All Chapters of Day 1,826 as the Don's Secret Wife: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

The heavy iron door to the basement creaked open with a harsh groan.Three days without water had left me too weak to stand. My lips were cracked and pale."Mrs. Romano." The butler's voice echoed through the empty corridor, edged with pity he could not quite hide. "Today is Ms. Laurent's birthday. Don Romano has ordered you to the ballroom to apologize to her in front of everyone."I didn't reply. I simply gave a small nod and followed him upstairs.The grand ballroom buzzed with laughter, music, and the clink of crystal glasses. Theo stood at the center of it all, one arm wrapped around Eve, looking at her with a tenderness I hadn't seen in his eyes.The instant he spotted me, his eyes went hard, cold, and sharp."Bella." His voice was low and flat, devoid of warmth. "You've spent three days in the basement. Have you learned your lesson?"His eyes swept over the scars covering my body. His pupils contracted ever so slightly, his hand tightening into a fist as an unfamiliar heaviness

"Say it." Theo tightened his grip, his nails digging into the bruises along my jaw."Apologize to Eve."The sudden jerk threw me off balance. Every old wound screamed in protest, dull pain bursting through me until black spots clouded my vision.Eve leaned into him, her hand slipping around his forearm. "Theo, easy. Bella's already hurt. I feel awful just looking at her."Though she sounded full of concern, her gaze lingered openly on the chain marks that couldn't be hidden beneath my clothes, her eyes glittering with vicious satisfaction.Every spectator's gaze pinned me in place, like countless tiny needles piercing flesh that had long since gone numb.I slowly straightened and forced a faint smile onto my cracked lips."Ms. Laurent, everything that happened was my fault. I apologize. Happy birthday."The butler handed me a glass of champagne. I tipped it back in one gulp. The alcohol burned all the way down my raw throat, making me cough uncontrollably.Theo instinctively reached ou

A year ago, Eve's family had gone bankrupt, and she came to Theo, asking for shelter.At first, he still cared enough about our marriage to reassure me. He said he was only helping an old friend through a difficult time and asked me to be patient with her.But Eve knew exactly how to manipulate him. Every loving moment we shared, she found a way to interrupt.Whenever Theo and I were alone, Eve would burst in right on cue, clutching her chest, crying that her heart was racing and she couldn't breathe.Day after day, she painted me as a powerful, cold-hearted woman with a possessive streak, someone who couldn't bear to see another woman anywhere near him.Little by little, her endless schemes wore away every bit of the trust and loyalty he once had for me.Now, all it took was one tearful cry for help. The tiny spark of guilt he'd finally begun to feel vanished in an instant as he rushed to another woman's side without a second thought.His gentle voice drifted upstairs from the hallway

It felt as though an invisible hand had wrapped around Theo's heart and squeezed until he doubled over in pain.The faint scent of medicine still lingered in the room. But Bella was gone.Only the gifts he had given me remained, laid out one by one like a silent record of how his devotion had decayed over five years.At first, each gift had been carefully chosen and engraved by his own hand. The later ones had become little more than thoughtless obligations.The quietest accusation cuts the deepest.Only now did Theo realize I had been planning to leave him for a long time.This wasn't an impulsive decision.It was a goodbye I'd prepared long before tonight.He had always assumed I would wait for him forever.No matter how badly he hurt me, I would endure it like she always had, quietly nursing my wounds until he finally remembered to look her way.But I was gone.Without so much as an explanation, I had vanished from his world."Bella." The name tore from Theo's throat. The composure

Theo rose without a word. He didn't call for his bodyguards. Alone, he walked toward Eve's bedroom, one slow step at a time.The bedroom door exploded inward beneath a single kick, the crash shattering the stillness of dawn.Eve was still asleep. She rolled over lazily.The moment her eyes opened and landed on Theo—covered in blood, his eyes burning with a murderous red—the sleep vanished from her face, replaced by sheer terror."Theo? What happ—" She instinctively started putting on her usual helpless expression."The weapons network. The Swiss bankcode." Theo cut her off. His voice was so hoarse it sounded as though he had crawled out of hell. "And you would make me kill Bella with my own hands?"Eve's pupils shrank. Her face was pale.She jerked upright, ready to defend herself, but then she noticed the tablet in Theo's hand. The screen was lit, replaying her own confession—every vicious word impossible to deny."No! That's not real!" Eve shrieked, scrambling backward like a cornere