All Chapters of The Don's Ruthless Empire: Chapter 561 - Chapter 565

POV: Isabella"Do not say yes to him, Matteo. Not even in your head. I saw your face when Tobias read that letter, and you looked like a man who had already put on his coat and found his old sword."I am Isabella, and I said it in our sitting room with flour still on my hands. I had been kneading bread for an hour to keep from screaming. The carriage ride home from Salvatore's hill had been silent, and the whole house smelled of rosemary and fear. Gold afternoon light lay across the carpet. Matteo sat by the cold fireplace with his blanket over his knees, staring at the black wax seal in his palm. Tobias stood by the door, trying to be furniture."I have not said yes," Matteo said."You have not said no, either.""A man cannot say no to a thing he has not finished thinking about.""Then think faster." My voice cracked. "Teodoro's life against a promise. Is that the scale you are weighing?""Tell me which side is heavier.""That is exactly the scale the Voice built for you. He wants yo

POV: Isabella"Thirty years you kept my father's secret, Isabella, and now you ask me to trust your council with his life? Give me one good reason I should not walk into that hall on Thursday and burn it to the ground."I am Isabella, and I stood in Tomas's kitchen with my hands folded in front of me, because I did not trust them to be still. It was Monday morning. The house was small and tidy and had not changed in years. A wooden table. Two chairs. A faded blue cloth on the window sill. On the mantel, in a plain frame, hung a dark ribbon that his mother had never worn. The room smelled of cold coffee and lemon soap, and of a grief that had no place left to go."I would not stop you from being angry," I said."That is a very clever way not to answer." He did not look at me. He was sitting at the table with the petition in front of him, one hand pressed flat against the page as if he could rub out his own name. "Do you know what the baker said to me this morning? He would not sell me

POV: Isabella"Isabella, I have a confession, and you will not like it. I knew the cabinet had a second bottom long before the bell. Ottavio showed me years ago and swore me to silence, and I said nothing."I am Isabella, and I stared at Corvin across the archive table as if he had spoken in another language. It was Tuesday morning. We were in the council hall's lower archive, a long cold room that smelled of dust, ink, and damp paper. Shelves rose into the shadows on every side. A single lamp burned between us, and its light shook, because Corvin's hand was shaking against the table. I had come here to ask about a pen. I had not come to hear this."You knew," I said slowly."I knew there was a hollow space. That is all I knew." He pressed his knuckles to his mouth. "Ottavio told me it was where he kept a few coins, his savings against a bad year. He was embarrassed. He said, do not tell anyone, they will think me a miser. I laughed and I promised. I thought it was a small thing.""A