All Chapters of The Don's Broken Vow: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

10 Chapters

Chapter 1

For the one hundred and eleventh time, Alessandro missed our wedding rehearsal.This time, it was because his ex, Francesca, had just won a defamation lawsuit against a gossip magazine. A seven‑figure settlement.She threw a party at the Four Seasons. Penthouse suite. Open bar.Two hours in, my driver Carlo sent me the first video.Alessandro stood in the middle of the room, champagne in hand. All the family soldiers circled around him and Francesca as if she were already the Don’s wife.Someone made a toast. Alessandro kissed Francesca. Full mouth. Tongue. His hands cupped her face like she was something precious.The room cheered.Francesca laughed against his lips. Her fingers curled into his shirt.Then Alessandro picked her up and carried her toward the bedroom.Before the door closed, I heard her voice.“You’ve been so busy, baby. I missed you.”“I’m here now.” His low laugh. “That’s all that matters.”The door slammed.Outside, I heard one of his men laugh. “She’s gonna be Mrs.

Chapter 2

The next afternoon, I met the De Luca family lawyer, Michael, and formally demanded the return of all Conti family holdings.Michael stared at me like I’d grown a second head.“You want to pull every legitimate business from the De Luca portfolio?”“Yes.”“But… under your management, their value has quadrupled. Why would you—”He stopped when he saw my face.I remembered two years ago. Alessandro holding me on the balcony of our penthouse, the Chicago skyline spread out before us.“See all those buildings?” he’d said. “Half of them came from my guns and my gambling dens. But without you, they’re just dirty money.”He kissed my neck. “You’re my secret weapon, Valentina. I’d be nothing without you.”Back then, I believed him.I used my Ivy League degree to wash every dirty dollar he made.Gun money became tech stocks. Drug money became real estate.I built him a goddamn empire.“Mrs. De Luca?” Michael’s voice pulled me back.“Do it. I want everything on my desk by tomorrow.”After confir

Chapter 3

I went back to the bedroom and looked at the closet full of designer clothes.Every piece meant nothing now.The red Valentino dress. He said it matched his blood.The white fur coat. He bought it in Milan, said it would keep me warm in the Chicago winter.The black Agent Provocateur lingerie. His favorite.All of it was worthless.I started packing. Then stopped. These weren’t my clothes. They belonged to the woman I used to be. She was dead.“Valentina.”An hour later, Alessandro’s voice came from downstairs. Tired. Entitled.“Make me that tea you do. The calming one. I have a long night.”The tea.For years, whenever Alessandro couldn’t sleep, he’d have me make it. Chamomile. Lavender. Honey.He said only I could make it right.“I will,” I said softly.This would be the last time.I went to the kitchen.Francesca was already there.When she saw me, she smirked.“Valentina. I’m surprised you haven’t tried to scratch my eyes out yet.”She pushed out her chest. Showed me the fresh bite

Chapter 4

Before I could finish, Francesca’s voice cut in from his end.“Alessandro, come back to bed. The jet leaves in two hours.”His voice dropped, rushed.“Valentina, what did you say? I couldn’t hear you.”“There’s something urgent in Miami. Everything else can wait until I get back.”The line went dead.I stared at the screen and laughed.I was going to give him an easy way out. But he couldn’t even give me that.In the days that followed, I finished all the power transfers and asset withdrawals.I moved my things back to the Conti family mansion.My father’s study was exactly how he’d left it. His cigars still in the humidor. His books still on the shelves.“Welcome home, Miss,” the butler said. “Your room is ready.”In the days that followed, Alessandro sent me messages every day.Photos of a villa on Lake Como.Photos of a chapel in Tuscany.Photos of a custom wedding dress worth two million dollars.All with the same caption:For you.But at the same time, Francesca was posting on her

Chapter 5

Alessandro stared at the papers on the table.His face went slack.One hundred and twelve times I’d forgiven him. In his mind, that meant forever.“You’re joking,” he said. “If this is about Francesca again, there’s nothing to worry about. She’s just someone I fuck. You’re the one I love.”“Do I look like I’m joking?”He dropped to his knees. Grabbed my hands.“Valentina. I fucked up. I never should have let her disrespect you. I’ll make her disappear tomorrow. I swear.”Tears welled in his eyes. The Don of the De Luca family, crying on the floor like a child.“You’re everything to me. Without you, I’m nothing.”I looked at him and felt nothing.I’d seen this act one hundred and twelve times.Every betrayal. Then the same performance.“Alessandro. Get up.”“Not until you promise you won’t leave.”He hugged my legs.“I can change. I’ll change anything.”I pushed him away gently.“It’s too late.”Seeing the resolve in my eyes, Alessandro’s face changed.He stood up. The Don returned.“Yo

Chapter 6

Alessandro tried to say something. I was already at the door.“Valentina!” he roared behind me. “You can’t do this to me!”I didn’t look back.“Three days. Nine a.m. Chicago Commerce Commission.” My voice was ice. “The elders from both families will be there. We’ll dissolve our alliance formally.”“Don’t be late.”The door closed behind me. Alessandro’s shouts followed me down the hall.Carlo was already waiting in the car.“Back to the Conti mansion.”“Yes, Miss.”As the car pulled away, I watched the De Luca compound—my former home—shrink in the rearview mirror.Four years of marriage. Gone.At the Conti mansion, the family council was waiting.Six old men sat around my father’s mahogany table. Their faces were grim.“Valentina,” the lead elder, Vincent, stood up. “Are you sure about this?”“I’m sure.” I took my father’s seat. “Alessandro De Luca can no longer be trusted.”“But…” the second elder, Roberto, frowned. “This means war.”“Then it’s war.”The elders looked at each other. F

Chapter 7

The front page of the Chicago Sun‑Times shook the city the next morning.MAFIA DON’S SECRET WIFE REVEALS ALLThe story ran with a photo of Alessandro proposing to Francesca in Miami.It detailed how he’d hidden his marriage for four years, flaunted his ex‑girlfriend in front of his wife, and broken every promise about their wedding.The most damaging part was the audio recording.Francesca’s voice from the Four Seasons: “That stupid bitch actually thinks he loves her. She was just a business deal.”The Commission’s reaction was immediate.The Vitale family was the first to act. They announced a suspension of all cooperation with the De Luca family.The Lombardi family followed. They withdrew support for the South Side docks.Even the normally neutral Romano family issued a statement questioning Alessandro’s leadership.Worst of all, the Chinese were circling.They smelled weakness.At the De Luca compound, Alessandro stood in the middle of the living room.He never drank at home. But t

Chapter 8

Chicago Commerce Commission. 34th floor.At 8:55 a.m., Alessandro appeared at the conference room door.For the first time ever, he wasn’t late.Inside, the elders of both families were already seated.The six Conti elders sat on one side. The five De Luca elders on the other.I sat in my father’s old seat. Flipping through documents. Face blank.When Alessandro walked in, every eye turned to him.He looked terrible.Unshaven. Bloodshot eyes. Wrinkled suit. The once‑powerful Don now looked like a homeless man.“Valentina,” he said. His voice was barely there.I glanced up. Then back at my papers.“Please sit, Don De Luca,” Vincent said, gesturing to the chair across from me.Alessandro didn’t sit. He walked straight to me.“Valentina. I need to talk to you. Alone.”“There’s nothing to talk about. Please sit. Let’s begin.”“Wait.”Alessandro dropped to his knees in front of me.The room went silent.All the elders stared. The Don of the De Luca family. On his knees. In front of everyone

Chapter 9

The night the decree was signed, Alessandro showed up at the gates of the Conti mansion.He was driving his black Maserati. Alone.The mansion guards tensed. Hands on their guns.“Let him in,” I said from the second‑floor balcony. “Him alone.”Alessandro walked slowly toward the front door. Under the moonlight, his face was ghost‑white.“Valentina.” He looked up at me. “I have an offer.”“Speak.”“I’ll give you half of the De Luca family’s assets in exchange for you coming back to me.”His voice was unnervingly clear in the night air.“The ports. The casinos. The real estate. Everything. Just come back.”I looked at him. A flicker of disgust.Now he wanted to give me things?“Let me ask you something, Alessandro.”He waited.“When you married me, did you ever love me? Even for one second?”He opened his mouth. Then looked away. “That doesn’t matter now.”“I thought so.”“Valentina—”“I don’t need you to give me anything. I just take what I want.”The color drained from his face.“What

Chapter 10

“Alessandro De Luca is finished,” Michael said. His voice was tired.I put down the financial report. Leaned back in my chair.“Tell me.”“His empire collapsed three months after you left.”Not a surprise.The legitimate businesses I’d managed for Alessandro had supplied his criminal network with two billion a year in clean money.Without that, his empire was a corpse.“And then?”“He went paranoid. Started purging loyal men. Made insane decisions.”I pictured Alessandro alone in that big house. Going mad.“The killing blow was the gunfight last spring,” Michael continued. “The Chinese on the North Side wanted his docks. Normally, you negotiate.”“But?”“But Alessandro chose war.” Michael sighed. “He sent forty men to hit a Chinese warehouse. They walked into a trap.”“Casualties?”“Forty men. Not one came back.”I was silent.I knew some of those men. Carlo had almost been one of them. Thank God he came with me.“That defeat exposed the De Luca family’s weakness,” Michael went on. “Th

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