Two weeks.
That was all it took.
Fourteen days.
Fourteen days after we buried our daughter, Evander had already buried her memory with her.
The grand ballroom of the Moretti estate glittered beneath towering crystal chandeliers. The heads of allied crime families, caporegimes, politicians, judges, and businessmen loyal to the syndicate filled the room, their laughter blending with the soft strains of a live orchestra as waiters drifted between them carrying champagne.
Above the grand staircase hung a massive black-and-gold banner.
WELCOME HOME, CELESTINE & ALARIC.
My fingers curled so tightly that my nails bit into my palms.
Maeve had been gone for only fourteen days.
Yet my husband had chosen to throw a celebration.
The security guards stationed at the entrance moved to block my path, but the moment they saw my face, neither man dared stop me.
I walked straight through the ballroom, my heels striking the marble floor with sharp, deliberate echoes. One by one, conversations died away until every eye in the room followed me.
Evander stood at the center of the gathering in a tailored black suit, looking every bit the untouchable Don the underworld respected and feared.
Beside him stood Celestine.
She wore an elegant crimson gown, one hand wrapped possessively around Evander's arm as though she already belonged there.
She was smiling.
As though she hadn't destroyed my family.
As though my daughter hadn't been lowered into the ground barely two weeks ago.
The rage consuming me drowned out every remaining shred of reason.
Before anyone could react, I crossed the distance between us and slapped her across the face.
The crack rang through the ballroom.
Celestine staggered sideways, one hand flying to her cheek.
"Aurelia."
Evander's voice carried the unmistakable authority of a man accustomed to giving orders that no one dared question.
I ignored him.
"How dare you?" My voice shook with grief as much as fury. "Our daughter has barely been laid to rest, and you're hosting a celebration as if she never existed."
I turned to Evander.
"You couldn't even give her a month." My vision blurred with tears. "Not even that. Instead, you've placed your former lover beside you while your own daughter lies in a cemetery."
A startled cry escaped Celestine.
Then she collapsed onto the polished floor.
Tears streamed down her face as she pressed a trembling hand against her reddened cheek.
"Evander..." she sobbed. "She hit me... in front of everyone."
Her shoulders shook violently.
"I only wanted to come home."
Before another word could be spoken, a small figure rushed toward me.
Alaric.
His tiny fists pounded against my stomach again and again.
"You hurt my mommy!" he cried.
Every blow was weak.
Every one hurt more than the last.
"My daddy doesn't want you anymore!" he shouted through tears. "He loves us now!"
The room fell into an uneasy silence.
The capos exchanged glances.
The guards stood perfectly still.
No one would interfere unless the Don gave the order.
I could have stopped the little boy without effort.
I didn't.
None of this was his fault.
Even if his existence had shattered mine.
When I lifted my eyes, I caught Celestine looking at me.
Only for a heartbeat.
The corners of her lips curved into the faintest smile before she buried her face against Evander's shoulder once more.
"She wants to destroy our family," she whispered between carefully timed sobs. "She can't accept that you've chosen us."
Evander's expression turned to stone.
Before I realized he had moved, his hand struck my face.
The force sent me stumbling backward.
Silence swallowed the ballroom.
My cheek throbbed, but it was nothing compared to the pain spreading through my chest.
The man who had once promised that no one would ever lay a hand on me had just slapped me in front of every powerful family in the city.
His eyes were cold.
Devoid of warmth.
"This ends tonight."
He reached inside his suit jacket and tossed a thick envelope onto the marble floor between us.
It landed at my feet.
Divorce papers.
My breathing stopped.
Then several photographs slipped from the envelope and scattered across the floor.
Someone switched on the enormous screen behind the stage.
Image after image appeared before the stunned crowd.
There I was...
Naked.
Curled against another man's body.
Then another photograph.
Another man.
Another embrace.
Whispers swept through the ballroom like wildfire.
"No..." My voice barely existed. "Those pictures are fake."
Evander looked at me with open disgust.
"You've disgraced the Moretti family."
"I never betrayed you."
"You slept with other men."
"I didn't!"
Celestine leaned closer against him, dabbing delicately at tears that no longer looked convincing.
"Evander... maybe this isn't the right time."
I looked directly at her.
This time, I saw it.
The satisfaction gleaming in her eyes.
She had planned every detail.
The fabricated photographs.
The public humiliation.
The divorce.
Everything.
"Evander." My throat tightened around his name. "After everything we've survived together... after losing Maeve... do you really believe I would betray you?"
For the briefest instant, something flickered across his face.
Pain.
Then it disappeared.
"I don't care anymore."
His voice carried the cold certainty of a final verdict.
"Sign the papers."
My heart shattered all over again.
Not because he doubted me.
Not because every influential figure in the underworld was watching my life collapse.
But because the man standing before me no longer resembled the husband who had once placed a ring on my finger and sworn that I would always come before everything else.
Slowly, I lifted my chin.
A single tear traced its way down my cheek.
"You'll regret this."
Evander said nothing.
He simply turned his back on me.
Just as he had turned his back on our daughter.
As whispers spread through the ballroom and every pair of eyes settled on me, I finally accepted the truth.
The man I had loved was already gone.
And the woman he had tried to destroy would make sure his betrayal became the greatest mistake of his life.
