บททั้งหมดของ The Broken Signet Ring: บทที่ 1 - บทที่ 9

It was only then that I understood. The man I called my husband had another wife.Everyone in the manor turned to stare at us. Their eyes were like daggers.Salvatore's face went rigid. He pulled an ivory pipe from his belt and struck Giuseppe hard across the temple."You bastard! How dare you spout such nonsense in front of the family!""Let me tell you something, boy.""I am not your papa.""And she is not my wife. Your mother is a shameless whore!""You are nothing."I saw the blood trickling from Giuseppe's temple. To prove my claim, I shakily removed the ring from my finger.It was the Benedetto family signet ring, the one Salvatore himself had placed on my hand eight years ago."Then how do you explain this family ring?"The manor erupted in jeers and laughter.Carmela sauntered over, her heels clicking on the stone. She snatched the ring from my hand and held it up to the moonlight."This is hilarious!""This piece of trash is nothing but worthless iron painted to look like bron

Fighting through the searing pain in my body, I staggered to Giuseppe's side.His eyes were closed, his chest barely moving.I gathered his cold body in my arms, my vision blurred with tears, and ran from Benedetto manor.But Carmela had already ordered the family enforcers to guard the manor gate.Two black-clad bodyguards crossed their shotguns, firmly blocking the way.Under Sicilian rules, this was house arrest—a punishment for traitors.I held Giuseppe and wept in despair under the moonlight.Left with no choice, I ran back to the manor, begging every single Benedetto family member for help, like a madwoman.But not one of them was willing to defy Rosaria's will to help me.In the Benedetto family, the matriarch's word was law.I rushed back inside with my son, searching for Salvatore.But outside the wine cellar door, I saw him. He was on top of Carmela, thrusting savagely against her.They were fucking wildly on a century-old oak barrel, completely indifferent to our son's life.

Salvatore trembled violently, his hand dropping from Carmela’s.The diamond wedding ring, embossed with the Benedetto family crest, vibrated and rolled off onto the marble floor.His face ashen, he rushed down from the altar and seized the collar of Marco's black formal suit."Is this true? Or are you in league with that bitch to betray the family!"Marco had anticipated this accusation.He had wanted to report Giuseppe's death to the Don sooner.But Carmela had threatened him, invoking the family’s code of omertà, the law of silence.If he dared to reveal the secret, he would be executed in the old Sicilian way—sunk in the sea.After a soul-searing internal battle, Marco had decided to defy the order of the family's new matriarch.He pulled a yellowed piece of paper from his breast pocket and, with trembling hands, held it out to Salvatore.It was the official death certificate, issued by the town doctor.He had kept a copy, waiting for the right moment to tell Salvatore the truth.It

Salvatore hung up the call and collapsed onto the floor of the empty villa, weeping.He looked around the room that had once been his sanctuary, a place that held his most precious memories with Lucia.Only in this secret safe house could he take off the mask of the Don and be an ordinary man.But he had trampled that true love with his own hands, all for the laughable interests of his family, for the so-called position of heir.He began to regret it. If it hadn't been for inheriting the winery empire, for blindly following his mother's iron-fisted laws, Giuseppe would not have died because of his own father's cold-bloodedness.Only now did Salvatore grasp a bloody truth.The Benedetto throne, bought with Giuseppe's life, was a poison that tormented him.He realized the mother and son had meant far more to him than the so-called honor of his family.But this awakening came too late, and the blood debt was already too great.He drove his black Alfa Romeo at a maniacal speed along the wi

Within a week, the Benedetto family declared complete bankruptcy.Salvatore sat slumped in a broken chair in the abandoned winery, while outside, workers were packing up the equipment, preparing to leave.When Rosaria walked into the dilapidated office, she raised her ivory cane in fury to strike Salvatore.But he shoved her, sending her sprawling onto the broken glass covering the floor."You old woman, you dare come here to lecture me?""Lecture you? I'm your mother, and it's long overdue!""If you hadn't pushed me, forced me to deny Giuseppe at the celebration, forced me to marry that viper Carmela...""My son wouldn't be dead, Lucia wouldn't hate me, and she certainly wouldn't have married Romano to destroy us out of vengeance.""It was you. All of this was caused by your greed and your cruelty."In that moment, Salvatore finally tore away the last shred of respect he had for his mother.When the family had fallen, all pretense was worthless.He didn't understand why his mother had