The day I learned Luca had entered my mother’s adopted daughter’s child into the Rossi family line of succession, I broke off our engagement and left for Paris.
At the airport gate, my phone buzzed frantically. The screen was flooded with his messages.
“It’s not what you think. Let me explain.”
“The dissolution hasn’t been witnessed by both Families. The engagement is still valid.”
“Answer the phone. I’m begging you.”
After we got engaged, he’d never been willing to cross that final line with me—yet he had turned around and acknowledged another woman was carrying his heir.
I stared at the man on the screen, his face perpetually cold.
It was the first time I had ever seen Luca use the word “beg.”
My fingertip hovered over the power button for a full minute.
In the end, I signed the dissolution papers, sealed the black-and-gold signet ring the Rossi family had given its future bride in a courier box, powered off my phone, pulled out the SIM card, and snapped it in two.
When the plane lifted off the runway, I didn’t look back.
It wasn’t until six years later, when my mother fell critically ill, that I returned to this city.
He Chose Another Heir Now He Wants Me Back Chapter 63 A year later, I opened a branch of my firm in Boston. The office wasn’t in the North District or the East Harbor, but in an ordinary gray building by the bridge. The windows faced the river, and on clear days, you could
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He Chose Another Heir Now He Wants Me Back Chapter 62 The next spring, when the magnolias at the old house were in bloom, I returned to Boston with my mother and Nora. Salvatore did not hold a formal dinner. There were no capos at the long table, no engagement contracts, no profit
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He Chose Another Heir Now He Wants Me Back Chapter 61 When my mother was well enough for long-distance travel, we returned to Paris. Nora had the window seat. Before takeoff, she checked her seat belt three times, insisting she wasn’t scared at all. Dante sat across the aisle. He hadn’t chartered a
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He Chose Another Heir Now He Wants Me Back Chapter 60 Before winter set in, Ray was admitted to the hospital. The cancer had spread fast. He refused aggressive treatment, asking only for a room with a view of the river. Nora came every day after school for two hours. She didn’t call
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He Chose Another Heir Now He Wants Me Back Chapter 59 Three days after the guardianship was confirmed, Luca came to the hotel to see me. He came alone, with no Rossi motorcade. The lobby was bustling. The man for whom everyone once stepped aside sat by the window, a cup of coffee
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He Chose Another Heir Now He Wants Me Back Chapter 58 Early the next morning, Nora came to the hotel by herself. She still had the old backpack slung over her shoulder and was clutching the safe-deposit key. Dante’s men stood at a distance in the lobby, giving her space. “The court really
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He Chose Another Heir Now He Wants Me Back Chapter 57 My mother was standing in the foyer, one hand on her caregiver’s arm. She had only recently left the hospital. Her face was still pale, and she looked painfully thin beneath her coat. Dante stood on her other side, one arm hovering behind
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He Chose Another Heir Now He Wants Me Back Chapter 56 Suddenly, arguing voices erupted in the foyer. Ophelia was brought in by two guards. She was no longer wearing her soft beige dresses, only an ill-fitting gray coat. Her right ring finger was bare, the skin where the signet ring had been
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He Chose Another Heir Now He Wants Me Back Chapter 55 At eight that night, the long table at the De Luca house was filled with witnesses. Salvatore still sat at the head. Vincent was on his left, Ray’s account records spread before him. Several capos were speaking in low voices, falling silent the
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He Chose Another Heir Now He Wants Me Back Chapter 54 The girl was staying in a gray apartment building on the edge of the East Harbor. The building didn’t belong to any family. The lobby door had three locks. Moretti men stood downstairs, while a De Luca car was parked across the street.
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