All Chapters of I Proposed to the Don 52 Times Before I Died: Chapter 1 - Chapter 9

9 Chapters

Chapter 1

Raffaele watched the letters curl and blacken in the flames.Then, with no thought for his own safety, he tore off his jacket and beat out the fire.His eyes were red when he shoved me down onto the sofa strewn with white rose petals, in full view of the thousands still watching the livestream."What the heck is this, Sofia?""You called me here just to humiliate me in front of the whole world?"His underboss Marco immediately killed the stream.Silence fell over the room. I said nothing.Raffaele stood so close that I caught the faint scent of gardenia clinging to his suit.Gianna's favorite perfume.And suddenly, I was thinking about seven years ago.Back then, Raffaele hadn't been the untouchable Don he was today. He had been the Moretti family's unwanted bastard son.When an ambush left him with two bullets in his body, I had dragged him from a burning car under a hail of gunfire.After that, I helped him purge traitors, seize territory, and put every man who stood in his way into

Chapter 2

"She always does," Raffaele added. "She can't live without me."Marco nodded. "True. Everyone knows Sofia is crazy about you. God knows how many reckless things she's done for your sake."He wasn't wrong.I had loved Raffaele so desperately that I'd surrendered every scrap of pride I had. The years of emotional torment had worn me down until, eventually, the doctor found the cancer.When gunmen opened fire during a family meeting, I took a bullet meant for him.When the old guard tried to force him out, I emptied the inheritance my mother had left me to keep his organization afloat.And every time he abandoned me for Gianna, I told myself they had grown up together. Looking after her was simply an old habit.The person who knows he is loved is always the one who can afford to be careless.But there would be no next time.I gave a humorless smile and quickened my pace as I left.The following day, Raffaele brought Gianna to the family headquarters.I was in my office, sorting through th

Chapter 3

I spent the rest of the day completing the handover and didn't finish until evening.Marco came into my office and placed an opera ticket on my desk."You know the Don. He doesn't know how to apologize, and he doesn't always think things through. But he does care about you.""You've wanted him to take you to La Traviata for years. He had the best seats in the house reserved for tonight.""Eight o'clock. Meet him outside the opera house. Please be there, Sofia."I stared at the ticket for a long moment.It was Raffaele's version of an olive branch. I knew that. I also knew it was meant to make up for what he'd done.In the end, I accepted it. After all, he owed me that much.At eight o'clock, I arrived outside the opera house. Raffaele was waiting alone at the bottom of the steps in a long black coat.But when we entered the private box, I found Gianna already seated inside.When I stopped in the doorway, Raffaele offered an easy explanation."Gianna has wanted to see this opera since s

Chapter 4

The moment Raffaele saw me, he strode over."The opera ended at eleven. Where have you been?""I called you more than a dozen times. Why didn't you answer?"I stepped away from his reaching hand and opened the door."My phone was on silent. I didn't hear it."He followed me inside, still visibly annoyed."Don't pay attention to the story on the news. The reporters exaggerated everything. There is nothing between Gianna and me."It took me a moment to remember the report about him shutting down the street."It's fine. I'm used to stories like that."Raffaele stopped short.Perhaps my answer finally forced him to remember everything he had put me through. For once, a trace of guilt surfaced in his eyes.Then he produced a velvet box. Inside was an enormous blue diamond ring.I froze for a moment. I had dreamed of this scene more times than I could count.I'd imagined Raffaele sliding a ring onto my finger and giving our seven years together the ending I had always believed they deserved.

Chapter 5

Raffaele's POVGianna stood there in the silver-blue gown, the engagement ring in her hand, her radiant smile freezing in an instant.Her expression stiffened. “Raffaele, it's me. Aren't you happy to see me?”He ignored her, sweeping his gaze across the room in search of Sofia.She was nowhere to be found.Gianna lowered her voice to a pleading whisper. “Raffaele, the whole world is watching. Please don't humiliate me.”Raffaele swiftly regained his composure.Relieved to see the familiar calm settle over him, Gianna smiled again. “Sofia finally realized that in a love triangle, the unwanted woman is the outsider. She told me I should fight for my own happiness.”“I suppose she does know her place after all—”A crack appeared in Raffaele's carefully controlled expression. “What did you say to her?”His voice was quiet, but every word came through clenched teeth.“You and I grew up together. Surely you didn't mistake a few designer dresses and expensive gifts for romantic interest.”He

Chapter 6

Sofia's POVMy flight landed in Florence, and I retreated to the old house my parents had left me.One night, the pain was too severe to let me sleep. I had just given myself an injection when my sister Bianca called.The moment I answered, her anxious voice rushed down the line.“Raffaele's men came looking for me. They said you've disappeared. What the hell is going on?”“Nothing. I ended things with him. I just wanted a few quiet days alone.”Bianca fell silent for a moment.“What's wrong with your voice?”I gripped the phone, unable to answer.Her breathing quickened.“Sofia, what aren't you telling me?”My gaze fell on the family photograph sitting on the table, and the tears came before I could stop them.The facade I had fought so hard to maintain finally shattered.“I have terminal liver cancer, Bianca. I'm dying.”The other end of the line went completely silent.It was a long time before I heard her trying to smother a sob.“Send me the address.”“You don't have to come. I wa

Chapter 7

Sofia's POVAfter I died, I became a spirit suspended above the living, watching as Bianca arranged my funeral.One evening, Raffaele somehow learned the truth and came to the old house in Tuscany.He stood motionless at the gate.His mouth opened several times before he finally managed, in a shaking voice, “Bianca... where is Sofia?”Bianca looked up at him, and all the fury she had been holding back erupted at once.“Who are you to her? What right do you have to ask about her? What possible claim do you think you still have?”“You wasted seven years of her life. How dare you show your face here?”Raffaele began to tremble. For the first time in his life, he went down on his knees before another person.He knelt at Bianca's feet, his eyes bloodshot as he pleaded with her, fear unlike anything he had ever known written across his face.Then she gave him the answer he had dreaded most.“You're too late. Sofia is dead! She's already dead, and you still came after her. Haven't you hurt he

Chapter 8

Back at the estate, Raffaele locked himself in the room that had once been mine.I had taken almost everything with me. Only a few pieces of clothing remained behind.When he opened the wardrobe, he found a white gown hanging at the very back.He had commissioned it during our first year together, when he promised to acknowledge me publicly at a family banquet.Before the banquet began, Gianna had quarreled with one of the guests and locked herself in a bedroom.Afraid she would embarrass herself in front of everyone, Raffaele stayed to comfort her and never appeared at the banquet.I had waited for him alone until long past midnight, still wearing that white dress.Later, he held me and explained himself over and over, promising he would never let me down again.I believed him.Over the next seven years, I believed him countless times more.Raffaele took the dress from the wardrobe and slowly ran his fingertips over the skirt.Perhaps only then did he understand that I had not left hi

Chapter 9

Months passed, and Bianca remained at the old house in Tuscany.Because I had proposed to Raffaele so publicly, the internet had turned me into the subject of countless vicious rumors.People said I had stopped at nothing to marry into the Moretti family.Others claimed I had pursued Raffaele for seven years despite knowing he loved Gianna.Bianca hired lawyers to set the record straight, but the rumors refused to die.Then Raffaele ordered Marco to release every message we had ever exchanged.The messages proved that each proposal had been part of the bargain he had offered me.After my first proposal, he had written, “Wait a little longer. When we reach the last one, I'll tell the world that you're the only woman I've chosen.”The tenth proposal. The twentieth. The fortieth.Every time I considered giving up, he kept me there with the same promise.He also admitted publicly that I had taken a bullet for the Moretti family, helped him eliminate traitors, and fought beside him to recla

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