While I was serving champagne near the garden tables, I tried to melt into the golden light of the lanterns, hoping I’d become invisible to everyone around me. But I wasn’t. I could feel it—every whisper, every glance—burning straight through me like acid on skin.
“Vincenzo and Lena look so good together.”
“She actually fits this world. She moves like she belongs in a mafia family.”
“Their son is so well-behaved. Clearly, she raised him properly.”
“Vincenzo finally chose someone worthy of him.”
I kept pouring champagne, my fingers tightening around the silver tray until they ached. The plain black dress I wore felt less like clothing and more like punishment. Around me, everyone sparkled—diamonds soaked in old money, power passed down like inheritance, like blood.
And then it happened.
Noel.
Vincenzo’s precious heir, his spoiled little prince, casually stuck his polished shoe out just as I passed.
I noticed too late.
My heel caught. My body lurched forward.
Crystal glasses exploded across the marble. Champagne burst onto a woman’s ivory dress, spreading like a stain that looked almost alive—like something she would never forgive.
Gasps shot through the air. The music stuttered and died.
I stood there in the center of it all, hands shaking, surrounded by shattered glass and silence.
Noel lifted his chin, smug and proud.
“She always ruins everything,” he said loudly. “Just like she ruined my baby brother.”
The garden went still.
A heavy, choking silence dropped over everyone.
Then Lena stood up slowly, one hand resting gently over her stomach. Her eyes shimmered with practiced fear, like she had rehearsed the expression in front of a mirror.
“Please… he’s just a child,” she said softly. “Ever since that cursed urn appeared, he’s been terrified. He has nightmares.” Her voice dropped into something quieter, sharper. “Nightmares about her… about what she did.”
Someone in the crowd whispered, “The urn…? Oh God…”
I barely moved my lips when I spoke.
“The cursed urn…” I whispered, “was my son. The one you all destroyed.”
No one heard me.
Or maybe they chose not to.
Then Vincenzo came.
He pushed through the crowd like a weapon finding its target. Before I could even react, his hand locked around my arm and yanked me forward.
“You really think you can humiliate me in front of my men?” he snapped. “In front of Lena?”
His voice rose, sharp with rage. “You ruin everything you touch.”
His hand struck my face.
The impact snapped my head to the side. I tasted blood immediately.
Still, I didn’t step back.
Lena gasped softly, playing her role perfectly.
“Baby… don’t hurt her,” she said faintly. “She’s still the mother of your child…”
Her hand drifted to her stomach like a blessing.
Vincenzo’s mother arrived last, dripping in jewelry, standing like she was judging my execution rather than attending an event.
“Divorce her immediately, Vincenzo,” she said coldly. “I won’t allow trash like her to carry our name.”
That was when I finally lifted my head.
“No need,” I said, my voice shaking but steady enough to be heard. “The papers were filed this morning. You can keep your son. I don’t want anything from this family anymore.”
Vincenzo froze.
Confusion. Shock. Something like fear flickered across his face.
Before he could speak, his mother stepped forward and slapped me so hard my ears rang.
“How dare you talk like you have a choice?” she hissed. “You should be grateful we ever accepted you!”
Whispers erupted instantly around us.
“She should be locked away.”
“She’s unstable.”
“She’s losing her mind.”
“She won’t survive without them.”
My phone buzzed.
One message lit up the screen:
Divorce approved.
For a moment, everything blurred.
Then I smiled.
Small. Sharp. Dangerous.
I wiped the blood from my lip, lifted my chin, and walked toward the gates.
Vincenzo’s voice shouted after me.
“Olivia! Where do you think you’re going?”
I didn’t turn around.
“Somewhere you’ll never control me again,” I said.
He moved like he was going to order someone to stop me—but Lena suddenly gasped and collapsed just in time, perfectly timed, perfectly fragile.
Chaos erupted.
Guards rushed in. Guests panicked. Cameras flashed everywhere.
And no one stopped me.
**
Back at the mansion, the maid opened the door with wide, guilty eyes. I didn’t say a word. I walked past her and went straight upstairs to Gabriel’s room.
His scent was still there—soft, innocent, untouched by everything they had turned into rot.
I packed his things slowly. His toys. His worn picture books. His tiny clothes. Each item I held to my chest like I was trying to memorize him through weight alone.
Then I took off my wedding ring and placed it carefully on his pillow.
The maid stood by the stairs, silent, gripping the railing like she might collapse.
I walked past her, down the stairs, and out to my old, rusted car. I got inside and looked at the mansion one last time.
It glittered in the windshield—beautiful, cold, monstrous.
Like a coffin pretending to be a home.
“Goodbye, Vincenzo,” I whispered. “One day, I’ll burn everything you built.”
My phone kept vibrating.
“Come back.”
“You embarrassed me.”
“You ungrateful bitch.”
“If you leave, you’ll regret it.”
I looked at the screen, smiled faintly, and typed back two words:
FUCK YOU.
Then I drove away.
