Chapter 4

Two documents lay flat on the mahogany table. Dario didn't bother beating around the bush.

"Sign them."

I flipped through the pages.

The moment my signature went on those lines, the accident would be officially classified as a minor rear-end collision. The family elders would never learn that Scarlett had intentionally ambushed the donna's car, allowing her to retain her seat as an official representative at the Five Families Summit.

I slid the papers back across the table. "I'm not signing."

Scarlett's eyes instantly welled up with tears as she stared at me. "Eliana, I know I ruined San Luca. But I've waited eight years for that seat! If word of this reaches the elders, they will never let me step inside that conference room again."

Dario spoke up, too. "San Luca is already lost. Ruining the seat she spent eight years waiting for won't bring your project back. Besides, I will compensate you. South Port's shipping routes, two main warehouses, and a fully legitimate logistics firm—take your pick."

"I don't want any of it," I replied, my gaze cold as ice.

Dario stared at me for a beat, his tone suddenly softening into a soothing coax. "Be good, and just sign it."

"I said no."

Silence settled over the living room for a few lingering seconds. Then, Dario picked up his phone.

"Initiate the clearance of the old shipyard at the West Port."

My face drained of all color in an instant.

That was the very last piece of memory my father had left behind. His old office, nautical charts, photographs, original archives, and the retired freighter he had navigated on his final voyage were all preserved there.

Dario had personally promised me that the property would never be subsumed into the family's new harbor expansion project.

"You wouldn't dare."

"The land has always fallen within the Falcone Development Zone," he stated with terrifying composure. "I've preserved it for you for many years."

Rage burned so fiercely in my chest that I could barely breathe. "So now you're using it to blackmail me?"

"I'm not blackmailing you. I'm giving you a choice."

Scarlett immediately stood up, tears streaming freely down her face as she turned to me. "Dario, don't do this! Eliana, I'm begging you. I've waited so long for this seat. If I lose it now, there will never be a second chance."

The sheer irony of it was laughable.

In the beginning, none of the men in the mafia wanted a woman involved in core operations. I was the one who had spoken up for her time and time again, even putting my own reputation on the line to guarantee her loyalty.

Today, as she was finally about to take her place at that table of absolute power, she was stepping over me to get there.

My phone chimed frantically. It was an anxious call from one of my father's veteran crewmen.

"Eliana, Falcone's men are here. They're saying they're clearing out the entire shipyard tonight!"

A video clip followed immediately after. Boxes of old files were being hauled out of the office into the torrential rain outside. Several hand-drawn shipping charts my father had drafted in his youth were already soaking in the muddy ground.

"Tell them to stop!" I snapped.

Dario casually placed a fountain pen beside the documents. "Sign."

"You gave me your word you would never touch that shipyard!"

"And I gave Scarlett my word that she would attend this summit."

I stared at him for a long moment. Finally, I picked up the pen.

The moment my signature was finalized on the paper, Dario dialed his phone without hesitation. "Stop the crew."

In the video, the men immediately ceased moving the crates. Dario swept the signed agreement off the table and slipped it into his jacket. "So it's settled."

At the same time, I slid the wedding band off my finger and set it onto the table. "And so are we."

Dario's face darkened. "Eliana, put it back on."

"No."

"Don't make life-altering decisions over a single argument."

A wave of bone-deep exhaustion washed over me. "You know as well as I do that this isn't just about one argument."

I turned and picked up the suitcase I had packed days ago.

Only then did Dario finally notice it. "Where are you going?"

"To the old shipyard."

"When are you coming back?"

"I never said I was coming back."

Dario opened his mouth as if to say more, but Scarlett's soft cry of pain behind him stole his attention once again.

His body instinctively turned toward her, but this time, I didn't wait. I gripped the handle of my suitcase and walked straight out of the estate.

Predictably, he didn't come after me. As I stepped into the cool night air, his voice echoed behind me one last time.

"Eliana, when you calm down, we'll talk."

It was nearly dawn when I arrived at my father's old shipyard.

Tom Smith, a captain who had served my father for over two decades, was already waiting for me at the dock. The cargo ship was scheduled to set sail before dawn.

I powered down my phone and took out the SIM card.

A few hours later, as the glittering lights of Sicily slowly dissolved behind the horizon, I never once looked back.

On the second day after my departure, Scarlett successfully took her seat at the Five Families Summit. Dario had personally escorted her.

When the conference concluded, Scarlett asked, "Has Eliana still not returned?"

Dario glanced down at his phone. The message he had sent the night before remained unanswered.

[Work at the shipyard has been halted. When you're done playing games, come home.]

His face hardened as he locked the screen and pocketed his phone. "She's just making a point. She'll be back in a day or two."

Scarlett chuckled. "She loves you so much. How could she ever bear to leave you?"

Dario didn't refute her statement. Over the past decade, every time we argued, I was always the one who eventually turned around and came back first. Yet throughout the entire day, I never showed up.

When he finally returned to the estate late that evening, the master bedroom was dark. More than half the wardrobe was bare, and every item I used daily was gone.

The million-euro emerald necklace sat untouched in its original box on the vanity table. Beside it lay my wedding ring, pinned over a note.

The instant Dario read the words written upon it, the teacup in his hand slipped and shattered against the floor.

[Dario, we're over.]