Chapter 1

"Her? Some washed-up stray, and she thinks she can compete with Teresa?"

Gritting my teeth through the pain, I tried to make them understand that I'd only come back to collect what my father had left behind. It had nothing to do with Filippo.

That nightmare of a wedding three years ago had burned away every last bit of love I'd ever had for him.

On our wedding day, my ex-husband, Filippo Villa, had been tangled up with Teresa in our bridal suite.

Blinded by rage, I demanded to know how they could betray me like that.

But all Teresa had to say was that she was scared, and Filippo roughly tied me up with rope and shoved me into a closet without a shred of mercy.

He looked me in the eye and coldly tried to talk me down. "Just wait in here for a while. Teresa scares easily. Don't frighten her."

Alone in the dark and terrified, I pounded on the door until my hands were nearly in shreds. It took three days before I finally broke out of that closet, a complete wreck.

But what was waiting for me outside was a flood of slander.

I'd become the shameless tramp who ran off with her lover on her wedding night. Not only had I disgraced my family, I was also the traitor who'd sold out its secrets!

Covered in wounds, I fled Naples.

If I hadn't met Rafael Vitale, the man I love now, and if he hadn't cherished me and stayed by my side, I might never have escaped my past.

I didn't want to explain myself to these people. I took out my phone to call the property management company.

They'd trashed the estate, and I wanted answers.

I hadn't wanted anyone bothering me when I came, so I'd had my driver and bodyguard wait outside.

Now it looked like that might not have been the right call.

Before I could dial, a large hand yanked the phone away from me.

It hit the ground with a sharp crack, and a pair of leather shoes deliberately stomped on it a few times, grinding it to pieces.

Filippo looked at me with arrogance, a hint of fake pity in his smile.

"Isabella, it's been three years, and you still haven't learned your lesson.

"We haven't seen you in ages, so everyone was just having a little fun with you. Quit the act and crawl out on your own."

Three years.

Hearing that voice again still made my heart twinge.

The man at the center of the crowd was tall, his hair neatly combed back to show a smooth forehead.

Compared to three years ago, he had the sharp edge of a man used to being in charge.

Filippo. My ex-husband.

More people recognized me, and all the old gossip about me came up again.

"Wait, that's Isabella? Didn't she run off with some guy on her wedding night?" someone shouted, full of contempt.

I never thought my desperate escape would be twisted into some cheap, shameless betrayal.

Filippo's expression turned a little awkward.

He instinctively avoided my stunned gaze and cleared his throat.

"Even if you've come back now, we're over."

His eyes swept over the hem of my dress, torn by the rose thorns. There wasn't a designer logo on it, and it wasn't from this season's collection, so he decided I'd fallen on hard times.

What he didn't know was that every stitch of this dress had been sewn by a top designer.

The design was one of a kind, too, because the way Rafael adored me was one of a kind.

He gave a soft sigh and offered me advice as if he were tossing a coin to a beggar. "For old times' sake, the best I can do is give you a job as a cleaner. If that's not enough for you, or if you want more, the only thing waiting for you is getting thrown out on the street."

When the others heard his offer, they deliberately splashed their red wine all over me.

The cold alcohol ran into my cuts, and the sharp sting nearly made me scream.

Only by clenching my teeth as hard as I could did I keep from giving them the satisfaction.

"Hey, cleaner, get on your knees and clean up all this wine. Hurry up."

My whole body was shaking. I looked at Filippo in disappointment and warned them all. "Filippo, I don't need your fake charity. Your arrogance and stupidity are going to cost you!"

All I got in return was a sneer. "Isabella, you think you're still some pampered principessa?"

The stubborn boy from a backwater town, the one who'd never fit in because he was poor, had finally been eaten alive by the glitz of high society until he was a stranger.

Once, he'd been the one surrounded, mocked, and bullied.

I was the one who fell for that stubborn poor boy at first sight and used my family's resources to turn him into a famous lawyer.

We used to hold each other late at night, and he swore on his life that he'd be faithful to me and protect me forever.

I was completely lost in that love, right up until Teresa, the only daughter of the Gallo family, became his personal assistant.