirming the divorce."He opened his mouth and nothing came out.When he reached the South Port independence clause, he paused again."The Vitale family will no longer provide any private guarantees for the Ri

  • The Don’s Regret After Signing the Divorce Papers Without Reading Them   7

    Victor stopped in the doorway.A few minutes later, the enforcers brought Irene to the meeting room door.She was wearing the black diamond brooch and clutching a rejected authorization document she'd crumpled in her hand.All the clients waiting to sign in the corridor saw that she'd been stopped outside the core zone.The moment Irene saw Victor, her eyes turned red."You can't sign her contract. The terms are too harsh."She slapped the document down on the table."If you just say the divorce isn't valid, Adriana has to continue acting as guarantor for the Rinaldi family."Victor said nothing.In the past, all she had to do was cry, and he would step in front of her.This time, he looked at me instead, without even meaning to.I turned to South Port's counsel. "Read the reason for the rejection."He opened the file. "Ms. Costa's application for permanent authorization used a scan of Ms. Vitale's old signature."Irene went white. "I didn't know. My assistant prepared it."Someone in

  • The Don’s Regret After Signing the Divorce Papers Without Reading Them   6

    The next afternoon, Victor came to South Port's central building.He didn't have an appointment, so the receptionist stopped him in the lobby.Everyone here used to let him walk straight in because I had once registered him as a guarantor for the Vitale family.Now the receptionist handed him a white visitor badge.The badge read, "Mr. Rinaldi. Temporary Visitor. Third Floor."He looked at it for a few seconds before he clipped it to his coat.Forty minutes later, they showed him into a standard meeting room.No seat at the head of the table. No private elevator. No hot coffee waiting.He put a three-year-old guarantee agreement on the table.That day had been my birthday.He had promised to come home and have dinner with me, but he left after Irene called him about a fever.I worked alone in the study until three in the morning and signed the Rinaldi family's first South Port guarantee.The next day all he asked was when the guarantee took effect.Victor looked as though he had finall

  • The Don’s Regret After Signing the Divorce Papers Without Reading Them   5

    Victor grabbed the agreement and flipped back through it, page by page."I thought this was the South Port partnership agreement."His grip tightened when he finally saw the heading at the top of the first page.[Dissolution of the Marriage Contract Between the Rinaldi and Vitale families]Minutes earlier, he had taken my seat from me in public and handed the South Port liaison role to Irene.Now he turned to the advisor, his expression grim."Restore Adriana's seat on the council. Give her back her estate access and her security detail."The advisor opened his file and said quietly, "Don, her seat on the council can be restored."Victor's expression eased slightly. "And the Rinaldi family's special access at South Port?"The advisor didn't answer.South Port's counsel answered instead. "Mr. Rinaldi, core zone access, route guarantees, and priority berthing at South Port all depend on Vitale authorization."With the marriage contract dissolved, that authorization has been withdrawn. Th

  • The Don’s Regret After Signing the Divorce Papers Without Reading Them   4

    Two days later, the Rinaldi family held its public handover meeting.There were fifteen minutes left on the temporary clearance.The Rinaldi family advisor, the district captains, and the South Port clients filled the hall.Victor sat at the head of the table. Irene sat to his right.She still wore the brooch, and the South Port handover documents lay beside her.My nameplate had been moved to the far end of the long table, next to the note-taker.I wasn't wearing my wedding ring or anything else that marked me as a Rinaldi.Victor saw my bare left hand, and his gaze lingered for a second.But he looked away quickly.He thought I'd taken the ring off in a fit of anger to make him give in.He pushed the handover documents across to me.The advisor read out the decisions. "Irene Costa formally takes over as South Port liaison. Adriana Vitale leaves core management and moves to the basement archives. As of today, she has no authority to contact any partner on behalf of the Rinaldi family.

  • The Don’s Regret After Signing the Divorce Papers Without Reading Them   3

    Five days after Victor signed the agreement, the South Port manager called me."Ms. Vitale, members of the Rinaldi family have arrived at the central building with Ms. Costa and a group of clients. The invitation was signed in your name."I said, "Send them through the visitor entrance."He lowered his voice. "Ms. Costa refuses to take the clients through the visitor entrance, but she isn't cleared to use any other entrance... The clients all think you changed your mind at the last minute to embarrass the Rinaldi family."Irene had invited them in my name, then blamed me when she couldn't open the door.Victor let her do it.Once that was clear, I left for South Port.I wasn't going to clean up after them. I was going to protect both my name and the Vitale family name.I got there half an hour later.The lobby was full of people. The nameplate on my office door had been removed and replaced with Irene's name.She stood beneath it, wearing Victor's coat as if she already owned the place

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