Donna Loli

I'd never forget how cold the icy waters of the Sandford River were. In my previous life, I was Dalia Valentino, the future Donna of the Rossi family that they'd already acknowledged. But later on, I got betrayed by my fiance, Marco Rossi, and my cousin, Alice Palermo. They stole my betrothal contract away and took over my family's resources. In the end, they used me as a human shield and got me killed during a crossfire between our families. The moment I felt a bullet penetrating my chest, I saw Marco protecting Alice. As for my childhood friend, Riccardo Corleone, who had always watched me from behind, rushed over to me like a madman. He scooped my cooling corpse into his arms before letting out an anguished roar. That was why after I got reborn, I didn't hesitate to kick Marco to the curb and marry Riccardo, resulting in me becoming the Donna of the Corleone family. I thought Riccardo was my savior. Little did I know that fate was just playing a crueler prank on me. Both men had always been in love with the same woman this whole time. In this case, I decided to quit this game of romance and deceit.

No dia do meu casamento, fui traída diante do altar. Ryder Conti, meu noivo e herdeiro da máfia, não apenas cancelou nosso casamento, ele entrou na igreja de braços dados com outra mulher. Atrás dos portões de ferro, ele olhou para mim com um meio sorriso e disse: — Emilia, os Conti precisam de um herdeiro. A Carmela está esperando um filho dos Rossi. Quando eu garantir meu lugar na Família com a ajuda deles, vou me divorciar dela. Você continuará sendo minha mulher. Todos achavam que eu esperaria. Que obedeceria. Afinal, eu havia passado dez anos amando aquele homem mais do que a mim mesma — rompi com minha família, sacrifiquei tudo por ele. Mas naquela mesma noite, embarquei num jatinho rumo à Sicília para aceitar um casamento arranjado com o Padrinho da família Vettori. E desapareci do mundo de Ryder Conti. Três anos depois, retornei a Nova York, ao lado do meu marido e do nosso filho, para acertar as contas com um traidor da Família. Voltei para resolver uma traição na Família. Zayn teve um imprevisto, então mandou um dos capangas dele me buscar. Só não esperava reencontrar o homem que um dia destruiu meu coração. Com aquele velho sorriso arrogante, Ryder disse: — Acabou a farra? Que bom que voltou. O filho da Carmela precisa de uma cozinheira. Pode começar hoje. Cozinheira? Eu sou a Donna mais temida do submundo, e ele ousa me chamar de cozinheira?

Le jour de notre septième anniversaire de mariage, j'étais à califourchon sur mon mari mafieux, Lucien, et je l'embrassais profondément. Mes doigts fouillaient dans la poche de ma robe de soie hors de prix, à la recherche du test de grossesse que j'y avais caché. Je voulais garder la nouvelle de ma grossesse inattendue pour la fin de la soirée. Marc, le second de Lucian, a demandé avec un sourire suggestif en italien : « Don, ton nouveau petit canari, Sophie. Comment est-elle ? » Le rire moqueur de Lucien a vibré sur ma poitrine et m'a fait froid dans le dos. Il a répondu, toujours en italien : « Comme une pêche pas mûre, fraîche et tendre. » Sa main caressait toujours ma taille, mais son regard était distant. « Garde ça entre nous. Si ma Donna le découvre, je suis un homme mort. » L'homme a gloussé d'un air entendu, levant son verre et jurant de garder le silence. La chaleur de mon sang s'est transformée progressivement pour devenir glaciale. La seule chose qu'ils ignoraient, c'était que ma grand-mère était originaire de Sicile, et que je comprenais donc chaque mot. Je me forçais de rester calme, fixant sur mon visage le sourire parfait de Donna, mais la main qui tenait ma flûte de champagne a tremblé. Au lieu de faire une scène, j'ai ouvert mon téléphone, trouvé l'invitation que j'avais reçue il y a quelques jours pour un projet international privé de recherche médicale, et j'ai tapé « Accepter ». Dans trois jours, je disparaîtrais complètement du monde de Lucien.

On the day we were supposed to get engaged, my fiance, Christopher Vittorino, slid the ring—that was supposed to be mine—onto Lina Sorenzo, my stepsister's finger, right in front of the entire family. Christopher's uncle, Don Mark Vittorino, was the one who had specifically ordered his subordinates to deliver the ring that symbolizes the wearer's status as the future Donna of the Vittorino family to Christopher himself. I could only stare at Christopher's deep blue eyes in disbelief. Just as I was about to question him, he just gazed at me with a stony expression. Even his tone was cold and rigid. "The Don intends to send me to Maravena for the next five years to develop my own business there. Once I return, I'll take over the family business. "You don't have any skills at all, Isla. If you stay with me, you'll just be a hindrance to me and cause me unwanted trouble. "Lina, on the other hand, is fluent in Maravenese. Not to mention, she knows how to expand the family business overseas. She will serve as a brilliant assistant for me." After that, Christopher took Lina's hand and left the venue with her, not caring about the fact that the leaders of the other branch families as well as the elders kept murmuring among themselves. Because of that, I ended up becoming the laughingstock of the entire family. Five years later, Christopher and Lina return to the country. When he spots me showing up at a family gathering held by Mark with a ruby ring that signifies my status as the Donna on my finger, his expression changes instantly. "I can't believe you learned to steal, Isla!" I just ignore Christopher's accusations in favor of looking for the Black Rose Medal that my son, Toby Vittorino, has lost. That medal is a gift he received on his fourth birthday from Mark. Poor Toby has been sobbing for a long time because of its disappearance. I need to hurry up and find it as soon as possible.

Before I realized it, I’d become the invisible wife standing beside my mafia Don husband, Adrian Kane. A stay-at-home mom buried in chores while my husband paraded around with his secretary, Viola, ten years younger than me. “She’s smart,” Adrian said once. “She knows how to help me.” Tonight marked our tenth anniversary. I saw an elegant designer dress and a necklace presenting in the living room. For a second, I was happy. Looks like Adrian finally decided to take me to this year’s annual mafia gathering and introduce me as his Donna. Turns out the dress and the jewelry was for Viola. Later that night, I caught Adrian sneaking in with Viola—both drunk, hands all over each other like I didn’t exist. I just made one phone call. “I will join the Doctors Without Borders program. Send me away.” Before I married Adrian, I had a future in medicine. But I gave it all up for him. Now? It was time to choose myself and leave behind everything that was never really mine.

Una vez que quedé embarazada, fui aclamada como la mujer más preciosa del submundo. Mi esposo, el nuevo Don de la familia Jenkins, cerró toda una ala de un hospital privado para mis chequeos, mientras que mi padre, el Don de los Collins, convocó a todos los chefs con estrellas Michelin de Nueva York a la mansión, solo para que yo pudiera elegir cualquier cosa que se me antojara. El bebé que llevaba en mi vientre estaba destinado a ser el único heredero de las dos familias de la mafia más poderosas. Pero el día en que debíamos firmar los documentos que aseguraban la herencia de mi hijo, ambos desaparecieron. —Surgió un asunto familiar urgente —dijo mi esposo, Vincent, besando mi frente—. Podemos finalizar la herencia del niño cuando regresemos. No hay prisa. Poco después de que se marcharan, recibí un enlace a una transmisión en vivo anónima. La voz de mi padre se escuchaba en el video, más fría de lo que jamás la había sentido. —Estás diciendo que tu contrato de matrimonio con Evangeline nunca fue válido. ¿Eso no convierte al niño en un bastardo? Vincent, relajado en un club, sopló un anillo de humo. Acurrucada en sus brazos estaba mi media hermana, Sarah. —Evangeline siempre ha tenido todo el amor y el afecto. A su hijo no le faltará nada —respondió Vincent—. Sarah ha sido burlada por su estatus durante años. Tengo que hacer las cosas bien para ella, darle a nuestro hijo un nombre legítimo. En ese momento, mi corazón se paralizó y apenas podía respirar. Entonces mi teléfono vibró de nuevo. Era un mensaje de texto: [Bienvenida a casa a la familia Gallo, mi reina.] [Solo di la palabra, y el niño que llevas llevará el apellido Gallo y se convertirá en el heredero más poderoso del submundo estadounidense.]

When I was three months pregnant, my Don husband’s so-called step sister, Ruby, showed up at my door. Her swollen belly was impossible to miss, “Donna, since my due date is so close, I thought you should know… the Don’s heir is in my belly.” She laid everything in front of me—intimate photos of her and Caleb, records of the weekly money transfers he sent her, even the deed to a mansion. The earliest dates traced back to the time I lost our first baby, when the doctors told me it would be difficult for me to conceive again. All these years, I had been enduring IVF treatments, desperately trying to carry our child once more—while he was fooling around with his so-called step sister. Well, if Caleb wanted another woman so badly, he could have her. I had no intention of staying anyway. I was already planning my leave.

Rumors said Fabrizio Medici, Don of the Medicis, was ruthless in everything he did. Yet he was nothing but devoted to me, his mother, as if I were his lifeline. Ten years ago, my husband, Victor Medici, betrayed us all. He conspired with foreign enemies, abducted Fabrizio, and staged a coup from within. To save my child, I blew up a car, destroying my leg and face, and erased myself from the world by faking my own death. Fabrizio hardened and lay low. Ten years later, he wiped out our enemies, killed Victor with his own hands, and reclaimed everything that had been stolen from him. Afterward, he spent a fortune rebuilding my body, piece by piece. But when I returned to the country under a new identity to attend Fabrizio's engagement party, his fiancée, Giovanna Valery, mistook me for a hidden mistress. She stormed in with her friends and humiliated me in every possible way. By the time Fabrizio finally arrived, I was covered in blood. Giovanna pointed at me, her voice shrill as she screamed, "No wonder I never see you messing around. So this is your type? Older women?"

In the second year after dropping out of school, I decide to cosplay as a dancer and stage a chance encounter with my husband, Don Vincenzo Rossi, in order to give him a surprise. However, I happen to run into my old classmates in the club. When they see me pole dancing in a skimpy outfit, they burst into laughter immediately. Tatiana Lazzari, the one who's throwing the party and was my former bully at school, mocks me for being a lowly, slutty bitch. My ex-boyfriend, Cristian Paleno, who had cheated on me with Tatiana back then, has his brows drawn into a tight frown. He seems to feel sorry for me. "If you didn't insist on breaking up with me back then, Aria, you wouldn't have gotten reduced to having to work as a stripper." In order to spice up the party, they drag me into their private room and force me to strip in front of them. When I reject them, they dump all sorts of alcohol and beverages onto my exposed skin and my thin, skimpy clothes. Then, they force me to kneel between Cristian's legs in submission. As Cristian leans in close to my ear, I can see the lust brimming in his eyes. "Come back to me, Aria. Otherwise, you can only remain as a horny bitch for the rest of your life." Out of sheer jealousy and rage, Tatiana kicks me in the gut right away. That's when Vincenzo hurries to my side and scoops me into his arms. By then, I'm in so much pain that I'm all curled up. He then glares at everyone else, whose faces have gone white from terror. "How dare you harm my wife and our unborn child! You can forget about leaving this room today!"

When I pushed through the main door, covered in blood, I found my amnesiac husband right on top of my best friend. His arm was wrapped around her waist with practiced ease, and she was passionately reciprocating his advances. "Ada will be devastated if she finds out…" Camilla said in a sweet voice through bated breaths. "After all, she really thinks you've lost your memories." Lucio chuckled softly and said in a mocking tone, "It's not my fault she loves me that much. Then again, it's a good thing for me since I can just let her do all the tough and dirty work." He leaned down and planted a kiss on Camilla's lips, mumbling, "Right now, you're the only one I recognize as my wife. Just wait. Once I sign the deal with the Della Veras, I'll have her kicked out and pass everything she owns to you. After all, I no longer remember a thing." Only then did it hit me. My husband's amnesia was all an act, a farce to fool me. Moreover, my best friend conspired with him to stab me in the back. Too bad they didn't know that the Della Vera family, the most feared Mafia family in Ritelle, only acknowledged one person: Me, Ada Rossi.