Lahat ng Kabanata ng CHAMPAGNE FOR THE DAMNED {MxM}: Kabanata 21 - Kabanata 30

༒ ℜ𝔞𝔣𝔣𝔞𝔢𝔩𝔢༒ I didn't miss things. Not details, not shifts in behavior, not the kind of subtle changes people thought they could hide behind polite smiles and careful words. It was how I stayed ahead, how I kept control, how I made sure no one ever got close enough to catch me off guard. So when Isabella started watching me differently– I noticed. At first, it was small. The kind of thing most people would ignore. A glance that lingered a second too long, a pause before she spoke, they way her eyes tracked me across the room fur ng family meetings even when she was supposed to be paying attention to someone else. It wasn't obvious, not enough for anyone to call out directly, but it was there. Consistent. Intentional. And that alone told me everything I needed to know. She was paying attention. More than she should I sat back in my chair during one of those meetings, my expression calm, composed, every part of me controlled the way it was in front of family. My gra

༒ ℑ𝔪𝔯𝔞𝔫༒ Things didn't just get worse. They shifted. Into something sharper, more direct, the kind of danger that didn't bother hiding anymore. I should have seen it. After everything, the stares, the warnings, the way Isabella looked at me like I was already a problem waiting to happen, the way that file felt like it was burning a hole through everything I touched, I should have known it wasn't going to stay quiet. But knowing something is coming and actually being ready for it are two completely different things. That night– I wasn't ready. I had stepped out because I needed air, because staying inside that house was starting to feel like being trapped in something I hadn't fully understand, like the walls themselves were closing in on me with every thought I couldn't shut off. Everything had been too much, the pressure, the questions, the constant feeling that I was being watched from every direction. So I felt it. Just for a while. Just to breathe. The streets we

༒ ℑ𝔪𝔯𝔞𝔫༒ I hit my limit immediately. Not in some dramatic, explosive way where everything snapped at once and I lost control, not in the way I used to imagine breaking points would feel like, loud and obvious and impossible to ignore. No, this was different, slower, heavier, the kind of realization that settled into my chest piece by piece until there was no room left for anything else. It wasn't just the attack. It wasn't the bruises that still ached every time I moved, the sharp pull in my ribs reminding me with every breath that I had been stupid enough to think I could step outside and still be untouched. It wasn't even the fact that someone has used me like a fucking message, like I wasn't a person but a tool, something disposable enough to bleed for someone else's warning. It was everything. The house that never felt like mine, no matter how long I stayed in it, the way every comfort came with something unspoken attached to it, the rules that weren't always said out lo

༒ ℑ𝔪𝔯𝔞𝔫༒ I didn't move. Not immediately, not when the footsteps came closer, not when the silence on the other side of the door turned sharp enough to cut through everything else in my head. I just stood there, my body still, my breathing controlled, my mind working faster than it had any right to in a moment like this. Running would've been stupid, pretending I wasn't there would've been even worse. So I did the only thing that made sense. I stayed exactly where I was. The door opened. Not slowly, not cautiously, just enough force behind it to make it clear that whoever was on the other side wasn't guessing anymore. Raffaele stepped out first, his presence immediate, his gaze locking onto me in a way that told me he already knew exactly what had happened. Vinny stood behind him, quieter, but no less aware. For a second, none of us said anything. Then Raffaele spoke. “For how long?” His voice wasn't loud, wasn't aggressive, but it didn't need to be. The weight behind it wa

༒ ℜ𝔞𝔣𝔣𝔞𝔢𝔩𝔢༒I noticed it before I understood it.At first, I told myself it was just distance, the kind that comes after a fight that goes too far, words said in a way that doesn't settle properly, tension that lingers even when everything else moves on. It wasn't unusual, not in my world, not with the kind of arrangement we had. People adjusted, pulled back, recalibrated, then eventually fell back into place.That was how it usually worked.But this? This wasn't that.It wasn't just distance, it was change. And I don't like change when I don't control it.I stood in the office, my gaze resting on the security fees in front of me, my attention locked onto one screen in particular. He was in the living area, sitting on the couch, one leg bent slightly, a book in his hands that I was certain he hadn't turned a page of in the last ten minutes. From the outside, it looked normal enough, quiet, uneventful, nothing that would raise questions.But I wasn't looking for the obvious.I