Chapter 4

"Half of the family assets? Liliana, have you freaking lost your mind?" Aurora shrieked. "Everything belonging to the Rovelli family belongs to Damon! It's none of your business!

"You're just a bitch who got to be his Donna for seven years! You should be thanking God on your knees for that! And now, you actually have the nerve to ask him for money?"

Her words were vicious, but I ignored them all, keeping my eyes fixed only on Damon.

"You've always thought nothing about money, Don, and I have no attachment whatsoever to this position of being your Donna.

"You'd just be trading half of your net worth to elevate the woman whom you truly love to the position of Donna. It's a win-win situation for you."

Damon's eyes reddened as he strode toward me. However, I took a step back and pressed my fingers against my temple.

"Let's just make this quick. It was a case of mutual gain from the very start of our relationship, and it's now time for us to return to our respective places."

Before turning to leave, I cast one last glance at him, Aurora, and my parents.

"I detest all of you. I hope we never see each other again."

…

The next day, I woke up in a hotel suite.

My phone was flooded with unread messages and missed calls. I merely tapped into a few of them at random.

"Liliana, I know that you're angry at me right now and what you said yesterday was just out of spite. I'll admit that your Papa and I handled things poorly. Please come back and talk it over with us, alright?"

"Liliana, we only realized yesterday how much resentment you've been harboring toward us. Your Mama and I have done some serious reflecting. We were wrong in the past, and we'll definitely make it up to you."

"I don't care where you are now, Liliana, come back at once! I will absolutely not agree to a divorce!"

Damon had sent me more than 30 text messages, but I read only one. There were also hundreds of missed calls on my phone, with 99 of them being from him.

It turned out he was also the kind who would panic at a time like this.

I chuckled coldly and mockingly.

Every detail of the past was still vivid in my mind. The pain and hurt wasn't going to disappear just because of a few words he said. So what was the point of trying to make amends now anyway?

As I continued scrolling, I came across a message from an unknown number.

"You're only just returning the position of Don's wife to its rightful owner, Liliana Moretti. Why are you playing the victim now?

"You've only grown dumber with age. Did the seven years as the Donna of the Rovelli family make you forget what exactly you are?

"Damon personally told me that night that only I could bear him an heir for the Rovelli family. He married you solely to appease the rest of the family and shield me from the fallout!

"Remember this—you have always been my substitute. So, did a stand-in like you actually delude yourself into thinking that Damon would ever fall in love with you?

"You'll never beat me, Liliana. Never."

I gripped my phone so tightly that my knuckles turned white.

Even though I had known for a long time that Damon couldn't possibly forget Aurora, the realization that there hadn't been a shred of genuine affection from him during our seven years together was devastating.

Aurora's words were like a sharp dagger, plunging straight into the wound that I had tried so hard to conceal and heal from.

I couldn't believe that Damon refused to spare even a shred of consideration for me just to comfort Aurora. Even the things I did yesterday to preserve my dignity must have seemed like a joke to her.

Since that was the case, there was no need for me to wait any longer.

I forwarded Aurora's messages to Damon before summoning a hotel runner, handing the envelope containing the divorce papers to him.

"Please deliver this to Don Damon Rovelli of the Rovelli family."

After the runner left, I packed my bags and booked a flight to Yeetalia. But when I arrived at the airport, I was stopped by a group of men in black suits who rushed up to me and surrounded me.

"I'm sorry, Signora, but we need to conduct a thorough search on you."

I clutched my bags tightly and eyed them warily.

"You don't work for the airport. Who are you?"

The men remained silent. The leader then signaled to the rest of the men with a glance, and the other immediately seized me and dragged me over to a corner.

They smashed open my suitcase, dumped out all my clothes, and scattered them all over the ground. I struggled fiercely, but they began trying to tear off my coat.

Passersby curious about the commotion approached us, but they were quickly pulled away by the other people standing behind them.

I could hear murmurs rising from the crowd.

"Don't get involved in this! Didn't you see in the entertainment news this morning? That's the disgraced Donna of the Rovelli mafia family!"

"Oh my God, is that really her? What is she doing here?"

"I read a leak from an insider. Apparently, she used some underhanded tactics to take her sister's rightful place as the Don's wife! And now that the sister's come back, she's forced to return what she stole from her."

"She must be so ashamed of herself. I bet that's why she was trying to slink away to someplace else without anyone else knowing!"

Through the shifting crowd, I spotted the person loudly spreading the rumors to everyone else. When she turned her face slightly to the side, I got a closer look at her and instantly recognized her as the maid who used to care for Aurora at home.

As the men in black continued shoving me around and manhandling me roughly, I twisted my ankle and stumbled forward, falling onto the ground and slamming my elbow against the hard floor. The jolt of pain immediately forced me onto my knees as I tried to nurse my arm.

The men then pulled out their phones to snap photos and record videos of me. I was blinded by the harsh camera flashes and quickly covered my face as a mix of humiliation and searing pain washed over me.

Tears dripped onto the floor, but I fiercely wiped them from my eyes, fighting the pain as I did my best to get back on my feet.

It wasn't until they were done taking photos of me that they kicked my pile of scattered clothes on the floor and followed the maid away.

Amid the hustle and bustle of the airport, some people cast me sympathetic glances, while others looked at me with scorn. Trembling uncontrollably, I grabbed the coat that had been torn off of me and pulled it on over my dress.

I was covered in dirt and dust, my hair was disheveled, and I had even lost a shoe in the scuffle. A sharp object had grazed my forehead during the struggle, and blood trickled down my cheek, looking like a ghastly, tear-shaped scar.

I straightened my back and shakily got to my feet once again.

At this point, I was completely done with Damon. And I also swore that I would make Aurora pay a terrible price for this.

I pulled out my phone and dialed the number I had saved just a short while ago. The other party picked up almost immediately.

"Liliana? So, you've finally come around and decided to join my side?"

The young man's voice on the other end was calm and cheerful. I replied in a hoarse voice, "I'll work with you, but on one condition.

"I want to use your power to make everyone who hurt me pay the price."

The man chuckled softly. "That sounds like a pretty good deal, right? Maybe it's high time Sivilly welcomed a new master."