I turned away before they could see the emptiness settling inside me.
Each step felt distant, like I was walking outside my own body as I slipped out onto the balcony, breathing in the cold night air.
"Oops, is that you, sister?" Kiara's voice called out mockingly from behind me.
"If I didn't know better, I would have assumed that was a servant's uniform."
Her heels clicked against the marble tiles as she approached me with a smirk, her diamond bracelet catching the light while she scanned my dress from top to bottom.
“Oh my, you have so many scratches on your neck… don’t tell me that day you were really kidnapped and tormented by thugs?”
Her eyes widened like a perfect opera actress as a delicate hand rose to her lips, feigning shock, while her eyes glittered with quiet mockery.
“Sister, if they raped you, let’s go for a checkup immediately… who knows which dirty criminal might have planted his seed in your belly. It’s better to abort it now-”
“Watch your mouth!” At my dead set eyes glaring at her sharply, Kiara’s eyes gleamed, and she took a leisurely step closer, voice dropping like a blade.
“Angry already?Then maybe this grand news will lighten your mood sister.
Tomorrow on your own freaking wedding anniversary, Luciano is going to marry me. In a week, I will legally become your children’s mother.” She tilted her head slightly, watching me as if savoring the moment.
“If you want, I can definitely make you my maid of honor.” She laughed.
For a moment, I couldn’t hear anything before I lowered my gaze, my fingers trembling faintly at my sides before stilling completely.
“After everything you gave them… how does it feel to be discarded like a common whore?”
“The whore was never me.” I said almost too calm to be breaking from within “If you want Luciano you can have him…. afterall since you treasure my leftovers so much, I will once again throw it your way."
“Leftover?” The haughty smile on Kiara’s lips was wiped out instantly. "Luciano and I were always meant to be!”
“You were nothing but a warm body while I was gone but tomorrow everything is going to change.”
She stepped closer, her composure slipping just enough to show the venom beneath.
"Tomorrow Luciano will fuck me in your marital bed." She lifted her chin, triumphant. "On your own loving anniversary, we will spend our honeymoon in the same bed you made your children."
The words that could have killed me once, now faded into nothing but a dull ringing in my ears.
“That night you were screaming to be rescued from the kidnappers… Luciano was inside me. Sister, it was so damn hot as he grabbed my hair and made me do wild things… god.” She grinned.
"He said you were too much of a prude to try such stuff, too vanilla for his liking. That touching your like big breasts, he almost thought that it was an animal’s udders…it almost made him puke.”
Something inside me snapped as I gritted my teeth almost seeing red.
"Mommy!"
The word came from behind me. Small, sweet, desperate.
I spun around.
Ian and Lucas stood at the balcony entrance, their faces flushed as tears gathered in their eyes.
My heart lurched with a fragile, desperate hope. My precious children…did they finally came to protect me?
My arms opened instinctively. "My babies-"
But they ran past me straight to Kiara.
They clutched her legs, burying their faces in her white gown. I staggered back, my arms still open as they stood infront of Kiara protectively.
“You are bad! We hate mommy!! Auntie loves us the most!”
My heart splintered as Lucas shouted. “She even taught us Spanish and we were going to use it to wish you on your birthday-”
His voice faltered for a second before hardening.
“But you don’t deserve it!”
Ian stepped forward clearly annoyed. His voice was clear and rehearsed. as he repeated the words he was taught.
[A cheap substitute like mommy will never enter daddy’s heart. She must leave."]
Lucas recited next, his small face serious. like he was doing just that for the sake of Kiara.
[After mommy is kicked out, auntie will make sure we are raised like the bastards we are.]
The words melted into my ears like red hot iron.
My entire being froze like I was thrown in an ice cellar.
Ian and Lucas didn't even know what they were saying. They glared up at me as if giving ‘proof’ of how Kiara cared for them and taught them things I couldn’t.
My pupils shook violently as something inside me snapped beyond control.
My hand moved before I could stop it.
A sharp slap cracked across Kiara's face. She staggered back, hand pressed to her reddening cheek, eyes wide with feigned shock.
"I am the Donna of Moretti Mafia Syndicate. The legal wife of Luciano." I said, my voice low and steady. "If anyone here is a mistress, it's you."
Silence.
For a single heartbeat no one moved.
Then Kiara's knees buckled. She crumpled to the ground like a marionette with cut strings, her hand rising slowly to her mouth, fingers trembling as if she couldn't process what had just happened.
"Donna….?" she whispered, faint and fragile, like a practiced actress delivering her finest performance.
Her eyes lifted to mine glassy, shaken, beyond broken. A masterpiece of victimhood.
Then those eyes shifted. Just past my shoulder.
"Luciano…" Her voice cracked, barely above a breath. "What… is sister saying? Did you accept her as your wife? Am I… just a mistress?"
My blood turned to ice.
I spun around.
Luciano stood at the balcony entrance. His face was stone. His eyes black with fury.
I hadn't heard him approach. Neither had I seen the guests gathering behind him, their faces a mix of shock and glee.
"Penelope." His voice was low. Deadly. "What did you say to her?"
My mouth opened. "She is lying! She already knew-"
"I didn't mean to cause trouble sister!" Kiara sobbed from the ground, clutching her chest. "I swear I didn't know you became my fiancee’s wife!”
“The arranged marriage you and Mom set up for me five years ago…I won't fight it anymore sister.
Even if the groom is fifty years older than me…. I swear I will obey you!”
