All Chapters of Contract Wife for the Cartel Heir : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

Aria’s POV I cried harder than I wanted to admit. Not because I thought Romano had chosen Valentina. Because for one terrible second… I believed he could. The thought hurt more than it should have. I sat curled against the headboard, wiping away another tear before anyone could see it. Unfortunately, someone had already knocked. “Aria.” Romano. I didn’t answer. Another knock followed. “Open the door.” “No.” Silence. “I know what you saw.” “So do I.” “You don’t.” His voice remained calm, which somehow irritated me even more. “I saw enough.” “You saw exactly what she wanted you to see.” I laughed bitterly. “Oh, that’s convenient.” “It happens to be true.” I stood and walked to the door, still refusing to open it. “Then explain it.” “I tried to move away.” “You were still standing there.” “I was.” “You let her touch you.” “I didn’t invite her to.” The conversation stalled. Finally, Romano sighed. “Aria… open the door.” Against my better judgment…I did. T

Romano’s POV I left my father’s office furious, after hearing he and the Cale family had been biggest allies, he didn’t say anything more, which made it very annoying. “some truths destroy more lives than lies.” Was all he had to say. Outside, Dante caught up to me. “Well?” “He told me enough to know he’s still hiding something.” I orders Dante to pull every archived document connected to the Vale family, including church registries, abandoned land records, hospital births, and private banking archives. “If someone erased them,” I said, “find the records they forgot.” Research Montage Hours pass. The mansion library becomes covered with old files, maps, photographs and registry books. There was nothing. Every trail ends with missing pages. Destroyed records. Burned files. Until Dante notices something. A handwritten church registry from thirty years ago. Unlike government records, it was never digitized, inside is a baptism entry. The handwriting is faded. Date

CHAPTER 35 – The CustodianRomano’s POVI barely slept.The word kept repeating itself in my head.The Custodian.It had been written at the bottom of the document Dante had found. Authorized by the Custodian.By eight o’clock that morning, Dante and I had already turned the library into another investigation room. Old mafia ledgers covered the table, church archives lay open beside intelligence reports, while boxes from the private storage room sat unopened on the floor.Dante closed another dusty file before sliding it aside.“Nothing.”I looked up from the document in my hands.“That’s the seventh family archive.”“And none of them mention a Custodian.”I leaned back in my chair, irritation settling in my chest. That didn’t make sense. Somebody had written this title, which meant it had existed at some point.“It has to be somewhere,” I muttered.Dante disappeared into the library before returning with a faded leather folder. “This came from one of Enzo’s records.”I opened it i

Romano’s POVI pushed the study door open.Enzo looked up immediately.Across from him stood a man dressed entirely in black. One gloved hand rested casually on my father’s desk, as though he belonged there.Slowly, he turned toward me.His face remained hidden beneath the brim of his hat.He wasn’t surprised to see me.Instead…He smiled.“You’re here, Romano Ciel.”Every instinct inside me sharpened as I looked between him and Enzo.“Who is he?”Enzo remained seated, looking far calmer than I appreciated.“A business associate.”“I didn’t ask you what he was, I asked who he is.”The man chuckled quietly.“I don’t think names are important tonight.”“They are to me.”Silence settled between us.The stranger adjusted the cuff of his glove before walking toward the door. As he passed me, he stopped just long enough for his shoulder to brush mine.“You’ve become exactly the man your mother hoped you would be.”My jaw tightened.“You knew my mother?”He smiled again.“I knew many people.

CHAPTER 39 – Old Feelings Valentina’s POV I read the newspaper for the fourth time. The headline hadn’t changed. Neither had the photographs. Romano was smiling. Not the polite smile he used for politicians, business partners or people he tolerated, but a real one. The kind that used to appear only when we were younger, before life hardened him into the man everyone feared. Only now… He was smiling at another woman. I placed the newspaper onto the table and walked toward the floor-to-ceiling window overlooking Milan. The city hadn’t changed much during the years I’d been away, yet somehow everything felt different. Or maybe it was Romano who had changed. A knock came at the door. “Come in.” My assistant stepped inside. “The car is ready.” I nodded. “Cancel my meetings.” She looked surprised. “You’ve been asking for those meetings for weeks.” “I know.” “And now?” “I have something much more important to deal with.” She hesitated. “Mr. Ciel?” I smiled faintly. “