Alle Kapitel von After Rebirth, I Refused to Be His Replacement: Kapitel 1 – Kapitel 9

The words had barely left my mouth when the entire dining hall went silent.Twenty years ago, the Moretti family took Celeste and me in and raised us as future Donna candidates.For years, I pushed myself through finance, investment development, family politics, and the rules of both the legal world and the underworld.Everyone knew how much I had sacrificed just to stand beside Adrian as his Donna.And now, before he could even make his choice, I had given it all up myself.Adrian froze for a second.After that brief flicker of shock, his eyes went cold again.The words had barely left my mouth when the entire dining hall went silent.“Elena,” Rosalie said with a frown. “Do you understand what you’re saying?”“I do.” I met her gaze. “Adrian’s heart belongs to someone else. The Moretti family needs a Donna trusted by her husband, not a backup bride pushed onto the stage.”Adrian stared at me for a moment, then suddenly rose.His chair scraped against the marble floor with a sharp, ugly

The Moretti estate felt like a tomb the next morning.Adrian sat in the study while his phone lit up and went dark again. By sunrise, the news had spread through every corner of Chicago’s underworld.[Former future Donna leaves Moretti in an old red cape. Her red silhouette becomes the internet’s latest punchline.][Celeste returns. Elena Vega gets pushed out.][Twenty years of Moretti training ends with one broken scooter.]In the video, Elena wore the red cape and walked barefoot down the stone steps before climbing onto the old Vespa. Reporters laughed around her. She never lowered her head.Adrian’s eyes stayed fixed on the red cape. His fingertip suddenly went rigid.Celeste came up behind him and looped her arms around his shoulders. Her voice sounded pleased. "So? My media arrangement worked, didn’t it? Now no one will say I stole her place."Adrian looked up. "You called the reporters?"Celeste paused for a beat, then smiled. "I only let them know the truth. She chose to leave

The day after I met Victor D'Amico, I went with him to New York.The D'Amico headquarters was not some gaudy mansion. It was a plain black building in Manhattan. The lower floors housed a legal security company and an investment fund. The upper floors held the true heart of the East Coast Commission.When Victor took me into the conference room, lawyers, accountants, security chiefs, and representatives from several branch families filled the table.He threw the South Dock plan onto the table. "She dragged Moretti out of the mud and onto a negotiating table. She can save D'Amico five years of mistakes. From today on, Elena Vega is my special consultant."Some people were not convinced.Victor tapped the table. "If you don’t like it, ask her questions. If you stump her, the seat is yours."That afternoon, they took turns throwing problems at me: port taxes, underground casino cleanups, federal investigation risks, union strikes, and the laundering of old assets into clean structures.I

The evening after our engagement was announced, I left the Manhattan headquarters for home.Our car stopped at a red light when a man suddenly stepped in front of it. The bodyguards drew their guns at once, and the driver hit the brakes.Through the window, I saw Adrian Moretti standing in the headlights.Three years had changed him. He was thinner. The once untouchable heir now carried exhaustion in his eyes, and dark stubble shadowed his jaw.I lowered the window halfway."Mr. Moretti, do you need something?"The address made his face pale."Elena." His voice was hoarse. "I’ve been looking for you for three years.""I know.""Then why wouldn’t you see me?"I looked at him calmly. "Because there was no need."Adrian’s throat moved as if every word cost him. "I know about the red cape now. That night by the lake, you saved me. Not Celeste."I said nothing."I also read your notebook." His eyes reddened. "Elena, I was wrong. I was wrong from the beginning. I treated her lie as a life de

Matteo and I set the wedding for early autumn.The ceremony took place at the D'Amico estate north of New York. Black cars filled the grounds. Representatives from the East Coast, Sicily, and Chicago arrived under heavy security.I wore a simple white wedding dress with no dramatic skirt and no excessive jewelry. Matteo had once told me I did not need anything to prove I deserved that wedding.When I walked toward him, his eyes never left me.He did not look at me with judgment. He did not look at me with compensation. He did not look at me as someone else’s shadow.He looked at me with certainty.Just before we exchanged rings, I saw a familiar figure outside the estate.Adrian.He did not approach. He did not try to break in. He only stood at a distance in a black suit, quiet as a past that could no longer be rewritten.Matteo followed my gaze and understood.He showed no displeasure. He only asked softly, "Do you regret it?"The guests had gone very quiet.Wind moved through the ros