Vincent drove back to the family compound.
He marched straight to Isabella’s office.
When he pushed open the door to her office, he had even already planned his first line, “Bella, I’ve already handled the
Lena situation-*
The words died in his throat.
Her desk was spotless, even cleaner than it had been the day he and Lena had fooled around there for a cheap thrill.
Almast on a strange impulse, he pulled open a desk drawer.
His fingers closed around a document, its header emblazoned with the words *Divorce Agreement*.
He froze for a second, then flipped it open.
His signature was clearly printed on the last page, completely authentic.
The date was… three days prior.
His pupils shrank sharply.
The arms trafficking funding request for Queens…
She was supposed to be on a business trip in Miami that day, but she had come back unexpectedly and asked him to sign
some documents.
He had been so flustered and turned on by Lena teasing him under the desk that he had signed without reading a single
line.
“So that was when…”
Vincent collapsed into the chair, Isabella… you set me up…”
His phone buzzed again, a call from his old friend Mike.
“Vincent, what’s going on with you and Isabella? No one heard you two got divorced, so why is there news that the Rosetti family has completed its strategic split from the Vital family and officially announced a strategic partnership
with the De Luca family?”
Vincent rubbed his temples, his tone certain. Take news from clickbait accounts
Mike paused for a beat, then asked, ‘Buddy, did you take things too far?”
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Three years later she returns as a top surgeon and planist with a powerful…
The Lena thing’s all over the circle. I heard she’s pregnant?”
“Pregnant my ass!” Vincent slammed his fist on the table furiously, “I said she’s not, so she’s not!”
“Then go apologize to Isabella already. All these years, when has she ever actually held a grudge against you?”
Vincent was silent for a few seconds, then gave a cold sneer, “She can’t take this? What about back then, when she was
with those people from the Hank family…”
He cut himself off mid–sentence.
The other end of the line went quiet.
After a long moment, Mike sighed, “Vincent, you know perfectly well what happened. Isabella was set up the entire time.”
“The Hank family drugged her and took photos to force her family to give up their smuggling routes in the New York Harbor. The first thing she did when she woke up was call the family lawyer, the second was explain everything to you-
you just wouldn’t believe her.”
“What are you defending her for? I saw the photos with my own eyes, what they did to her—”
“What the hell is wrong with you? She was unconscious, what was she supposed to do?”
Mike’s voice dropped, “You’ve tortured her over this for years, Vincent. You use it as an excuse every time you cheat, every time you humiliate her. You turned her guilt towards you into a free pass to do whatever you wanted.”
Vincent opened his mouth to argue, but no sound came out.
‘Now she’s done with you.” Mike spoke every word deliberately, “Are you happy now?”
The call cut off.
The office was deathly quiet.
Vincent sat there motionless for a long time before he opened his phone’s photo album.
He swiped to the very bottom, his finger pausing on a photo he would never forget for as long as he lived
It was a photo taken when Isabella had a miscarriage because of that incident.
That year, the heir to the Hank family had suddenly taken an interest in his failing arms trafficking project.
But he had specifically demanded that Isabella come alone to negotiate.
He had said women always had special advantages when it came to business talks.
Vincent was not an idiot, he knew exactly what that meant.
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He forbade Isabella from going.
But she had gone anyway, without telling anyone.
That day, his mother got a call that something had happened to Isabella, and the stress triggered a heart attack.
By the time the ambulance arrived, her condition was already critical.
But Vincent could not go with her to the hospital.
He had to go rescue Isabella.
Later, his mother passed before he got back, his wife had been assaulted, and their child was gone.
There was nothing he could do.
So he hated Isabella. He hated her for ignoring his warnings and walking straight into that trap.
Chapter 7
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
