The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 10
The next few days were hell.
There, I, the once-proud Miss Moretti, learned how low people could sink when someone powerful wanted me broken.
The women in my cell had clearly been instructed to make my life miserable. They bullied me, kicked me, punched me, and stepped again and again on my already-injured wrist until every inch of bone felt shattered.
By the time I was released, I barely looked human. My body was covered in injuries, and I was barely breathing.
The only thing that kept me moving was the message I had just received on my phone.
My passport and departure papers had finally been approved.
I took a cab back to the Long Island house to collect my luggage and go straight to the airport.
The moment I walked in, I ran into Vivian Romano, who had just returned from traveling and had already heard everything.
When Vivian saw me, she broke down.
She threw her arms around me and sobbed.
“Bella, I’m sorry. This is my fault. I didn’t like Dominic’s ex, and I knew he had never forgotten her, so I provoked you into going after him. I never thought this would happen. I didn’t know the woman he couldn’t get over was Sophia. If I had known, I never would have let you get involved.”
I shook my head, my voice hoarse.
“I don’t blame you. It’s over. I’ve let it go.”
“Vivian, I’m leaving the United States. I probably won’t come back.”
Vivian froze, then immediately tried to stop me.
“Bella, don’t go. Stay here. I’ll take care of you. I’ll protect you.”
“No.”
My voice was soft.
“There is nothing here worth missing.”
Vivian cried harder. But when she saw the dead calm and determination in my eyes, she knew she could not keep me.
With red eyes, she helped me pack the last of my luggage.
Before leaving, I looked back one last time at the house that held all my childhood memories.
Now it was the house where my father had brought his mistress and illegitimate daughter.
I took out the gasoline I had prepared earlier. Ignoring the servants’ attempts to stop me, I poured it out without expression.
Then I lit it.
Flames rose into the sky and swallowed my past.
I picked up my last suitcase and turned away.
Vivian drove me to the airport. All the way there, she kept apologizing and saying she would give me every limited-edition sports car in her garage as compensation.
I shook my head, leaned against the window, and watched the scenery race backward.
“No need.”
“You have to say goodbye to the wrong person before you can meet the right one.”
I forced a smile, exhausted and relieved after surviving disaster.
“I, Isabella Moretti, am this beautiful. In the future, the men around me will only get better. Richer. More devoted.”
Vivian nodded desperately.
“Yes. Our Bella is the most beautiful. One day you’ll meet someone who holds you in the palm of his hand.”
At the airport, Vivian hugged me and refused to let go.
She cried until her voice broke.
“Bella, you have to live well. Live so well that you slap all of them in the face.”
I hugged her back and patted her gently.
Then I let go, waved with practiced ease, and walked toward security.
Vivian watched my figure disappear at the end of the passage. At last, she could not hold herself together anymore. She crouched down and cried bitterly.
After crying for a long time, she gathered her anger and grief and called Dominic.
The phone rang for a long time before he answered.
“Godfather,” Vivian said, her voice thick with tears, “I know you like Sophia. But Bella was with you for three years. She’s leaving now. She’ll never come back. Are you really not even going to see her off?”
Dead silence came from the other end.
A few seconds later, Dominic’s voice sounded, tight and hoarse in a way Vivian had never heard before.
“What did you say?”
“Who’s leaving?”