The Distant Echo

Selama lima tahun, aku menikah dengan pewaris Keluarga Romano, keluarga kejahatan terbesar di Igali. Setiap malam, dia memelukku dan berbisik, "Berikan aku seorang pewaris dan akan kuberikan seluruh kerajaan Keluarga Romano padanya." Namun, aku tak pernah hamil dan kekecewaan sang bos mafia terhadapku kian bertambah setiap bulan yang berlalu. Hingga akhirnya aku tahu bahwa suamiku diam-diam menukar asam folatku dengan pil kontrasepsi. Aku masih terguncang oleh amarah ketika melihat sebuah unggahan dari mantan pacarnya, sebuah foto USG. Caption-nya manis sekaligus menyebalkan, penuh rasa kemenangan. [ Usianya sepuluh minggu. Vincent bilang dia sudah nggak sabar bertemu bayi ini. ] Melihat banjirnya ucapan selamat, keputusanku pun bulat. Aku menemukan kontak mantan pacarku, orang yang selama lima tahun terakhir tak pernah berhenti berusaha merebutku kembali dan aku mengirimnya satu pesan singkat. [ Kasih aku satu bulan. Setelah itu, aku akan pergi bersamamu. ]

Já se somavam cinco anos de casamento com Dante Moretti, o Don da máfia de Chicago. O submundo inteiro sabia que ele me amava mais do que a própria vida. Ele tinha tatuado um violino em minha homenagem bem ao lado do brasão de sua família, um símbolo de lealdade que jamais poderia ser apagado. Até eu receber a foto de sua amante. Uma garçonete de bar, estirada nua em seus braços, a pele marcada por hematomas escuros que eram resultado de uma noite de sexo bruto. Ela havia rabiscado o próprio nome bem ao lado do violino que ele fizera para mim. E meu marido havia permitido. [Dante diz que só estando dentro de mim ele se sente homem de verdade. Você nem consegue mais deixá-lo duro, não é mesmo, querida Alessia? Talvez seja hora de sair de cena.] Eu não respondi. Apenas fiz um único telefonema. — Preciso de uma nova identidade. E de uma passagem de avião para fora daqui.

Drei Tage vor unserer Hochzeit wurde mein Verlobter, Raphael Russo, bei einer Schießerei zwischen rivalisierenden Banden getötet. Man fand nicht einmal eine Leiche. Während ich in Trauer versank, blitzten plötzlich Kommentare vor meinen Augen auf: [Wach auf, Mädel! Der Sarg ist leer! Er hat seinen Tod vorgetäuscht! Das Schwein ist abgehauen zu dieser hinterhältigen Schlampe Chloe – die nur so tut, als wäre sie krank!] [Während du dir auf der Beerdigung die Augen ausheulst, vögelt Raphael Chloe im Hotelbett die Seele aus dem Leib.] [Wenn er zurückkommt, wird er behaupten, er hat eine Amnesie. Du wirst nichts ahnen und ihm verzeihen. Du armes Ding…] Einen Monat später ging die Nachricht von meiner Hochzeit mit dem Mafia-Boss Marcello Falcone durch ganz New York. Raphaels rechte Hand stellte mich wütend zur Rede. „Wie konntest du den Boss so verraten?“ Ich klammerte mich fester an Marcellos Arm und lächelte. „Eine Frau kann nicht ewig trauern, oder? Ich bin sicher, Raphael würde sich im Jenseits für mich freuen.“

I was a nobody, but for three years, I was in love with Dante, the heir to the Blackwood family—Chicago's biggest name in the mob. The day I found out I was pregnant, I was overjoyed. I couldn't wait to tell him the good news. But then I heard his twin brother, Marco, ask him, "Bro, when are you gonna tell Rose it was me in her bed every night, pretending I was you?" Dante's voice had a coldness I'd never heard before. "At the wedding, in one week. I'll expose everything, then I'll propose to Isabella." Isabella. The rich girl who used to bully me. So, this was all just payback for his precious Isabella. But what Dante didn't know was that the wedding he'd so carefully planned would be missing its bride.

Durante la media noche, mi esposo comenzó a hablar mientras dormía. —Mi pequeño tesoro, papi te llevará a ti y a mami a la nueva casa mañana. Sin embargo, nosotros estamos usando protección. ¿De dónde demonios había salido un niño? Entonces desbloqueé su teléfono. Vi las transferencias de dinero enviadas a otra mujer, todos eran gastos en cosas malditamente lujosas y una casa. En los álbumes de su galería había fotos de ella en un diminuto traje de stripper, y se mostraba un pequeño bulto en su vientre. La última fue un ultrasonido. Parecía que estaba de cuatro meses. No dije nada. Solo guardé las pruebas. Ellos estaban a punto de descubrir el precio de traicionar a una princesa de la mafia.

Setelah kembali memergoki suamiku, Dante, di ranjang bersama asistennya, Angel, aku melakukan sesuatu yang bodoh. Aku membocorkan videonya. Aku ingin seluruh dunia melihat mereka apa adanya. Namun, yang kudapat malah gugatan dari pihak keluarga dan hukuman penjara enam bulan dan sebuah esai dari putraku yang berjudul "Mamaku Seorang Psikopat". Saat itulah aku benar-benar hancur. Aku mengajukan gugatan cerai dan menyerahkan hak asuh putra kami. Pada hari keberangkatanku, Dante menyeringai sinis padaku. "Kamu mau ke mana tanpa aku, Livia? Belum terlambat kalau kamu mau merangkak kembali." Yang tidak dia ketahui adalah ibuku mengendalikan Keluarga Waluyo, keluarga dan organisasi terbesar di Ivalia ... dan aku adalah satu-satunya pewarisnya.

My marriage to Dante Moretti, the heir to the Moretti family, was arranged when we were kids. But after my father died, he publicly refused to marry me. Three times. Each time, he used his dead mother as an excuse, and I couldn't argue. The third time, I walked in on him with some starlet on the anniversary of his mother’s death, and I overheard him sneer: “A boring woman like Isabella? Who the hell would want her?” “So desperate to marry me. It’s pathetic.” I looked down at my white wedding dress, turned on my heel, and knocked on his father's door. Later, on the day I moved into the Moretti estate, I ran into Dante. He thought I was there to force his hand and ran his mouth. But he had no idea I was already his new stepmother.

No meio da noite, meu marido começou a falar dormindo. — Meu pequeno tesouro, papai vai levar você e a mamãe para a casa nova amanhã. Mas estávamos usando proteção. De onde diabos surgiu uma criança? Então liguei o celular dele. Vi as transferências de dinheiro para outra mulher, gastas em todo tipo de luxo e uma casa. O álbum de fotos tinha fotos dela com uma roupa de stripper bem reveladora, uma pequena barriguinha. A última era um ultrassom. De quatro meses, pelo que parecia. Não disse nada. Apenas salvei as provas. Eles estavam prestes a aprender o preço de trair uma princesa da máfia.

My fiancé of three years, Julius, sold me. To a black market auction in Vegas. I was sold to another man for five million dollars. Julius was begging me. "I owe five million," he pleaded. "If I don't pay up, they're gonna dump me in the river." "You're a dead ringer for the Don of the Norling family's late wife. All you have to do is keep him happy, and my debt gets wiped clean." "Don't worry," he said. "When he gets tired of you, I won't think any less of you. We'll still get married." So they drugged me and delivered me to an estate that was all too familiar. But here’s what he didn't know. The Don of the Norling family would kill for his daughter. And I'm that daughter. The one he’s kept hidden all these years.

The day I came of age, I had to honor the pact: marry a son of the Blackwood family. In my first life, I chose Julian, the man I’d loved for years. But after we were married, he treated me as nothing more than a tool for his pleasure and cheated on me with my adopted sister, Seraphina. They flaunted their affair right in front of me. In the end, they poisoned me, leaving me to die a bitter, hateful death. Reborn, when the Don Blackwood asked who I would choose for the marriage pact, I didn’t hesitate. I pointed to the sickly Damien. This time, I’d let Julian and Seraphina have each other. But this time, Julian was the one filled with regret.