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Chapter 3

Autor: TJ
The next day, I went to the Belladonna Hotel.

I simply needed to see the truth with my own eyes before I walked away for good.

A black wig, glasses, and a loose catering uniform hid my face—and my pregnancy—as I entered the top-floor ballroom of the Belladonna Hotel.

The first firework exploded over Manhattan just as I stepped onto the balcony.

Gold light flooded the windows, followed by a second burst in Bianca’s favorite shade of red. Her name appeared across the sky in shimmering letters.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BIANCA.

Only then did I understand why Dante could not give me our entire anniversary.

The ballroom doors opened as the final letters faded.

Father entered with Sofia on his arm. Dante followed with Bianca clinging to his side, her pregnant belly displayed beneath a red silk gown.

He wore the white suit I had chosen for our anniversary.

Another firework burst overhead.

Bianca gasped and threw herself into his arms.

“This is wonderful.” Bianca laughed through her tears. “No one has ever done anything like this for me.”

Father raised his glass.

“To Bianca. From this day forward, you carry the Moretti name and stand under this family’s protection.”

Applause filled the room.

Dante handed Bianca a velvet box. Inside was a set of keys.

“A penthouse overlooking Central Park,” he said. “It’s in your name.”

Bianca kissed his cheek before pressing herself against him again.

Then her smile faded slightly.

She rested a hand beneath her belly. “I just wish it were closer to you.”

Bianca continued carefully.

“The doctor said I need complete rest,” She lowered her eyes. “Perhaps Elena could stay at the penthouse until the baby is born, and I could move into the Russo estate.”

The warmth vanished from Dante’s face.

“No.”

His voice remained quiet, but the entire ballroom fell silent.

“I am taking responsibility because you are carrying my child. Do not mistake that responsibility for permission to replace my wife.”

Bianca’s face turned pale.

Dante stepped closer, his gaze cold.

“Elena is my wife and my Donna. The baby she carries will inherit the Russo family. You and your child will be protected, but neither of you will ever take their place.”

Father set down his glass.

“Dante is right. Elena is the princess of the Moretti family and my rightful heir. Nothing changes that.”

Bianca’s eyes filled with tears.

“I wasn’t trying to take anything from her.” Her voice trembled as she covered her belly with both hands. “I only wanted our baby to feel safe.”

One of Dante’s capos laughed, breaking the tension.

“There’s no need to ruin the birthday. Men in our position have always kept women outside their marriages. The Donna never needs to know.”

Several men murmured in agreement.

“As long as Bianca understands her place,” another added, “everyone gets what they want.”

Bianca flinched and looked at Dante, waiting for him to defend her.

He didn’t.

“You’ll have a private medical team at the penthouse,” he said. “Anything the baby needs will be provided.”

Then he turned to the room.

“But no one speaks Bianca’s name in front of Elena. Nothing that happens here reaches my wife. Anyone who forgets that answers to me.”

From the balcony, I watched Father comfort Bianca while Dante stood silently beside her.

They claimed I was irreplaceable.

They defended my title, my home, and my child’s inheritance—while throwing Bianca a lavish birthday party on our wedding anniversary.

Perhaps that was how men like them loved.

They loved me enough to hide their betrayal—but not enough to stop betraying me.

I quietly left the hotel.

No one noticed.

Back at the Russo estate, I packed everything I intended to take with me.

It fit inside one suitcase.

The rest—the gowns, diamonds, designer bags, and gifts Dante had showered me with—could remain behind.

None of it belonged in my new life.

I sent the suitcase away with my attorney’s driver, then went to a guest room at the far end of the second floor.

I could no longer bear to sleep in the bed Dante had shared with me after leaving Bianca’s.

The yacht was scheduled to leave at ten.

I turned off my phone. I wasn’t going.

What was left to celebrate? A marriage he had already betrayed? An anniversary he had chosen to spend with his mistress?

Sometime after dark, the front doors slammed open.

“Elena?”

Dante’s voice echoed through the estate.

His footsteps thundered upstairs.

“Elena!”

Doors opened one after another.

“Where is Elena?” he demanded.

One of the guards answered nervously. “Her car is here, Don, but no one saw her come in.”

Dante swore.

“Call every gate, every hospital, every man we have in the city. Find her.”

The panic in his voice sounded real.

I closed my eyes as his footsteps drew closer.

The guest-room door flew open.

“Elena.”

The fury vanished from his face the moment he saw me.

He crossed the room and pulled me against his chest so hard I could feel his heart pounding.

“Jesus Christ,” he breathed into my hair. “Do you have any idea what you just did to me?”

“I was tired. I wanted somewhere quiet to sleep.”

“You weren’t in our room. You didn’t answer your phone. No one knew where you were.”

His hands moved over my shoulders and stomach, checking that I was alright.

“I thought someone had taken you.”

If only he knew I was preparing to leave willingly.

“I’m fine.”

Dante held me tighter.

“Don’t ever disappear on me like that again. I swear, Elena, I’ll lose my mind.”

Before I could answer, a guard appeared in the doorway.

“Don Russo, you have a visitor.”

Dante stepped into the hall, and the guard leaned close to whisper in his ear.

They were too far away for me to make out the rest, but one name carried clearly enough.

Bianca.

Bianca had come to the Russo estate.
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  • The Missing Donna His Unforgivable Betrayal   Chapter 8

    Three months later, Dante returned to London for his first supervised visit with Leo.He arrived twenty minutes early and came alone.No convoy. No armed men. No attempt to discover where we lived.For once, Dante Russo had followed every rule I made.When I entered the private visiting room at Harbor House, he rose immediately.His gaze locked on me, then to Leo.My son had grown quickly. His dark hair had thickened, and his tiny hands now grabbed everything within reach.Dante stared at him as if three months had stolen an entire lifetime.“He’s bigger,” he said.“Babies grow.”“I know.” His voice dropped. “I just wasn’t there to see it.”That was the consequence he would have to live with.For a moment, I remembered the family portrait Bianca had sent me.Dante, Father, and Bianca gathered around her pregnant belly as though I had never existed.Now the men stood in front of me begging for whatever place I was willing to give him.His arms tightened protectively around Leo.“Elena—”

  • The Missing Donna His Unforgivable Betrayal   Chapter 7

    When my contractions began, I called the private maternity hospital where I had arranged to deliver.A car arrived within fifteen minutes.By the time I reached the hospital, my contractions were three minutes apart. My obstetrician and private midwife were already waiting in the delivery suite.The admissions nurse checked my file.“Your attorney is listed as your emergency contact. Is that correct?”“Yes.”“Anyone else?”“No.”That answer did not frighten me.I had chosen the doctors in this room. I had prepared a nursery in my Hyde Park apartment. My son already had a trust that no Russo or Moretti could control.He would have every opportunity their money could buy—and the freedom to choose the life he wanted.Six hours later, my son entered the world screaming.The nurse placed him against my chest.He was warm, furious, and perfect.Before he was even born, everyone in New York had called him the next Russo heir or Don Moretti’s first grandson.But as his tiny fingers closed arou

  • The Missing Donna His Unforgivable Betrayal   Chapter 6

    My new life began in a private apartment overlooking Hyde Park, London.No guards waited outside. No family crest marked the door. No one in London knew that a Moretti daughter or Russo Donna lived inside.To everyone here, I was Claire Bennett.A folder from Harbor House waited on the dining table.It was a London organization that provided emergency housing and legal support to pregnant women.Before leaving New York, I had directed the proceeds from my charity auction to them.The director’s letter thanked me for the donation.Then it explained that twenty-three women were still waiting for safe housing.I picked up my phone and scheduled a meeting with her for the following week.The next morning, I took a cab alone to my first prenatal appointment in London.The receptionist handed me a form.Name: Claire BennettEmergency contact:I stared at the empty line.For my entire life, Father or Dante had been the first person called whenever anything happened to me.This time, I wrote m

  • The Missing Donna His Unforgivable Betrayal   Chapter 5

    Dante returned to the Russo estate expecting to find me waiting for him.“Elena?”No answer came.He loosened his tie and headed upstairs, probably assuming I was still angry that he had stayed away longer than promised.“Elena, tesoro. I’m home.”Our bedroom was empty.He checked the guest room next.Empty.“Elena!”Within seconds, guards and staff filled the corridor.“Where is Elena?”“She left for an early medical appointment.”“And no one went with her?”“She said she didn’t need security. We didn’t question the Donna.”He frowned. If I had gone to the clinic, I should have been home now.Dante then called me.It went straight to voicemail.I had never ignored his calls—not once in all the years we had been together.By the third unanswered call, unease had turned to panic.There was only one explanation he could assume.Someone had taken his Donna.“Lock down every airport, train station, harbor, and highway out of New York,” he ordered. “If anyone has touched her, I want them al

  • The Missing Donna His Unforgivable Betrayal   Chapter 4

    I waited until Dante’s footsteps disappeared down the stairs.Then I left the guest room and walked to the window at the end of the hall.From there, I could see the front courtyard.Bianca stood beside the fountain in a pale blue dress, one hand pressed beneath her swollen belly. Her face was wet with tears.Dante strode toward her and seized her arm.I opened the window slightly.Their voices drifted up from below.“What the hell are you doing here?” Dante demanded. “I told you never to come to this estate.”“I didn’t know where else to go.”“Elena is upstairs. If she sees you—”“I’m bleeding, Dante.”His anger vanished.“What?”Bianca pulled a folded medical report from her purse.“The cramping started this morning. Dr. Carver said if it gets worse, I could go into preterm labor.”“Why aren’t you at the clinic?”“I was scared.” Bianca’s voice broke. Her knees seemed to give way.Dante caught her before she fell.“Easy. Don’t move.”Bianca buried her face against his chest.“I know

  • The Missing Donna His Unforgivable Betrayal   Chapter 3

    The next day, I went to the Belladonna Hotel. I simply needed to see the truth with my own eyes before I walked away for good.A black wig, glasses, and a loose catering uniform hid my face—and my pregnancy—as I entered the top-floor ballroom of the Belladonna Hotel.The first firework exploded over Manhattan just as I stepped onto the balcony.Gold light flooded the windows, followed by a second burst in Bianca’s favorite shade of red. Her name appeared across the sky in shimmering letters.HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BIANCA.Only then did I understand why Dante could not give me our entire anniversary.The ballroom doors opened as the final letters faded.Father entered with Sofia on his arm. Dante followed with Bianca clinging to his side, her pregnant belly displayed beneath a red silk gown.He wore the white suit I had chosen for our anniversary.Another firework burst overhead.Bianca gasped and threw herself into his arms.“This is wonderful.” Bianca laughed through her tears. “No one has

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