All Chapters of The Fake Amnesiac's Very Real Divorce: Chapter 1 - Chapter 7

"Before you even think about walking out that door, you're going to wipe every last byte of R&D data for this batch of firearms," Angela Mancini sneered, stepping into my path to block the exit. "That belongs to the Corleone famiglia. You didn't seriously think you were walking out with our crown jewels, did you?"After seven years of heading up firearms development for the Corleones, I knew damn well there was no rule about wiping data before leaving. She was just throwing her weight around as the Donna, messing with me for the hell of it.Vincent Corleone, who had been standing by her side, pointed at the encrypted drive in my hand and gave his command. "Drop it. That's the Corleone famiglia's secret. You don't get to take it with you."If that data were wiped, seven years of my life's work would go up in smoke.Vincent knew that the data meant everything to me. By teaming up with Angela to back me into a corner, he was betting that I wouldn't have the heart to just walk away.P

After the fallout with Vincent, my heart felt unexpectedly light.Even after I left, Romeo Moretti, one of my former research subordinates, kept pinging me through encrypted channels.That day must have been an emergency, because he bypassed the channels entirely and called my private line."Donna Valenna! No—Signora Sanna, you have to come back! The custom firearms, Dark Gold Rose, are due for delivery tomorrow!"I was about to cut the line when I heard a commotion on the other end. Someone had snatched the communicator away.Then Angela's voice came crashing through, practically a roar. "Valenna, you've been struck from the Corleones' rolls! Don't even think about setting foot on this compound again!"Romeo's voice came back, tight with barely contained fury. "Signora Mancini, stop making things worse! If this shipment goes south, the entire Corleone famiglia will go down with it!"Angela couldn't have cared less. Her tone dripped with contempt. "What's the panic? I've already

Angela snapped, "Besides, Don Corleone, it was just one botched deal, wasn't it? It's not like we've never messed up before. Who are you pulling that face for?"Vincent's knuckles turned white as he tightened his grip on his piece.Angela's eyes reddened as she put on a pitiful display of being wronged. She started rambling about all the times she had messed up in the past, listing them one by one.As I listened to her, the pieces of the puzzle finally began to fall into place.Last year, a shipment of firearms I had personally designed and overseen turned out to be nothing but underpowered, misfiring scrap metal by the time it reached the Ratican famiglia.At the time, Vincent pinned the whole mess on me. He chewed me out, calling me more trouble than I was worth, saying I couldn't even keep an eye on a single shipment. But I had inspected that shipment three times before handing it off to Angela for delivery.As it turned out, that idiot Angela had deleted the certified shipmen

Once things wrapped up at Sofia's wedding, I disappeared from Vincent's world that very night. I took nothing but what I had brought with me when I first moved in.I found a new villa on the outskirts of Sicovenza, complete with its own olive grove. My days fell into a quiet rhythm: pruning roses at dawn and cleaning my gun on the terrace at dusk. It was a peaceful, contented life.I only found out later that Vincent had handed over three plots of Corleone land in Polemo to the partner from Sicovenza to make up for the shortfall in arms. But they weren't having it.The situation got worse when, shortly after I left, over 20 of my people all turned in their resignations. Even the elders in the Corleone famiglia was starting to grumble.Vincent was spinning like a top. By day, he was at the Commission, fielding questions from the elders; by night, he was down at the docks, drinking with the partners and begging forgiveness.Word was he hadn't slept in three days. He looked like a wr