Chapter 7

The murmurs at the tables had not stopped, and I could hear fragments from the chairs nearest me. "Has anyone seen Yvette?" someone asked. "She was here earlier." Another voice answered, "She is standing by the back wall. She has been there the whole time." A third voice, lower, almost inaudible: "I would not want to be in her position tonight."

I kept my face still and let them talk.

When Dante stepped onto the stage, the room went quiet. The lights found him. He looked comfortable up there, confident, like a man who had always known how to stand in front of a crowd. Serena stood aside, close enough to be noticed.

"Thank you all for being here tonight," Dante began, his voice amplified and warm. "Il Nido has been built on trust, on relationships, on the belief that what we build together outlasts what we build alone."

"The past five years have taught me a lot about loyalty," he continued. "About who shows up when it matters and who does not. And I have come to realize that some people have been carrying more weight than I have acknowledged."

He looked toward Serena. "There is one person in particular."

Dante held his hand out toward Serena. She stepped forward, smiling, and took her place beside him: “Serena Caruso. She has worked closely with me on many things, from performance planning to event coordination. So tonight, I am announcing that from now on, she will hold a ten percent share in Il Nido."

A low murmur spread through the room, like ice cracking across a frozen lake. Some raised their glasses. Others glanced at their phones or exchanged brief looks with their neighbors. I stood in the shadows at the side of the stage, my phone vibrating in my hand. Calls from the operations team, from partners, from numbers I rarely saw.

Dante had just handed Serena a glass. He thought he was rewarding someone deserving. He had not considered where that value had come from. The reactions would not fall on him immediately, but the looks had already changed.

The evening continued, but the rhythm was off. Dante did not return to the main table after his speech. He went backstage instead.

I followed. At the end of the hallway, I heard him standing next to Serena, his voice low. "I have settled the share arrangement. I will sign the formal documents later." Serena's voice was soft, almost timid. "Dante, you really did not have to go this far." He laughed. "I decide these things."

When Dante turned and saw me, his smile had already faded. His tone was steady. "How long have you been standing there?"

I stepped forward and held up my phone. On the screen, headlines had already appeared, Il Nido's name in the title, a photo of him handing the glass to Serena.

"I will handle it," he said. "Go rest."

"Before you gave that share away," I said, "did you think about who it belonged to?"

"She deserves it," he said, like it was obvious. "You know how much her performances have brought in this quarter. She's packing the house every weekend. Her social following alone has driven a twenty percent increase in our younger demographic. That's not just her success, Yvette. That's Il Nido's success. And Il Nido's success is yours too. Her star rises, the club's value rises, and your share rises with it. She makes you money. You're not losing anything. You're gaining from her work. I'm giving her a stake, yes, but you're getting the return on it without having to lift a finger. Both of you win. That's just good business."

He looked at me, waiting for me to say yes. Waiting for me to see the logic, to nod, to thank him for being so generous with my future.

After a moment, I said, "You gave away my share. Il Nido was built on my designs. My work. My contacts. You gave away part of what I built."

He paused, just for a second, then said, "I will make it up to you. Whatever you lost, I will replace. You do not need to worry about this."

Near the end of the night, as I walked out from the back, Serena called my name from the end of the hall. The careful look she usually wore was gone. She looked at me, her mouth curving slightly. "When he stood on stage and said those things, his eyes were on me. That means he chose me, not you."

She stepped closer. "What does it matter that you are pregnant? You are just standing in the way of that spot. Why not step aside while you still have some dignity left?" She paused. "If you do not leave, he will make you leave. Which do you prefer?"

I looked at her. "Il Nido was my design," I said. "That position you are standing in? It is not yours."

She smiled briefly. "But he gave it to me, in front of everyone. Do you think he can take back what he has already given away?"

Before I could answer, she turned, her shoulder striking the wooden paneling on the wall. A dull thud echoed in the hallway. She crumpled, her knees hitting the floor.

Dante appeared at the end of the hallway. He hurried over and knelt beside her. "What happened?" Her voice was low. "I was trying to explain to her that I do not want the shares. She pushed me. I was afraid to fight back because she is pregnant..."

Dante stood and turned to me. "How many times have I told you? Serena is just a singer. I gave her the share for Il Nido's business. Why do you have to treat her like this?"

"I did not push her."

"She said you did," he said, his jaw tight. "She said you pushed her. Her shoulder is bruised. Do you know what she told me? She said she was afraid to fight back because you are pregnant." He stepped closer. "How much longer are you going to keep this up? You made a scene at your mother's memorial. I let it go. But now, how am I supposed to believe you?"

"You never wanted to believe me." My voice rose, like something in my chest had finally broken open. "You did not ask me a single question. You ran over, knelt beside her, and did not even look at me. What kind of person do you think I am? Do you really think I would push her for no reason? What do you even see me as?"

"I see you as my wife." His voice was tighter now. "Look at yourself. You were not like this before. You never used to make such a fuss over small things. Now you lose your temper over everything. I do not even recognize you anymore."

"You do not recognize me?" I said, looking at him. "You think I am the one who changed?"

"You humiliated her at your mother's memorial. And tonight, you were standing right in front of her when she fell. What am I supposed to think? How can I treat you the way I used to? You have become bitter and sharp, nothing like the Yvette I knew."

I lifted my head and met his eyes. My voice was shaking, but I did not look away. "And you? Are you still the man who once swore I was the only one? You brought Serena into Il Nido. Into our family gatherings. Into the candlelight of my mother's memorial. When you did all of that, did you ever once think about the vows you made?"

Dante's jaw tightened for a moment. All he saw was that I had not obeyed him in front of others. He lifted Serena and walked away, leaving only one cold line behind him. "You had better not regret this."

At the hospital, while I was waiting for the test results, Elena called.

“Two more days until the dissolution is final,” she said. “Il Nido is almost settled too. Yvette, you have suffered.”

I lowered my eyes and forced a smile, though she could not see it.

“I am fine.”