Chapter 3
After leaving the house I had once shared with Luca, I went back to the tiny apartment we had lived in when
we first started out ten years ago.
Back then, we had been broke beyond words.
All we could afford was a crumbling rental in the worst part of the city.
The place had been awful.
But we had been happy.
When we were so poor all we had was instant noodles, Luca would lie and say he’d already eaten at business
meetings, then dump both packs into my bowl.
And late at night, I would always catch him standing at the sink, drinking cup after cup of tap water to quiet
his hunger.
We’d even held our wedding in that tiny apartment.
We hadn’t even had a real wedding, just a plain silver ring that hadn’t cost a grand.
That place meant everything to me.
So even after we moved into the estate that sold for more than ten grand a square foot, I secretly bought the
old apartment.
I used to imagine that when Luca and I got old, we would move back there and live out the rest of our days.
I never thought our marriage would fall apart.
And I would end up returning alone to the place where it all began.
I twisted the key into the lock and pushed the door open.
The first thing I saw was two bodies tangled together on the couch.
And the matching sleepwear Luca and I had once worn-the set I had carefully kept tucked away in the closet
-was now on Luca and Vivian.
My mind went blank.
The words came out before I could stop them. “Luca Moretti, how could you bring her here? You knew this
was our-‘
Before I could finish, Vivian raised her hand and slapped herself across the face.
Then she stood in front of Luca with tearful eyes and a swollen cheek and glared at me.
“Donna, I only wanted to see how Don used to live, so I begged him to bring me here. If you’re upset, I can
Chapter 3
2.68%
kneel and apologize. Just please stop hurting him.”
Luca looked heartsick for her.
He cupped her face and blew softly over the red mark like he was trying to ease her pain.
Then he shot one cold glance at the bodyguards behind me.
They immediately pinned my arms as a broad palm cracked across my face again and again.
My ears rang.
I had no idea how long it lasted before they finally let go.
I collapsed onto the floor.
Luca looked down at me with a calm, empty face. ‘Rita, why do you insist on making trouble for yourself?”
“If you feel sick, go home and recover. Why chase us all the way here just to start something?”
I laughed bitterly. “Home? Do I still have a home? Is that still my home?”
I looked up at him with red, wet eyes.
Tears mixed with blood from my nose and fell onto the floor.
“Why did you bring her here, Luca? Go sleep with whoever you want. I don’t care anymore. But why did you
have to drag her into this place and stain it too?”
‘Thirty-year-old Luca Moretti had already rotted through. Why did you have to destroy the only memory
twenty-year-old Luca left me?”
Something in his eyes trembled for a split second before fury took over. “I’ve rotted through? How, exactly,
have I rotted through?”
‘Rita Conti, don’t forget that without me, you would’ve spent your whole life in a cramped little dump like this.”
‘And don’t forget that the money you used to buy this place came out of my account. It belongs to me too.”
His anger turned into a laugh. “You think bringing Vivian here dirtied this place?”
‘Forget dirtying it. I could blow this dump to pieces, and it still wouldn’t have a damn thing to do with you.”
He had his men drag me outside.
Then they strapped sticks of explosives against the old house.
At his command, the little place that held the only truly happy memories of our past vanished into rubble.
As flames shot into the sky, tears poured down my face.
Luca stared at the tears on my cheeks.
Chapter 3
2.68%
A good deal of the rage left his face, but his voice stayed cold.
‘Rita Conti, what do I have to say to make you understand?”
“I gave you the title of Donna of the Moretti family. I moved you into the best estate. I put you in handbags
worth a fortune. Even the clothes you’re wearing right now are custom pieces ordinary people could never
afford in a lifetime.”
“Was that still not enough? You’re thirty now. You’re not young anymore. Did you really think I was still going
to love you the way I used to?”
“I gave you the status that came with being my donna. I gave you an easy, privileged life. All you had to do
was look the other way and make room for Vivian and her baby. Is that okay?”
I met his eyes and answered him one word at a time. “I won’t. Luca, everything we ever had was erased by
your own hands. Let’s divorce.”
Chapter 3
