Lahat ng Kabanata ng The Dons Forbidden Wife: Kabanata 31 - Kabanata 40

Dante’s POVThe drive back from the hospital felt longer than it was.I kept my eyes on the road, my hands locked on the steering wheel, every muscle in my body coiled tight. The city lights blurred past the windshield, but my focus wasn’t on traffic or distance. It was on the silence sitting between us like a loaded gun.Serena hadn’t said a word since we left her mother’s room.She sat beside me, her posture straight, hands folded in her lap and staring out the window as if the glass might give her answers her mother hadn’t. The reflection of her face hovered faintly in the darkness, pale and tense. She looked like she was holding herself together by force.I knew what had done it.Martina!!!The name had landed like a fracture when she said it. Her mother’s reaction had been immediate and she looked frightened. There was no hesitation, no denial Just panic disguised as concern.And that had been enough.I had spent years chasing a ghost.A missing child, a vanished heir. The Fern

Serena’s povI told myself I was strong enough to go back.That was the lie I clung to as the car pulled away from the diner, the neon lights shrinking in the rearview mirror until they vanished completely. Dante drove without saying a word, both hands steady on the wheel, his jaw tight. The city slipped past us in streaks of light and shadow, and every mile closer to the estate felt like a step deeper into something I wasn’t sure I could survive.I kept my eyes on the window, watching my reflection instead of looking at him directly. He glanced at me more than once. Each time, his gaze lingered like he wanted to reach for me and didn’t dare. That distance hurt almost as much as his closeness had earlier.He was giving me space.The thought should have reassured me. Instead, it made everything heavier.“What if Elara was right?” I said to myself .“What if I had mistaken control for care, intensity for love, and protection for possession?”The iron gates of the estate came into view,

Serena’s POV“Serena, get up now!!!”Dante’s voice tore through my sleep like an alarm I hadn’t set but somehow knew was coming. I sucked in a sharp breath and bolted upright, my heart already pounding before my eyes fully opened. The room was dark except for the faint glow of the clock on the nightstand, its 3:02 a.m.Dante stood at the foot of the bed, fully dressed. His shoes on, Jacket buttoned and phone clenched in his hand like he’d been holding it for a while.“What’s wrong?” I asked, my voice thick with sleep and fear.He didn’t soften it, neither did he ease me into it. He crossed the room in two strides and grabbed my shoulders, grounding me and forcing me to focus.“The hospital called,” he said. “Your mother took a turn.”The words slammed into me.“She was stable,” I said immediately. “They said she was improving.”“She was,” he replied. “Now she’s not and she’s asking for you.”My chest tightened so fast it hurt. “Asking for me?”“Yes.”I threw the covers back and stood,

Serena’s POVThe sky was a flat, heavy grey as we stood at the cemetery, the kind of sky that pressed down on your chest and made it hard to breathe. The grave in front of me was still open, the dirt piled high on either side, damp and dark from the morning rain. White lilies surrounded the casket and too bright for what they were there to mark.My mother was inside that box.I stood still because if I moved, I was afraid something inside me would finally break. Dante was on my left, close enough that his arm brushed mine, solid and grounding. Camilla stood on my other side, her hand clasped tight around a black handkerchief she kept twisting between her fingers and Marco and the rest of the security team stayed several steps back, eyes scanning the tree line instead of the grave.I barely heard the priest. His words slid past me without meaning, all I could hear was the echo of my mother’s voice in my head, weak but urgent, repeating the same name over and over.Martina Fernandez.Th

Serena’s POV“Dante, why? Why would someone shoot at me?”The words tore out of me as the SUV sped through the empty highway. My hands were shaking so badly I had to grip the seatbelt to keep them still. My heart was still slamming against my ribs, my ears still ringing with the sound of the gunshot.Dante didn’t look at me. His jaw was tight, his hands steady on the steering wheel. “Because someone wants you dead.”I stared at him. “That’s not an answer.”He exhaled sharply through his nose. “It’s the only one that matters right now.”The streetlights blurred past the window, streaks of gold cutting through the dark. Every time the SUV slowed even slightly, my chest tightened. I kept seeing Marco fall, I kept hearing that crack of a rifle, Kept feeling Dante shove me down as bullets ripped through the air. I couldn’t even complete my mother’s burial. “But why me?” I whispered. “I haven’t done anything. I don’t even…”“You exist,” Dante cut in. “That’s enough.”I turned toward him. “