All Chapters of Beyond the DeLuca Name: Chapter 1 - Chapter 8

8 Chapters

Chapter 1

After dinner, I checked the private account Adrian used for family matters on the study computer. A new post was up.There were no faces in the picture, only a man’s hand fixing a black shawl on a woman’s shoulders. The watch was the Patek Philippe I had bought for Adrian in Milan. The emerald ring on the woman’s hand belonged to the DeLuca family and had always gone to the woman of the house.The caption said, “A family name keeps trouble out. If the city is watching, the performance has to look complete.”My hands went cold.I pulled open the desk drawer and took out the black leather notebook Adrian never let anyone touch. Inside were registration papers, banquet seating plans, a guest list, and one handwritten note.“During Evelyn’s seven days in Northern Europe, complete registration and public appearance.”I stared at it for a few seconds and laughed.He had timed my absence down to the day.I picked up my phone and sent my friend in Oslo a message.“Is the partner seat at Skadi

Chapter 2

Adrian came home close to midnight.He smelled of champagne and a woman’s perfume. Two buttons at his collar were open, and there was lipstick near his collarbone.“You’re still up?” he asked with a smile. “Waiting for me?”He used to pull me into his arms the moment he got home. This time he only loosened his cuffs and went straight into the bathroom.A few minutes later, I heard Noah crying.He was sitting on his bed with his tablet in his lap. Sophia had posted a story. There was a pink baby grand piano, a new tablet, a custom ballet dress, and Adrian’s hand in the corner of the frame.The caption read, “Thank you to the best daddy in the world for remembering every wish.”Noah wiped his face. “Mom, I saw the order for that piano in Dad’s study.”That hurt more than anything Adrian had said to me.He had always told Noah that boys should not be spoiled. Noah had wanted one model car for months, and Adrian kept putting him off. Yet he remembered every wish another child made.I held

Chapter 3

No one expected me to agree that easily.After the banquet, Adrian caught up with me in the corridor and grabbed my wrist.“Listen to me.”“About what?” I asked. “About why you handed my place to another woman? Or about why you thought I would keep understanding you forever?”He held on tighter. “Before Matteo died, he asked me to look after Bianca and Sophia. The people circling his will are still there. I had to protect them. I didn’t do this because I love her.”“So you hid it from me.”“I knew you wouldn’t agree.”I looked at him and almost smiled.“You weren’t afraid I’d refuse. You knew it was wrong, so you made sure I never got a choice.”His face hardened. “When this is over, everything goes back to normal. You’ll still be the woman of this house.”“But tonight everyone saw who stood at your right hand.”I turned to leave, but Bianca came toward us.“Don’t be so sensitive, Evelyn,” she said. “Every family needs both. One woman to carry the burden. Another to stand beside the ma

Chapter 4

We landed in Oslo the next afternoon.My friend Liv met us outside the terminal, took one look at my face and Noah’s swollen eyes, and asked nothing. She only took a suitcase from me, led us to her car, and drove us through streets washed in cold northern light.The townhouse she had arranged for us stood on a quiet lane lined with bare trees and pale stone facades. The moment she opened the door, the lights came on all at once.Noah stopped in the entryway.In the living room stood a deep blue piano, a new scooter, a boxed racing set, and a giant birthday cake with his name written across it in white icing.I knelt beside him and smiled. “Happy birthday, baby. I know I’m late.”His lips trembled before he threw himself into my arms. “You did all this for me?”“Yes.”I held the back of his head. “I should have done more for you sooner.”He shook his head hard, tears running down his face. “No. This is the best birthday ever. And you’re here.”That was the sentence that almost broke me.

Chapter 5

The doorbell rang while Adrian was still staring at the papers.Hope hit him first.He was on his feet before he thought about it, already imagining Noah’s running steps, already imagining me on the other side with anger in my eyes and a suitcase still in hand.Instead, Bianca walked in wearing white.She still had the emerald ring on her finger and the kind of smile women wear when they believe the room already belongs to them.“I heard you left the meeting,” she said. Then she saw the papers. “Evelyn left?”He said nothing.Her surprise lasted only a second.“Well,” she said softly, taking another step in, “that solves one problem.”Adrian looked up.Bianca came closer, voice lowering. “Chicago has already seen me at your side. They saw the ring. They saw the head table. They saw the registration. If Evelyn is gone, stop fighting what has already happened. Finish it.”When he still did not answer, she reached for his arm.He jerked away.“Don’t touch me.”Bianca frowned. “What is wro

Chapter 6

The next afternoon, Vito DeLuca called me himself.“Evelyn.”He had never needed to say more than my name for a room to go still. That day there was fatigue under the command.“What Adrian did was wrong,” he said.I said nothing.He continued, “Noah is still a child. You’re alone in a foreign city. If you come back, I’ll make sure Bianca never stands in front of you again. Adrian will turn over the foundation and the family office. Whatever needs to be fixed, I will fix it.”I looked out at the Oslo street below. Noah sat at the dining table behind me, building something out of black blocks, humming to himself.For a second I understood exactly how tempting Vito thought his offer was.Power restored.Position restored.Everything handed back.He still did not understand what had already broken.“You think I left because I was afraid of starting over,” I said. “I didn’t.”“Then why?”“Because I finally understood that everything I was guarding no longer belonged to me.”The line stayed

Chapter 7

Adrian found us two weeks later.He almost didn’t make it that far.Three days after Vito’s call, Sophia rang him in tears just after sunset.“Dad,” she whispered, “my head hurts. Can you come?”For months that sound had been enough to move him without thought. Matteo’s daughter. A child already carrying one loss too early.This time he closed his eyes before answering.“Where’s your mother?”“She’s out. She won’t pick up. Please come.”He should have sent a doctor.Instead he went.The apartment Bianca had been using was warm, bright, and loud with music when he entered.Sophia sat cross-legged on the sofa with a controller in her hand. Bianca was beside her laughing at something on the television.Neither of them looked sick.“What is this?”His voice cut across the room so sharply that even Bianca stood up at once.“Adrian, calm down. She just missed you.”“You told me she was in pain.”Sophia’s eyes widened. She looked from him to her mother.And in that tiny movement Adrian saw th

Chapter 8

Winter settled over Oslo for real after that.Life did not become easy.It became clear.Skadi moved fast. I spent my days in meetings about international partnerships, donor strategy, expansion planning, and legal frameworks across three countries at once.The work was demanding in the way my old life had been demanding, but the difference was simple.Every hour I gave to it belonged to something I had chosen.Noah changed too.The first month he still looked up whenever a black car slowed near the curb. The second month he stopped. By Christmas he had made friends at school, picked up enough Norwegian to correct my pronunciation with scandalized patience, and developed a fierce attachment to his piano lessons.One evening he came home with a drawing folded in his backpack.It showed two figures in front of a townhouse with yellow light in the windows. Snow on the steps. A dark blue piano inside.“What’s this?” I asked.He gave me the look children give adults when adults miss the obv

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