My Fiancé Betrayed The Wrong Mafia Heiress Chapter 17
The Call Was Mine
Luca
Unfortunately, I was wrong.
Serafina was not happy.
Ethan was sleeping with Vanessa while both families prepared to use Serafina as the perfect bride who would protect their reputations.
I found photographs, financial records, and messages.
But evidence from me would never be enough.
Serafina trusted Ethan.
She would believe I had fabricated everything because I wanted her back.
So three days before the wedding, I interfered with the so-called time-travel call game at their party.
The call was supposed to be random.
It was not.
I made sure Serafina’s call reached Ethan at the exact moment he was with Vanessa.
I made sure she heard the truth from his own mouth.
Ethan said he had never loved her.
He said he only needed her to complete the marriage.
Cruel words.
Necessary words.
When the call ended, I expected Serafina to break.
Instead, something inside her woke up.
She did not cry in front of them.
She did not beg Ethan to explain.
She began collecting evidence.
That was when I saw the girl from the training ground again.
The girl who refused to pull the trigger.
The girl who struck the instructor and ran toward freedom.
I gave her the files Daniel left behind, but I never told her what to do with them.
Every decision after that was hers.
She chose the wedding.
She chose the moment.
And when she stood in front of both families and exposed them before their guests, I understood that Serafina had never truly disappeared.
The Vales had only taught her to hide.
Then the Carter guard ran toward her with a knife.
I moved before I could think.
The blade entered my side, but the pain barely registered.
I had failed to leave with her once.
I would not fail to stand in front of her now.
After she returns to the Moretti estate, everyone watches her.
Some expect a frightened outsider.
Others expect me to challenge her claim.
For years, I have controlled much of the family’s power. If Serafina becomes the heir, everything I built will eventually belong to her.
They think that should make me resent her.
They do not understand.
I built it for her.
At the first family council she attends, my father’s former allies question whether she deserves her mother’s ring.
Serafina does not ask me to defend her.
She presents the records she has studied, identifies three weaknesses in our legitimate businesses, and exposes a council member who has been selling information to a rival family.
By the time she finishes, no one questions whether she is intelligent enough to lead.
They only wonder how dangerous she will become once her training is complete.
I kneel before her in front of them all.
Not because she needs the display.
Because they do.
“I recognize Serafina Moretti as the rightful heir,” I say. “My authority, my loyalty, and my life belong to her.”
Her eyes narrow.
She knows I enjoy making my devotion impossible to ignore.
“Stand up, Luca.”
I obey.
Then she leans closer and lowers her voice.
“You left out the part where you manipulated that call.”
My body stills.
She knows.
“How long have you known?”
“Since I checked the access records.”
I wait for her anger.
Instead, she lifts one eyebrow.
“You could have told me the truth yourself.”
“You wouldn’t have believed me.”
“No,” she says. “I probably wouldn’t have.”
Her honesty hurts more than blame would have.
“Are you angry?”
“I haven’t decided.”
She turns away, leaving me to follow.
That night, she makes her decision.
She does not forgive me.
She tells me that if I ever manipulate her choices again, she will remove me from her life herself.
Then she kisses me.
It is both a warning and a promise.
In the months that follow, Serafina grows stronger.
She defeats me for the first time in the training ground.
She takes control of her first Moretti company.
She earns the loyalty of people who once dismissed her as the lost girl who had returned too late.
And every night, she comes back to me.
I still ask before I touch her.
She still pretends to be annoyed by it.
Neither of us mentions that she sleeps with one hand over the scar beside my heart.
For the first time in my life, I stop waiting for her to disappear.
Then an envelope arrives from the federal court.
Ethan Carter has agreed to testify in exchange for a reduced sentence.
He is prepared to confess everything.
And the first person he plans to betray is Vanessa.