I stumbled to my feet and rushed straight to the study, yanking open drawer after drawer until I finally found the file bag my mother had handed me on my wedding day.
Inside was a divorce agreement.
And it was already signed—by Alessandro.
I had no idea how my parents had managed to secure something like that from a man born into a mafia dynasty, but somehow they had. The terms were fair—far fairer than I expected.
My hands trembled as I stared at the papers, yet I signed my name without hesitation, almost as if I had been waiting for that exact moment my entire life.
Just as the pen left the page, my phone rang.
Alessandro.
His name flashed on the screen.
I answered, and his voice came through strangely restrained.
“Rosalie… are you okay?”
I stared blankly at the wall in front of me.
“Shouldn’t I be?”
There was a short pause before he let out a breath.
“Oh. Good. That’s… good. I’m glad you’re alright.”
His tone was careful, almost as if he was trying to sound concerned.
Then he continued.
“Look, I know I was hard on you the other day. I overreacted when I saw Camilla hurt.”
He spoke like a man trying to apologize while refusing to admit any fault.
It was almost laughable.
“I went back to find you,” he said, “but you were already gone, so I assumed you were okay.”
His words meant nothing.
“Did you call for a reason?” I asked coldly.
The sharpness in my voice must have irritated him, because the mask slipped almost immediately.
“I’m apologizing, aren’t I?” he snapped. “What more do you want?”
That familiar cruelty crept back into his tone.
“And let’s be honest—you were the one who caused the problem in the first place. I’m calling because Camilla has forgiven you for pushing her. She even wants you to attend the auction tonight. She and my brothers were planning to buy gifts for the baby. But with the attitude you’re giving me right now, you should be grateful she’s being kind at all. She’s ten times gentler than you.”
I let him keep talking.
I didn’t answer.
After a moment of silence, his tone softened again.
“Alright, enough dragging this out,” he said. “Camilla hurt her leg, and I’m staying with her for now. I’ll have the driver pick you up later.”
Then he ended the call.
Seconds later, my phone buzzed again.
A message from Camilla.
Camilla: You’d better show up tonight. I’ve arranged something special just for you. You know I care about you, right? Remember those pictures of you with Alessandro, Damian, and Roman? The naked ones? They’re going to be the final auction item tonight. No censoring. Everyone will see exactly what you look like.
Then the photos came through.
One after another.
Dozens of them.
My phone kept vibrating in my hands until I dropped it onto the floor.
The strength I had felt after signing those papers disappeared instantly.
Gone.
I had believed that losing the baby meant I was finally free.
But I understood then that as long as Alessandro, Damian, Roman, and Camilla were still in my life, I would never escape them.
My entire body started trembling.
I sank to my knees and called my parents.
The second I heard their voices—gentle, loving, safe—everything inside me broke apart.
When they asked if I was alright, I couldn’t hold anything back.
I told them everything.
Every humiliation.
Every betrayal.
Every horrible thing that had happened.
And when there was nothing left to hide, I cried and begged,
“Mom… Dad… can I leave him? Please. I don’t want to stay with Alessandro anymore. I can’t do this.”
Their voices shook as they answered.
“Oh, sweetheart,” my mother said softly, “you’ve been through enough.”
My father spoke next.
“We’re sending someone for you right now. Come home tonight. We’ll take care of everything else. Just come home and rest. You’re safe now.”
Alessandro’s driver arrived before my parents’ car.
I handed him the file bag.
“This is for Alessandro,” I said quietly.
Nothing else.
Then I got into my parents’ car.
And I never looked back.
During the drive, my phone kept ringing.
Alessandro.
Again.
And again.
And again.
I took out the SIM card, rolled down the window, and threw it away into the darkness.
**
At the auction, the night was almost over.
Alessandro stood near the front, glancing repeatedly toward the entrance.
Each time the doors remained closed, his expression grew darker.
Then his assistant hurried over, holding the file bag in both hands.
“Sir,” the assistant said quietly, lowering his head, “Mrs. Moretti asked me to give this to you. She said you should open it first. She’ll arrive later.”
At those words, Alessandro smiled.
A soft, almost affectionate smile.
The kind he had never once given me.
He opened the file bag slowly.
Then he saw what was inside.
The divorce agreement.
My signature.
And beside it, a small glass jar containing the tiny remains of the baby.
The smile vanished from his face at once.
At that exact moment, the auctioneer struck the gavel twice.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” he announced to the room,
“we now present the final item of the evening…”
