로그인After a few months in Miami, I moved to Iceland and opened a tiny little Italian flower and coffee shop.It was a world away from New York. The locals were warm, kind, and kept to themselves. My days were simple: arranging fresh bouquets in the morning, pulling rich espresso shots for regulars in the afternoon. It was the most peaceful, steady time I’d ever had in my entire life.No more backstabbing, no more scheming, no more being drained dry by people who didn’t care about me.Leo visited every now and then, always mentioning that Vincent was still searching for me. Until one evening. I’d just finished watering the flowers and was about to lock up for the night, when the bell above the glass door jingled. Someone stepped inside.I didn’t look up, calling out a polite but tired apology over my shoulder. “Sorry, we’re closed for the night. If you need flowers or coffee, we open back up at 10 tomorrow morning.”But the person didn’t leave. Instead, they took a few slow steps closer,
Across the river, the New Jersey skyline blazed orange with the sunset. I sat on my balcony, staring out at the glinting Hudson River stretching out below.The second I hit the water that day, Leo’s men pulled me out. He’d had a tail on me for days, sick with worry that I’d do something reckless.When I woke up in his safehouse in New Jersey, his eyes filled with tears. He pulled me into a tight hug, his voice shaking. “Thank God you’re alive, Elena. I thought I’d lost you. I’m so fucking sorry. I never in a million years thought Mia would go after your mom…”He showed me the video I’d scheduled to auto-post, and I scrolled through the comments blowing up the underground forum.[Holy FUCK, Vincent Castellano and Mia are actual human garbage!][Elena’s life is a fucking tragedy. Sat by an empty grave for six years, just to find the piece of shit was alive and married to the homewrecker. My heart hurts for her.][Mia is straight-up evil. She stole the man, got the money, the title, ever
The world tilted on its axis as Vincent read those words. His hands shook so bad he could barely tap the video link.On the screen, Elena stood on the edge of the Brooklyn Bridge. She looked gaunt, fragile, her eyes hollow but steady. Every word out of her mouth hit him like a sledgehammer to the chest.[Hi. I’m Elena Moretti. The mentally unhinged homewrecker everyone says was obsessed with Vincent Castellano.][Today, I’m giving my life to set the record straight.][Vincent and I were together for five years. In year five, he cheated on me with Mia Rossi. When I caught them red-handed, he faked his own death in a car crash. Then he married her.][After I called out the truth, Mia Rossi personally drove my mother to her death. All the proof is in the link below.]Vincent clicked the link. Inside was ironclad proof of his affair with Mia, including screenshots of every cruel text she’d ever sent Elena, and then security footage that made his stomach lurch so hard he thought he’d throw
Vincent’s smile dropped off his face in an instant. He went stone-cold rigid, shooting straight up out of his chair.“What the fuck did you just say?”Sonny slammed a video from the Coast Guard into his DMs. “Vincent, it’s the rescue feed. The Brooklyn Bridge is crawling with cops and onlookers.”The video showed rescue boats cutting through the East River’s choppy black water, searchlights raking the surface. Vincent’s stomach dropped straight through the floor, a stabbing pain exploding in his chest. He spun on his heel and bolted for the door.Mia latched onto his wrist, her grip like a steel vice. “Vincent, where the hell are you going? We’re not finished with the ultrasound!”He froze for half a second, shoving down the panic clawing up his throat, his voice tight as he tried to calm her. “It’s a family emergency. I’ve gotta handle this myself. I’ll send a security detail to stay with you, stat.”“No! You’re going after Elena, aren’t you? You promised you’d never look at her a
Forgetting my grief, I turned and ran wildly back toward the hospital.As soon as I reached my mother's hospital, a mob of people claiming to be tabloid reporters from New York's underworld swarmed me."Ms. Elena, is it true you had a mental breakdown and hallucinated Mr. Castellano's death because he rejected you?""Your former classmates say you were an orphan raised by a janitor in Chinatown. Is that true?""Knowing full well Mr. Castellano is married, why did you keep harassing and slandering his wife? Can you give us a response?"Camera flashes blinded me, the noise making my head throb.I was sweating with anxiety, shoving through the crowd, my voice cracking with desperation."Please, let me through! It's an emergency! My mother is dying! I need to get to surgery!"But they kept blocking me, demanding answers and snapping photos.In the chaos, my phone slipped from my hand and was trampled into pieces. As I bent down to grab it, a woman slapped me hard across the face. "Using y
My heart lurched, and my blood ran cold.I’d been an orphan since I was little. It was Selena, my adoptive mother, who took me in despite all the gossip.She worked herself to the bone with odd jobs in Chinatown, scrimping and saving to raise me.When I first got together with Vincent, I never let him drive me home.I was terrified he’d look down on me and my family, just like everyone else did.But when Vincent found out, his eyes had reddened with heartache.He’d held me in his arms, stroking my hair, his voice choked with emotion."Elena, don't worry. No one will ever bully you again."When he proposed, he hired the top planners in New York to transform the family vineyard into a lavish spectacle. It rocked the entire New York underworld, making me the envy of every woman.He found the best cardiologist in New York for my mother and covered all the medical bills.People who used to look down on me came forward to congratulate me, saying all sorts of flattering things.I was so deep







