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Chapter 9
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The Mafia Don’s Forgotten Wife Chapter 35
I did not ask how things ultimately turned out between Matteo and Sofia.I had no need for their unhappiness to justify my decision to leave.That winter, Mike proposed separating the overseas operation into a new company.I read his plan and pointed out several forecasts that were too optimistic. He revised it and arranged another meeting with me.“I’m not asking you to take on a project for me this time,” he said. “I want us to build the company together. You’ll have real authority, and you’ll share the risks.”“If it succeeds?”“You’ll own the portion specified in the agreement. It’s there in writing.”I turned to the last page and checked. Only then did I look up.“And if it fails?”“We acknowledge it and find another way.”I thought about it for a long time.I used to be terrified of getting something wrong. I worried about disappointing people and feared that if I left the role I knew, I might never find another place for myself.I was still capable of being afraid. I could make
The Mafia Don’s Forgotten Wife Chapter 34
The office was modest, with several desks by the windows. Notes tracking our projects covered a wall of the meeting room.Two colleagues were discussing client feedback when Nico walked in. They saw me and asked a question. I listened to both of them, offered my view, and suggested they try the approach we had discussed.Nico waited by the door.“Was that what you expected?” I asked.“Not really.”“What did you expect?”“I thought a vice president would have a huge office and everyone would come to ask you what to do.”I laughed. “People do ask. A lot of the time, they know their part of the work better than I do.”I showed him a report on a project the team had just finished. It contained no private client information, only the team members’ names and photographs of us working together.Nico found me in one of the pictures.“Were you working late that night?”“Yes. It was a tiring week.”“Why do you look so happy?”“Because we accomplished something difficult.”He looked at the report
The Mafia Don’s Forgotten Wife Chapter 33
“What were you expecting?”“I don’t know.” He looked down at the flyer. “Dad said you lead a big team now. I’d never seen you do it.”“You have now.”He nodded.Matteo remained by the door.Nico and I walked slowly through the campus. He told me about university and the time he had spent interning at the company.“I used to think Dad’s work was easy,” he said. “He’d show up, and people would listen. Then I tried doing some of it with him. A lot of negotiations go nowhere.”“Many of them are difficult.”“You used to help him reach agreements.”“Sometimes. Not always.”We stopped beneath a tree.“I watched the video from my old science fair,” Nico said. “We put one side of the model on backward. The teacher noticed but didn’t take off points.”“I noticed in the photo too.”“You didn’t say anything.”“It was yours to make. I thought you’d see it eventually.”His eyes filled with tears.“Mom, I said terrible things to you back then.”“I remember.”“I know.” His voice dropped. “I always tho
The Mafia Don’s Forgotten Wife Chapter 32
On the day of the talk, I stood at the podium and looked out at the students.“Starting over doesn’t always mean doing something dramatic,” I said. “Sometimes it means reading a contract to the end and asking questions when you need to. If there’s something you don’t know how to do, admit it, then learn. The person others once needed you to be isn’t the only person you can become.”During questions, a student asked how I had regained people’s trust after being away from the industry for so long.“Do the work you know you can do, and do it well,” I said. “You can’t expect everyone to believe in you right away. Sometimes you have to begin by believing in yourself.”As I finished, I noticed someone standing at the back of the auditorium.Matteo.There was gray at his temples now. When the crowd dispersed, he waited until I had said goodbye to the faculty before approaching.“Elena. You’ve finally come back.”“I’m here for the event. I’ll be leaving again in a few days.”He seemed to expec
The Mafia Don’s Forgotten Wife Chapter 31
“I know.”“He thought you wouldn’t contact him again.”That caught me off guard.“I’ve messaged him.”“He’s messaged you too,” Matteo said. “Maybe neither of you knew what to say.”I did not ask Matteo to speak for us.That night, I called Nico.His voice was deeper than it had been when I left. We talked about school and the subject he was thinking of studying.Before hanging up, he asked, “Why didn’t you say more to me on the day you left?”“I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to leave if I did.”He drew a breath.“You could have told me.”“I’m telling you now.”After a long time, he said, “I know.”When the call ended, I sat by the window for a while.I cried on the day the divorce was finalized. A document could end our marriage, but it could not make nearly twenty years of it disappear. After crying, I still got up for a meeting the next morning.A few months later, Antonio called to tell me he had met with Matteo.“I didn’t ask you to come this time,” he said.“I wouldn’t have.”“Mat
The Mafia Don’s Forgotten Wife Chapter 30
That spring, Nico sent me an old photograph.He was ten in the picture, standing in his school auditorium with a certificate in his hand. I stood beside him, smiling even more broadly than he was.Found this while sorting through my things.I remember, I wrote back. You made me promise a week in advance that I’d be there.A long time passed before he sent another photograph. It was a record from a parent meeting that year, with my signature in the lower corner.I used to think Dad was too busy to come, so of course you would.I looked at the words and took my time replying.Another message arrived.Last month, parents were invited to an event at school. Dad was twenty minutes late, and I was angry with him all day. Then I remembered you once came to one of my competitions when you had a fever. I complained that you didn’t stand near the front.I remembered that competition.I had worn a mask and stood farther back because I did not want to make the other children sick. After Nico recei
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