Chapter 3

I picked up the letter opener from the desk and sliced my thumb.

No hesitation. No trembling. I pressed my thumbprint onto the last page of the divorce agreement.

The red print was a final, bloody seal.

"Finally!" Leo suddenly squirmed out of Dante's arms, his face lit up. "The traitor is finally gone from the family! Now I can hold my head up high!"

The joy on his face was genuine, a stark contrast to the disgust he'd shown me moments before.

Dante walked over, taking the blood-stained papers. "Do you have any idea how much you've shamed him, Isabella?" he said, as if justifying his son's reaction.

"You're always making a scene, you have no class, no grace. You never acted like a Moretti wife should. You never tried to understand the pressure I'm under."

I wrapped a napkin around my stinging finger and said nothing.

"Leo gets made fun of at school. He can't even look the other heirs in the eye."

"You're the one who cheated. You're the one who caused the scandal, not me," I said, looking right at him, my voice flat. "You can twist it however you want, blame it all on me, but you can't change what you did."

My mind drifted back three months, to another night I was left completely alone.

It was a major family fundraiser. All of the Morettis' biggest partners were there.

I was in a beautiful gown, playing the part of the perfect hostess. Everything was going smoothly until I saw them in the garden.

Dante and Angelina, standing close. She was whispering in his ear, her hand resting on his chest. He didn't push her away.

It wasn't the first time.

After the vase incident, I was on edge, paranoid. Every time I saw them alone, every time Angelina looked at my husband with those possessive eyes, the rage would start to boil.

"Enough!" my voice cut through the quiet night. "You can't even wait? You have to do this in front of everyone?"

The guests in the ballroom turned to look.

"Isabella, what are you talking about?" Dante came over, trying to take my hand. "Angelina and I were just discussing the charity fund."

"Discussing?" I snatched my hand back. "You have to be that close to discuss things? Her hand has to be on your chest?"

A dead silence fell over the crowd.

"Mrs. Moretti," Angelina suddenly said, her voice soft and reasonable. "I understand your concern. As a woman, it can be unsettling to see your husband speaking with another woman. But tonight is an important night for the Moretti family. Perhaps we could resolve this misunderstanding in private?"

Her calm, reasonable tone painted me as the hysterical one.

"Misunderstanding?" My voice grew sharper. "I saw it with my own eyes and you call it a misunderstanding?"

"Darling," Dante said, stepping in front of me, a warning in his eyes. "You've had too much to drink. Maybe you should go upstairs and rest."

"I'm not drunk!" I shoved him. "I saw you! Do you think I'm blind?"

And then, Angelina gave her master performance.

She walked up to me and gave a small, elegant bow.

"Ma'am, I am so sorry my presence has caused this problem. Perhaps I should leave so this wonderful evening can continue." She paused, her voice laced with hurt. "I only wanted to contribute to the family's charity work. If that makes Mrs. Moretti uncomfortable, I will withdraw from all my projects."

She played her part, and I lost. Her cool composure made my rage look like madness.

Dante looked from me to her, and I saw the scales tip.

"Isabella, you're disappointing me."

In that moment, I knew I'd lost.

Everyone started looking at me differently—the way you look at a crazy woman who's about to fly off the handle.

"Go to your room," Dante's voice was quiet, but it was an order. "Now."

The humiliation still suffocates me.

But the worst part was seeing Leo, watching from the shadows.

That's what led to the essay. His damn essay calling me a psycho.

My heart died for good that night.

But it was over now. All of it.

I put down the pen and walked out of the Moretti estate, without a single look back at Dante or Leo.

Behind me, I heard Dante's mocking voice, "See you in court. Hope you're just as decisive then."