Semua Bab The Day I Finally Stopped Loving You: Bab 1 - Bab 10

Sealing the Moretti estate was easier than I expected. Luca gave one order, and the guards locked every exit.I had been the Don's wife for thirty years, yet even the smallest decision had required his approval. He had not inherited the family yet, and I was only the overlooked second daughter of the Vitales. Still, one sentence from him made the entire estate obey me. It was useful. I did not mistake usefulness for kindness.The guests were divided into three groups. The women remained in the ballroom. The family heads were taken to the sitting room. Everyone else surrendered coats, phones, and weapons. Marco sealed the kitchen and wine cellar. Twenty minutes later, he returned with bad news. Paolo, the wine steward, was dead.His body lay at the back of the cellar, his neck broken from behind. He had died before I fired the first shot."Convenient. Clean. And he can't talk." Luca sat on the study sofa, his voice still rough from the drugs. "A scapegoat prepared in advance."Dr. Rossi

The drive from Vitale Shipping to Warehouse B-17 took twenty minutes.Luca made it in twelve.The black sedan tore through the port gate before the guard could raise the barrier. A wheel scraped the curb, throwing a streak of sparks. I sat rigid in the passenger seat, watching the streetlights rush backward. I had been here only once in my first life.It was seven days after my sister's funeral. Father sent me to the riverbank and made me swear before several family elders that I would never leave Luca. They said Isabella had jumped from the stone bridge behind B-17. I had knelt beside that bridge and begged her forgiveness.I had believed she jumped. Now I understood the river bend was only where her killer disposed of the body."How many exits does the warehouse have?" Luca asked."Three. The main entrance, a loading bay on the west side, and a drainage channel leading to the river."He glanced at me."The floor plan of an abandoned warehouse isn't a secret either?""This isn't the t

News of Isabella's death spread across Palermo the next morning.The Moretti family announced that she had died from injuries sustained during her abduction. To preserve her dignity, the funeral would use a closed coffin. No one would be permitted to view the body.My sister was moved to a seaside house that did not appear in any Moretti record. At first, no one approved of the plan. Luca called it too dangerous. Dr. Rossi worried about her health. Marco feared what would happen if the lie was exposed. Isabella listened to them argue and made the decision herself."They truly meant to kill me." She set the threatening letter on the table. "If I disappear, they'll believe they succeeded. I'm willing to try."She cut her hair short, changed into ordinary clothes, and left the estate without looking back. In the past, she had followed every instruction Father gave. I had assumed obedience came naturally to her. Only now did I understand that she had never been offered another choice. The

Three weeks later, I rented an office at the port with a leaking roof.A new wooden sign hung on the door.Aurora Shipping.The company had two employees: Antonia and me. Our starting capital came from the trust my mother had left behind. Father had blocked the money for years on the grounds that I was unmarried. Armed with his confession and the false accounts, I challenged the restriction through the trustee bank. The bank wanted no part in a scandal between two families. It released the funds that same day.Antonia's husband repaired Crane Three, then joined us with six dockworkers. I owned no ships. All I had was temporary operating authority over Berth Seven, but the name on the document was mine. Luca came every day. On the first day, he brought twelve armed guards. I made every one of them wait outside.On the second day, he brought a Moretti shipping contract. I removed the right-of-first-refusal clause and raised our profit by thirty percent before signing the final page. On t

Luca's first order as Don was to dismantle the St. Agatha Benevolent Society.Every company and warehouse tied to Salvatore was seized, and every secret account was frozen. The men who abducted my sister were tried. The police and medical examiner he had bought lost their protection.His second order abolished every Moretti subsidiary contract contingent on marriage. Several capos objected. Luca instructed Marco, in front of them, to reopen the records of their port businesses. The meeting grew quiet. Father was buried in the Vitale crypt. I did not attend the funeral.My sister did.When she returned, she threw the family ring Father once wore into the fireplace and watched it blacken in the flames."I thought I would be sad," she said."You can be.""Because he's dead?""Because he was still our father. He never treated us as daughters, but that doesn't mean you aren't allowed to grieve."My sister cried for a long time. After that, we rarely spoke of Enzo Vitale. Two months later, s