All Chapters of The Vitale Brothers Ruined Me, Then Made Me Their Queen: Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

104 Chapters

Chapter 71: The Secret Apartment

The warmth of Spadino’s hug fades too quickly.He steps back. He looks around the room again, his eyes darting from the peeling wallpaper to the single, sagging bed."This is it?" he asks. "This is where the Queen was hiding?""It was safe," I say."It’s a rat hole," he spits. "It smells like dead dreams."He walks to the window. He checks the latch. He checks the street below. He is agitated, vibrating with a nervous energy that fills the small space until it feels like the walls are closing in.He turns back to me."Does Aureliano know?" he asks. "Does Ciro?""No," I say. "Just you."A slow, predatory smile spreads across his face. It isn't the broken smile of the hospital room. It is the old Spadino. The Wildcard. The boy who likes secrets."Just me," he whispers.He takes a step toward me."You left," he says. "You packed a bag. You walked out the window. You left us.""I left the cage," I correct."You left me," he says. His voice cracks. "I was sleeping right next to you. I was

Chapter 72: The Betrayal

Morning in the Kalsa district is loud.It starts at 5:00 AM with the screech of the garbage trucks, followed by the shouting of the fishmongers setting up their stalls two streets over. The walls of my apartment are paper-thin; I can hear the neighbor’s cough, the rattle of pipes, the crying of a baby.It is a symphony of poverty.I am lying in the single bed, tangled in the cheap grey sheets. Spadino is gone. He slipped out before dawn, leaving a note on the pillow.Don't disappear again.I trace the scrawled letters. He didn't sign it. He didn't have to.I get up. My body aches. The linoleum floor is cold under my bare feet. I walk to the kitchenette and turn on the electric kettle. It wheezes, struggling to boil water.I look around the room.The peeling wallpaper. The water stain on the ceiling. The single window that looks out onto a brick wall.It is ugly. It is small. It is mine.Knock. Knock. Knock.Three sharp raps. Authoritative. Demanding.It isn't Spadino. Spadino scratche

Chapter 73: The Relapse

The calendar on my phone is color-coded.Tuesday: Blue. Ciro. Thursday: Gold. Spadino. Saturday: Grey. Aureliano.It looks like a business schedule. A roster of meetings and obligations. But it isn't business. It is a rotation of ownership.I am the Queen, yes. I have my own suite in the West Wing. I have a salary that accumulates in an offshore account. I have the power to say no.But I never say no.I tell myself it is strategy. I tell myself that by keeping them satisfied, I keep them manageable. I tell myself that I am the one pulling the strings.But as the weeks bleed into a month, the truth becomes harder to ignore.I am not managing them. I am indulging them. And worse... I am indulging myself.TuesdayThe door to my suite opens at 8:00 PM precisely.Ciro enters.He is healed. The bandages are gone, replaced by thick, jagged scars that map his chest like a war zone. He moves with his old grace—silent, heavy, inevitable.He doesn't bring flowers. He doesn't bring gifts. He brin

Chapter 74: The Fight

The knock on the door isn't a knock. It’s an assault.Boom. Boom. Boom.It rattles the cheap hinges. It shakes the water stain on the ceiling.I am sitting on the floor, sorting through the stack of architectural magazines I bought with my allowance. I am planning renovations for the building—new plumbing, better security, maybe a garden on the roof.I freeze.I check my phone. It’s Wednesday.Wednesday is a rest day.Wednesday is mine.I stand up. I walk to the door. I check the peephole.The hallway is crowded.They are all there.Aureliano is in front, his face a mask of barely contained fury. Ciro is behind him, leaning against the wall, looking like a storm cloud about to break. Spadino is bouncing on the balls of his feet, anxious and wired.They aren't here for a visit. They are here for an intervention.I slide the chain off. Rattle.I unlock the deadbolt. Thud.I open the door.Aureliano pushes past me before I can even speak. He storms into the room, his presence filling the

Chapter 75: The Silence After

Fourteen days.Three hundred and thirty-six hours.Twenty thousand, one hundred and sixty minutes.That is how long it has been since I threw the vase. That is how long it has been since the door clicked shut behind Spadino, sealing me in my victory.I won.I drew a line in the sand, and the Vitale brothers respected it. They haven't come back. They haven't called. They haven't sent gifts or threats or summons.My phone sits on the bedside table, a black monolith of silence.Check. No messages.Check again. No missed calls.The building—my building—is quiet. The new security system Aureliano installed hums in the background, a low-frequency vibration that feels like a headache waiting to happen. The plumbing works perfectly now. The water is clear. The heat is consistent.I have everything I asked for.I have autonomy. I have space. I have peace.And I hate it.I hate the silence. It isn't the peaceful silence of a library. It is the silence of a tomb. It presses against my eardrums,

Chapter 76: The Sickness

The first time it happens, I blame the tea.I am standing in the kitchenette, waiting for the kettle to boil. The room is spinning, a slow, nauseating carousel that makes my knees weak. I think it’s just the dizziness from earlier, the stress of the silence finally catching up to my inner ear.Then, the smell hits me.It’s just the smell of Earl Grey. Bergamot and black tea. A smell I have loved for years.But today, it smells like poison.It hits the back of my throat, a thick, oily wave of revulsion. My stomach contracts violently.I drop the mug. Shatter.I don't have time to clean it up. I scramble to the bathroom, my hands slipping on the linoleum. I reach the toilet just as my body rebels.I heave.It is violent. It isn't the polite sickness of a flu. It is a purge. My body is trying to expel something deep inside, something that has taken root.I retch until my ribs ache, until my eyes are streaming, until there is nothing left but dry heaves and the metallic taste of bile.I s

Chapter 77: The Question

The bag from the pharmacy is hidden in the bottom drawer of the nightstand, buried under a stack of socks.Three boxes. Three verdicts.I haven't taken them yet. I am waiting for the right moment. Or maybe I am just waiting for the courage.It is 6:00 PM. The sun is setting, painting the alley outside my window in shades of bruised purple.I am lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. The nausea has receded slightly, leaving behind a hollow, gnawing hunger. I should eat. I have crackers. I have apples. But the thought of food makes my throat close up.Click.The sound of the front door unlocking.I freeze.I didn't order food. I didn't invite anyone.The door opens.Ciro walks in.He is wearing jeans and a black t-shirt. He looks big in the small apartment. He looks like a bear that has wandered into a dollhouse.He is holding a grocery bag.He stops. He looks at me.His eyes are dark, assessing. He scans me from head to toe. He sees the grey pallor of my skin. He sees the way my clo

Chapter 78: The Crack

The plastic stick sits on the edge of the bathroom sink.Two pink lines.They are small. Unassuming. Just a chemical reaction on a piece of mass-produced plastic.But they scream.They scream louder than Spadino during a panic attack. They scream louder than Aureliano giving orders to an army. They scream louder than the gunshot in the crypt.I stare at them until my vision blurs.A baby.My hand moves to my stomach instinctively. It is flat. Soft. Inside, there is a cluster of cells that is dividing, growing, becoming something that has a name.A Vitale.The realization hits me like a rogue wave. I am carrying the heir to the House of Wolves. I am carrying the future of the family that ruined me.I sink to the floor. The linoleum is cold against my legs.I should be terrified. I am terrified.But underneath the terror, there is something else. A hollow, aching need.I want to tell someone.I want to open the door and scream it into the hallway. I want to call Aureliano and watch the

Chapter 79: The Trap

The letter sits on the table.Dear Aureliano, You were right. It was a game.It is a cruel letter. It is a necessary lie. If they hate me, they won't look for me. If they think I played them, they will let me go.I stare at the ink. It is still wet where my tears hit the paper.I fold it. I leave it on the table next to the burner phone and the diary.It is done.I stand up. My legs feel heavy, like I am wading through concrete. I walk to the closet.I pull out my bag. It is a cheap duffel I bought at the market two weeks ago. It smells of nylon and dust.I pack.This time, I don't pack like a refugee. I pack like a soldier.Jeans. Sweaters. Socks. Cash.I leave the silk robe Spadino bought. I leave the books Ciro brought me. I leave the deed to the building Aureliano put in my name.I can't take anything that ties me to them. I have to sever the limb to save the body.I zip the bag. Zzzzip.The sound is final.I check my watch.3:00 AM.The city is asleep. The streets are empty.I wa

Chapter 80: The Second Line

The bathroom door is locked.I checked it three times. Click. Jiggle. Secure.I am alone in the small, tiled box. The air smells of cheap lemon cleaner and my own nervous sweat. The fan overhead rattles, a mechanical wheeze that grates on my nerves.On the white porcelain of the sink, I have arranged them.Clearblue. First Response. E.P.T.I take them out of the packaging. The foil crinkles loudly in the silence. I place the plastic sticks in a row, parallel to the edge of the sink. They look like instruments. Like scalpels.I drink a glass of water from the tap. My hands are shaking so hard the water splashes onto my shirt.I wait.I need to pee. My bladder is full, aching with the pressure. But I hold it. I hold it because once I release it, once I complete the ritual, there is no going back.I am standing on the edge of a cliff. Behind me is the life I fought for—the independence, the apartment, the fragile peace. Ahead of me is the unknown drop.I unbutton my jeans. I slide them d

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