Chapter 11

Orlando stood stiffly in the crowd.A year apart, and he'd thinned out a great deal.He wore a suit I'd given him once. It hung off him now.His hair was still combed neatly, but half of it had gone gray.When I came down off the stage, he sidled up to me."Effie, congratulations."I smiled and nodded. "Thank you."Seeing him again, there wasn't a single ripple left in me.If Orlando was a mountain, then I was the wind, free.I'd long since crossed over him."Effie, this whole year... I've been waiting for you... I said I'd wait forever..."He hung his head, voice hoarse, his feet shifting like they couldn't find solid ground.Then something occurred to him, and he pulled a special box from inside his coat.It was made of crystal. The lower compartment held an old photo of me.The upper one held a ring.I raised an eyebrow.It was the seven-carat pink diamond, the one he'd bought and once promised me."Now that your company's gone public, you must be happy. The anger's probably mostly

Chapter 12

Three months later, I got a call from my father, of all people.He danced around it for ages, until I'd had enough and was about to hang up. Only then did he stammer out what he wanted."Effie, can you help your father out? Lend me some working capital?"He sighed and laid it all out.It turned out that over the past year and more, the Hales and the Bennetts had been hammered relentlessly by the other families.The mafia world respects only strength.The two men who'd been played by Romina had no business being Dons, no business holding the territory their men had bled for.Orlando was like an old dog that had been gelded, drained of all fight, doing nothing but drinking in front of my photo all day.Hale territory had mostly been carved up already.The Bennetts weren't faring any better.The family was in disarray now, and my father badly needed capital to keep things afloat and hold the last of his ground.I answered calmly. "A loan? Sure. What's the collateral? And the interest rate

All Chapters of The Don’s Regret After Insisting on Marrying the Fake Heiress: Chapter 11 - Chapter 12

Chapter 11

Chapter 12