All Chapters of The Mafia Don’s Forgotten Wife: Chapter 31 - Chapter 35

On the day of the talk, I stood at the podium and looked out at the students.“Starting over doesn’t always mean doing something dramatic,” I said. “Sometimes it means reading a contract to the end and asking questions when you need to. If there’s something you don’t know how to do, admit it, then learn. The person others once needed you to be isn’t the only person you can become.”During questions, a student asked how I had regained people’s trust after being away from the industry for so long.“Do the work you know you can do, and do it well,” I said. “You can’t expect everyone to believe in you right away. Sometimes you have to begin by believing in yourself.”As I finished, I noticed someone standing at the back of the auditorium.Matteo.There was gray at his temples now. When the crowd dispersed, he waited until I had said goodbye to the faculty before approaching.“Elena. You’ve finally come back.”“I’m here for the event. I’ll be leaving again in a few days.”He seemed to expec

The office was modest, with several desks by the windows. Notes tracking our projects covered a wall of the meeting room.Two colleagues were discussing client feedback when Nico walked in. They saw me and asked a question. I listened to both of them, offered my view, and suggested they try the approach we had discussed.Nico waited by the door.“Was that what you expected?” I asked.“Not really.”“What did you expect?”“I thought a vice president would have a huge office and everyone would come to ask you what to do.”I laughed. “People do ask. A lot of the time, they know their part of the work better than I do.”I showed him a report on a project the team had just finished. It contained no private client information, only the team members’ names and photographs of us working together.Nico found me in one of the pictures.“Were you working late that night?”“Yes. It was a tiring week.”“Why do you look so happy?”“Because we accomplished something difficult.”He looked at the report