Chapter 1

Chapter One  

Alessia’s POV  

"You're good for nothing, Alessia! Absolutely useless!"  

Here again, Honestly? I’m done putting up with this crap just because he’s my husband.

I stood in front of the dresser and gripped its edge so hard my knuckles turned white.   

I turned to face him, my own anger rising and stirring in my chest. "And you, Daniel? What have you done besides bitch about me all the time?”  

 "Oh, please! Don't act like you're some saint. A real wife knows how to cook, clean, and actually care for her husband.” He scoffed and raked a hand through his already disheveled hair. 

“But no, not with Alessia! The great detective!! The iron woman who's always off chasing criminals instead of acting like a proper wife."  

I let out a bitter laugh. "Proper wife?" My voice dripped with sarcasm. "Tell me, Daniel, did you ever give me a chance to be one? You never even look at me! You never touch me, never acknowledge me unless it's to insult me. You think being married means I'm supposed to sit at home, cook, and wait for you to show me the smallest ounce of affection?"  

Daniel clenched his fist hard and continued, the room got smaller with tension and I hope I don't break my emotions to shatter what I've been preserving and tolerating for years.

 God, I Loved Daniel, I still do but his attitude keeps getting me, all thanks to my Job who kept me distracted. "You knew who my mother was before we got married, you knew my family’s expectations. And yet, you still act like some independent woman who doesn’t need a husband." He spat out, fixing his cufflinks and staring at the mirror before him.

"Because you never act like one!" I fired back. "You never defend me when your mother and sisters tear me apart. You never listen to me. I have fought for this marriage alone for two years while you watched from the sidelines!"  

The door opened and my mother in-law entered like a nightmare and stared at me with judgemental eyes as she scanned the room as if she owned it.

Sofia Moretti was always dressed in expensive clothes, luxury and classy jewels to live off her son's name so seeing her in a flashy gold gown this morning wasn't a surprise.

"You stupid girl," she sneered hard at me, crossing her arms. "I should have known you'd be in here arguing nonsense with my son instead of doing something useful."  

I turned to her, already feeling exhausted. "Mother, this is between me and Daniel, Can you stay out of it?”  

"Stay out of it?” She gasped dramatically and clutched her chest as if I slapped her. This is my son's house. And you? You’re just a barren, ungrateful burden leeching off of him!"  

I clenched my jaw tight, refusing to let her words get to me, even though they burned but she took a step closer, lowering her voice into that venomous tone she always used when Daniel wasn’t looking. "A woman’s duty is to serve her husband. To give him children. But you?" She let out a bitter laugh.

 "You’re nothing but a disgrace. I hope your job gives you the children and a husband you can't even keep and protect, Alessia. Get out!” Her words pierced my soul but I bit the back of my lips and ignored the rage boiling in my veins. This wasn’t the first time she threatened to throw me out.  

I turned to my husband hoping, just for once, that he would say something. That he would defend me or say something that warrants our privacy. 

But he just stood there like a silent hypocritical dove and avoided my gaze.  

That hurt more than his words ever could and before I could respond, my phone rang, distracting me from my messed up emotions. 

I sighed and pulled it out of my pocket to expect another useless report. But the moment I saw the caller ID, my entire body tensed and trembled.

It was my boss at work, Detective Marco, My partner.  

I put the phone to my ear. "Marco?"  

"Alessia, listen carefully. It’s about him." He told me with urgency and I froze because there was only one man in the world Marco could be referring to.  

Leonardo Ricci. The most powerful mafia boss in the country. The man I had been hunting for five years.  

"The bastard just surrendered," Marco continued. "We were about to bust his next drug shipment, but he—he walked right in and handed himself over. Just like that."  

My mind went blank because that didn’t freaking make sense. Leo Ricci wouldn’t just give up.  

"What’s the catch?" I asked him, already knowing there had to be one.  

"We don’t know yet. But we need you here…Now."  

I hung up and wore my boots and made sure my ID card was tucked in my pockets. 

"And where are you going without your bags?" My mother in law suddenly snapped and I almost rolled my eyes

"To do my job. The same one you hate so much and the same one that keeps this city safe from men like Leo Ricci."  

Sofia scoffed with irritation and turned to her son. "You're running away, as always. Look at the woman you married as your wife, I hope she saves the world too, haha.."  

I was too tired and occupied to let my mother in-law’s words affect me, I had a bastard to catch before something got messy but before I stepped out, I looked at my husband and sighed sadly.

" The most delusional thing I believed was that you will eventually love me but I was wrong. You never loved me.”  

Then, without another

word, I walked out, leaving behind a house that never felt like home