LOGINOnce things wrapped up at Sofia's wedding, I disappeared from Vincent's world that very night. I took nothing but what I had brought with me when I first moved in.I found a new villa on the outskirts of Sicovenza, complete with its own olive grove. My days fell into a quiet rhythm: pruning roses at dawn and cleaning my gun on the terrace at dusk. It was a peaceful, contented life.I only found out later that Vincent had handed over three plots of Corleone land in Polemo to the partner from Sicovenza to make up for the shortfall in arms. But they weren't having it.The situation got worse when, shortly after I left, over 20 of my people all turned in their resignations. Even the elders in the Corleone famiglia was starting to grumble.Vincent was spinning like a top. By day, he was at the Commission, fielding questions from the elders; by night, he was down at the docks, drinking with the partners and begging forgiveness.Word was he hadn't slept in three days. He looked like a wr
My refusal put Vincent in an awkward spot. With no way out, he had no choice but to call Angela over to face me."This is your mess," he snapped at her. "Apologize to Valenna right now, and we'll put this whole thing behind us."Angela was reluctant, pouting as she resisted. "Why should I? Why do I have to apologize to her?"Vincent's brows furrowed instantly, his tone carrying a clear warning. "Stop being spoiled, Angela! Don't forget who's been bankrolling your life of luxury all these years. Or maybe you don't want that armored sedan anymore?"At the mention of the armored sedan, Angela's eyes lit up. She finally gave me a reluctant glance and muttered, "Fine. I'm sorry. Happy now?"I was struck by how loosely Vincent held the purse strings when it came to Angela. He had handed her a limited-edition armored sedan without batting an eye.I remembered when I bought myself a custom Browning with the bonus I had earned from developing custom firearms. He didn't let me hear the end
Angela snapped, "Besides, Don Corleone, it was just one botched deal, wasn't it? It's not like we've never messed up before. Who are you pulling that face for?"Vincent's knuckles turned white as he tightened his grip on his piece.Angela's eyes reddened as she put on a pitiful display of being wronged. She started rambling about all the times she had messed up in the past, listing them one by one.As I listened to her, the pieces of the puzzle finally began to fall into place.Last year, a shipment of firearms I had personally designed and overseen turned out to be nothing but underpowered, misfiring scrap metal by the time it reached the Ratican famiglia.At the time, Vincent pinned the whole mess on me. He chewed me out, calling me more trouble than I was worth, saying I couldn't even keep an eye on a single shipment. But I had inspected that shipment three times before handing it off to Angela for delivery.As it turned out, that idiot Angela had deleted the certified shipmen
Upon hearing the report, Vincent's grip tightened around his cigar, his brows furrowing into a deep scowl.He whipped his head around, his gaze locking onto Angela. "What happened? You were personally overseeing this shipment. How did things go so wrong under your watch?"I had always been the one running the Corleone famiglia's business; Vincent was the Don in name only.Only moments ago, he had been singing Angela's praises, claiming she was a thousand times more capable than I. Yet before the echoes of his words had even faded, disaster struck.He had never faced a crisis of this magnitude before. He was visibly rattled.Angela hadn't expected the fallout either. The corners of her mouth twitched as she struggled to contain her shock.Still, she steeled herself and tried to shift the blame. "There's nothing wrong with my design! I worked myself to the bone for days on that project. They're clearly trying to pull a double-cross, trashing my name to cover their tracks!""Beside
After the fallout with Vincent, my heart felt unexpectedly light.Even after I left, Romeo Moretti, one of my former research subordinates, kept pinging me through encrypted channels.That day must have been an emergency, because he bypassed the channels entirely and called my private line."Donna Valenna! No—Signora Sanna, you have to come back! The custom firearms, Dark Gold Rose, are due for delivery tomorrow!"I was about to cut the line when I heard a commotion on the other end. Someone had snatched the communicator away.Then Angela's voice came crashing through, practically a roar. "Valenna, you've been struck from the Corleones' rolls! Don't even think about setting foot on this compound again!"Romeo's voice came back, tight with barely contained fury. "Signora Mancini, stop making things worse! If this shipment goes south, the entire Corleone famiglia will go down with it!"Angela couldn't have cared less. Her tone dripped with contempt. "What's the panic? I've already
"A divorce?" Vincent echoed.His voice dropped an octave, his fingers tapping twice against the desk. "Valenna, that isn't the kind of joke we make within the Corleone famiglia. You should know your place better than that."I watched him put on his little performance in silence. Not a single ripple of emotion stirred within me anymore.I decided to play along."I was the one who pushed Signor Ferrante to witness our union all those years ago. Now, let's just end it here."Angela was practically glowing with delight as she listened to our back-and-forth. "She's right. This is long overdue. Let's go see Signor Ferrante right now."She nudged Vincent's arm, eager to see our ties severed once and for all.Vincent hesitated for a brief moment, his tone giving nothing away. "I have famiglia business to attend to. We'll discuss this in seven days."I studied him, puzzled that he wasn't biting. He had already chosen Angela over me, so why wasn't he jumping at the chance to give her wha







