Chapter 5. The Favoured One

My cheek stung as tears welled in my eyes. I had no idea what I had done this time—until I caught the quiet, satisfied smile spreading across Naya’s face.

“Gianna Valenti, how did you become such a filthy slut?” she roared, the words ringing through the foyer as tears spilled down my cheeks. “Screaming a man’s name in the middle of the night? Is this the pathetic way you try to keep a man?”

I looked at Naya. So she had called Mother to complain about me sleeping with my husband?

“Mother, what happens in our bedroom is between a husband and a wife,” I said softly, keeping my voice low. “No one else has a right to speak on it.”

“Gianna!” She lunged again, her palm raised to deliver another slap.

“Mother, no!” Naya rushed forward, stepping between us to 'rescue' me.

“You know how she is, Mother. She’s always been spoiled and stubborn,” Naya soothed, laying a gentle hand on her arm. “Please, don’t get provoked and cause a scene here.”

Our mother exhaled sharply, trying to regain her composure. “You’re always defending her, Naya. That’s why she turned out so undisciplined—so reckless and ungrateful.”

Reckless and ungrateful. Me?! Yeah, right.

It was the exact same script they had played my entire life. They could spend all morning worshipping Naya for all I cared, but Leone would finish his workout soon. If his coffee wasn't waiting, he would make everyone’s life hell.

I tried to walk past them toward the kitchen, but my mother’s hand clamped around my elbow, yanking me back into place.

“Where do you think you’re going?” she hissed. “I am not done with you.”

I looked at her, letting out a helpless sigh.

My mother stared back with clear disgust, her eyes scanning me from head to toe before stopping at my collarbone. That’s when I remembered the necklace still around my neck. Her scowl deepened instantly.

“You certainly don’t know how to dress like the wife of the most powerful man in the country. And look at this—”

She reached out and jerked the fabric off my shoulder, exposing the red, raw marks on my skin. “Wandering around with those on your body just makes you look pathetic.”

I bit my lip, heat rising to my face as I realized she was talking about the hickeys Leone had left on me last night. I pulled the robe back over my shoulder, covering myself.

“Mother, what do you actually want?” I asked directly. I didn't have the energy to stand here and endure any more of her humiliating comments.

“Since you can’t give Leone an heir, you aren’t worthy of being his wife,” she stated coldly. “Now that Naya is back, she will be Mrs. Romano. She will give him the children he’s always wanted. So don’t make a scene—just sign the divorce papers.”

I gawked at her in disbelief.

How could a mother have two completely different standards for her own daughters? I knew she had always favored Naya, but she knew about my struggle with PCOS. She knew how painful and difficult it had been for me to conceive. How could my own mother be this cruel? 

“Gia!”

The cold, authoritative voice made everyone in the room stop breathing for a moment before the sound of his footsteps echoed through the hall. Naya and Mother immediately smiled at my husband, while I kept my head down, not daring to look at him in this state.

“Good morning, Leone,” my mother chirped with her sweetest smile.

“Morning, Leo,” Naya purred, stepping forward with practiced grace.

He swept an icy, unbothered gaze over both of them without offering a single word of reply. Instead, his cold demand was directed straight at me.

“My coffee.”

I nodded before turning toward the kitchen. But before I could take a single step, his large hand clamped around my wrist, making me stop. In the next breath, his massive frame filled my vision, stepping directly into my path.

His fingers gripped my jaw, his thumb tilting my face up until his grey eyes narrowed in irritation.

“What happened to your face?”

I looked over at my mother. The look on her face said everything: open your mouth, and you’ll get hit again. I wanted to tell her to go ahead and try it, but someone else jumped in before I could utter a word.

“Leone, your wife is a troublemaker. What else do you expect?”

I fought the urge to roll my eyes when my mother-in-law, Lucia Romano, came into sight. I knew that no matter what I said now, Leone wouldn't believe me. Not when it came to her. He practically worshipped his mother, and honestly, I couldn't blame him. She raised him and his sister by herself after his father walked out to pursue his dreams and never came back.

To Leone, his mother could do no wrong. 

But… what I never understood was her hatred for me. She always acted like I was completely beneath her son, like I didn't deserve to be Leone’s wife. Naya was her favorite, just like she was everyone else’s.

“Who did this to you?”

Leone’s question caught me completely off guard. Did he just ignore his mother? That was a once-in-a-lifetime occurrence.