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Chapter 35
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The Don’s Wedding Betrayal Chapter 41
Breathing cut short at the other end of a phone.They hadn’t disappeared.But they no longer decided which note I played next.I relaxed my wrist and continued.When the piece ended, I looked up.Declan sat in the third row.He stood to applaud.Luca was faster, lifting his flowers almost over his head.Martha stood in the wings, her eyes red, smiling.I smiled back.Afterward, a reporter asked about the Morettis.A staff member moved to stop the question.I indicated it was all right.The reporter chose her words carefully.“After everything you’ve experienced, do you still believe in love?”I thought about it.“Yes.”A camera flashed.“Because of your marriage?”I looked across the room.Declan was bending to hear something Luca was saying.He wasn’t trying to place himself in the photograph.“Because I finally understand that loving someone doesn’t require giving up myself.”The reporter asked whether I had forgiven the past.I didn’t give her a neat ending.“I’m here to talk about
The Don’s Wedding Betrayal Chapter 40
I kept playing.When the piece ended, only the final resonance remained.Declan applauded.Not theatrically.Not to make the sound echo forever.Like someone who had listened to a piece of music and wanted to stand.I went down and hugged him.“What is it?”“Nothing.”I rested my forehead against his shoulder.“I suddenly feel as though tomorrow can come.”Back at the apartment, I laid out my dress.Not white.A simple, dark blue evening gown.I fastened the necklace in the mirror.The iris had been repaired.The faint seam remained.I didn’t turn it to hide the mark.Declan stood in the doorway.“Do I look all right?”He nodded.“You look beautiful.”“That’s all?”He came to stand behind me.He didn’t adjust anything.This time, I had already fastened it myself.“You look like yourself.”In the mirror, I slowly smiled.The next morning, my phone showed an old photo memory.Three years earlier.The day I first moved into the Moretti estate.I stood before the garden gate, nervous and f
The Don’s Wedding Betrayal Chapter 39
I accepted the record.No conditions.No final request.“Thank you.”At the door, William called me back.“You don’t have to make yourself visit for my sake.”I turned.He sat in the spring sunlight, his back more bent than I remembered.“I know.”Then I added, “I came today because I wanted to.”He looked at me.Slowly, he smiled.In the car, Declan asked whether he should have someone check the record’s condition.I shook my head.“I’d like to listen to it tonight.”“All right.”I looked outside.Once, passing through the Moretti estate’s iron gates had made me straighten my clothes automatically.Afraid I wasn’t beautiful enough.Not polished enough.Not worth someone pausing to look at.That day, the gates closed behind us.I only settled the record more securely and mentioned a bakery my mother had loved at the next intersection.“Is it still there?” Declan asked.“I don’t know.”“Let’s find out.”The car turned.I didn’t look back.The evening before the performance, I went to th
The Don’s Wedding Betrayal Chapter 38
Declan waited beside the car.He didn’t ask whether I had won.He took the bag I had carried all day.“Dinner first, or home?”I leaned against him and closed my eyes.“Dinner.”“What do you want?”“Something we can sit down and eat slowly.”He smiled.A freighter sounded its horn in the distance.Lights came on along the docks.Everything was still there.This time, I hadn’t needed to surrender myself to keep it.The next day, Arthur submitted his resignation through an attorney and confirmed he would cooperate with the inquiry.He asked to see me.I declined.Not because I wanted him afraid forever.I simply didn’t need to hear another account of why he believed he’d had no choice.The day before the performance, I visited William.He sat in the garden with a light blanket over his knees.His eyes went first to my temple.The scar was faint now, almost invisible unless someone looked closely.“You look well.”I sat opposite him.“How long did the doctor say you could stay outside?”“
The Don’s Wedding Betrayal Chapter 37
“And the off-the-books arrangements we’ve already ended won’t be revived in my father’s name.”Martin’s expression grew serious.“Some people won’t like that.”“I know.”“Profits may fall.”“I know.”I met his eyes.“I can’t claim I want my own life while letting things I refuse to examine keep making money for me.”He exhaled.“Tomorrow will be difficult.”“Then we’ll take our time.”The meeting lasted from morning until dark.Some opposed separating the old operations.Others worried that former partners wouldn’t relinquish their influence.One person asked outright whether the Valentes intended to take over.I moved the proposal to the center of the table.“The Valentes have no vote on these changes.”“But you’re Declan’s wife.”“And?”He faltered.“Our marriage isn’t permission to bypass documents or procedures.”One of Fischer’s remaining allies tried to muddy the discussion.Relationships built over years weren’t just paper, he said.If certain promises changed, no one could pred
The Don’s Wedding Betrayal Chapter 36
“Are you sure?” Declan asked.“Yes.”“Would you like me to come?”I smiled.He had asked something similar on our wedding day.“Yes.”Before we left, I placed the necklace in its box.A faint seam remained in the repaired iris.I had once believed enough care could restore everything to what it had been.Not anymore.I knew it had broken.I also knew it was still mine.Rain greeted us in New York.Martin met us.He looked older than he did on video.When he saw me, he removed his hat.“Welcome back, Claire.”Not Mrs. Valente.I went to him and hugged him.“Thank you for everything.”Before the formal meeting, he took me to the oldest office building.The stairs were narrow, the railing chipped.As a child, I had disliked the smell of damp wood.My father loved the place. He said the windows overlooked the entire berth.His desk and chair remained at the end of the second-floor corridor.The plant by the window had yellow leaves.“No one wanted to throw it away,” Martin said. “He kept i
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