All Chapters of His Heart Begged, His Hands Destroyed: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

At another Sunday dinner at the Bellandi estate, Luca Bellandi's assistant, Ava Marino, was sitting in my seat.It was the first chair to Luca's right at the long walnut table, the seat everyone in Chicago's underworld knew belonged to Mrs. Bellandi. Ava sat there as if she had been born into it, her pale wrist brushing Luca's sleeve while she poured his wine.I stood in the doorway and looked at him. "She's in my seat. You don't have anything to say?"Luca raised his eyes. "You were late. Don't blame someone else for sitting down first. There are empty chairs over there. Sit if you want. If not, get out."The dining room went dead quiet, and before I could answer, his thoughts slipped into my ears.[Vivi, don't go. Come sit beside me. Tell them it's your seat. Tell me you still want to be my wife.][Please get mad. Please care. Say you need me, and I'll give you the whole world.]In the past, those soft, trembling thoughts would have been enough. I would've swallowed the insult and st

By the time I returned to our lakeside apartment, my feet were full of tiny cuts. I sat on the bathroom tiles and washed them with alcohol. The sting burst under my skin, but after enough pain, a person learned not to flinch.When I finished bandaging my feet, I looked around the home I had lived in for six years. There had once been my curtains, my white roses, and the floor lamp Luca and I found at a flea market. Now Ava's rabbit statue sat in the living room, her chosen ties hung in the closet, and the bedroom smelled like her cedar diffuser.Every time I said it made me uncomfortable, Luca would lean back and say, "Vivian, don't be petty. She's just my assistant." Yet whenever I got jealous, satisfaction flickered in his eyes, as if my pain fed his fear.As he wished, I finally stopped being petty. I was giving away the title of Mrs. Bellandi too.I opened my suitcase and packed the few things that were truly mine: my passport, my documents, a few plain outfits, and my mother's eme

"Luca." I hit the door, trying to keep my voice steady. "Luca, I'm bleeding. Open the door. I need the hospital."No answer came. I heard Ava sniffling, Luca asking if her wound hurt, and the medicine kit opening.I hit the door again. The pain was so bad I could barely stand. "Luca, I'm not lying. My stomach hurts. I'm really bleeding."This time, he answered, his voice flat through the wood. "Vivian, I've known you for ten years. I never knew you were this good at acting. Ava is the one who's hurt. I pushed you once, and now you're screaming about blood. Your period isn't due until next week."I almost broke. "Exactly. It's next week. So why am I bleeding?"I didn't dare think about the answer. I had wanted a child for so many years that hope itself felt dangerous. A few days ago, I had lost my appetite. In the mornings, I felt sick. I told myself it was stress and didn't even dare buy a pregnancy test.Now the pain terrified me."Luca, please." I slid down against the door, sweat co

Luca watched the taxi disappear into traffic, his hands clenched so hard his knuckles turned white. Before, no matter how cruel his words were, I always turned back. He thought love worked that way: the harder he pushed, the harder I would prove I wouldn't leave.But this time, I really left.He didn't know how to apologize. More than twenty years of pride and fear jammed in his throat, and he couldn't even say, "Don't go." In the end, he remembered the broken emerald bracelet. If he fixed it, would I listen to him?Luca grabbed that last thread of hope and drove back to the apartment. He knelt on the living room floor and picked up every broken piece. A man who normally frowned at dust on his cuffs didn't notice when the sharp edges cut his palm.Then he smelled blood.Not the blood on his hand. This came from the hallway, thick enough to make his heart sink. He turned toward the open storage room door and walked over step by step.When he pushed the door open, he saw the large dark-r

On the first of the next month, I returned to Chicago. Luca was waiting on the steps outside City Hall in a black coat. His shoulders were still straight, but his face was pale, and dark circles shadowed his eyes.When he saw me, light flashed in his eyes. He pressed it down quickly. "Long time no see."I nodded. "Long time no see."The quiet between us felt like one final handover. I gestured toward the doors. "Let's go in."Luca lowered his eyes. "Okay."The process was quick. Sign. Confirm. Stamp. A few sheets of paper ended ten years and a marriage.When we walked out, light snow had started falling over Chicago. I put the divorce file into my bag and was about to leave when Luca called me."Vivi."He said my name softly, like he was afraid of startling me. I turned, and he took a dark green velvet box from inside his coat.Inside was my mother's emerald bracelet.It had been repaired. The broken metal had been joined again with fine gold and platinum vines. The cracks were still t