Todos los capítulos de The Don’s Neglected Wife: Capítulo 1 - Capítulo 9

"Ma'am, please use the emergency exit. Do not remain here."The airport speaker crackled again. I took one step, and my legs gave way.I had traveled through hell to get here. No sleep, no food, just the roar of engines and the taste of fear.And for what?On the flight back home, I finally let myself cry.When I landed, I went straight to the law firm. I looked like hell — matted hair, cracked lips, hollow eyes. The elevator doors opened, and I heard a woman's voice behind me, playful and sweet."Who stole the lace one from my bag? Now I'm going commando. This is your fault."A low laugh on the other end of the line."Careful. I'll make you pay for that later."I turned slowly.Rosa Quinn. Flawless makeup. A soft, smug smile.She was still on the phone. "Do you still have enough in your drawer? Or did you use them all?"The elevator doors closed. The mirrored walls reflected two women. One polished, young, laughing. The other — gray-faced, broken.She didn't recognize me. Why would sh

My blood went cold.Vito had a memory like a steel trap. He could recite case files from ten years ago. But he didn't recognize his own wife's number."It's me," I said. "I'm looking for Rosa.""She's in the shower."He didn't even register my voice. Flat. Dismissive. Like I was a telemarketer.Through the receiver, I heard water running. Then Rosa's voice, sweet and lazy."Baby, can you bring me a towel?"The phone was set down. Footsteps walked away and came back."Here.""You dry me off…" A playful whine."I have to leave early tonight.""What, are you impotent now?"He laughed, low. "You know damn well I'm not."Rosa giggled, then gasped like she'd fallen onto a bed.I tried to hang up. My fingers wouldn't press the button.Thirty minutes later, she posted a new video.A pair of large hands massaged her calves. Thumbs circling, moving up from her ankle.The comments exploded. "Teach us your ways! How do you get a man like that to serve you?" She replied: "True love is natural. W

"Rosa who?"Vito's denial came too fast. His throat bobbed like a man swallowing glass."I don't know what you're talking about."But his mind was already racing back to that day. The doorman's call. Rushing home. Finding her standing there — disheveled, worn down, nothing like the woman he married. The woman who once commanded boardrooms and made seasoned capos lower their eyes.Then the elevator. His arm around Rosa. His lips on hers. His gaze sliding past a hunched figure in the corner.Messy hair. Wrinkled clothes. Chapped lips.No.His brain went white. He looked away from the memory, dropping his voice low. He was a master of deception — he'd negotiated with rival families, lied to federal agents, smiled at men he planned to kill. But this lie tasted like copper."I cut things off with her a long time ago."My mother tugged my sleeve. "You need to calm down. Last time you filed for divorce, he jumped from the third floor. Almost lost his leg."She looked at Vito, then back at me.

I found a job.Not through connections. Not through the Hart family name. I walked into a hotel, filled out an application, and got hired on my own merit.Front desk at The Langham, a five-star hotel in midtown. Probation period, six thousand a month, full benefits. Employee dorm on the twenty-second floor with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the whole city.A single room. Small. Bare. A bed, a desk, a closet. When I opened the door, I stood there for a long time.No one to wait for. No one to come home to. No one to lie to me.It felt like freedom. Heavy, lonely, terrifying freedom.Five days later, my mother called."Vito jumped into the river."I was standing at my window, watching the headlights crawl across the expressway like fireflies. The city never slept. Neither did I."A swimmer pulled him out. He almost died. Aren't you going to see him?""No."A pause. Static on the line. Then: "Where are you staying? Come home. You just had the procedure. Your body needs care.""I ha

Three months later, the city had turned from winter to spring. The trees along Fifth Avenue were blooming. Tourists took pictures. Life went on.I was promoted. Front desk to lobby manager. The general manager — a crisp British woman named Mrs. Holloway — called me into her office."Sera, you've done exceptional work. I'm recommending you for the overseas training placement. Six months in London. After that, executive track."For the first time in years, I saw a future. Not a future with Vito. Not a future defined by his betrayal. A future of my own.I was making my rounds in the lobby when the revolving doors turned.A man walked in. Gaunt. His suit hung off him like borrowed clothes. Dark hollows under his eyes. Days of stubble on his jaw. He'd lost at least twenty pounds.I froze for half a second. Then I remembered who I was now.Vito.He stood in front of me, hands at his sides. Like he didn't know what to do with them. The man who once commanded armies of lawyers and soldiers now