At the Moretti family’s annual portrait, my husband, Dominic, had his executive assistant sit in the wife’s seat.
She managed his tribute lists, and she could relay his orders using his private seal. Tonight, she was even wearing the pearl necklace reserved for the lady of the house. Her left arm was linked through Dominic’s, and her right hand rested on his grandmother’s arm.
And me—his wife of five years—Dominic had ordered out of the shot to straighten their hems.
“It’s her first winter dinner with the family,” he’d warned me. “Don’t embarrass her.”
Around the long table sat Moretti family captains and representatives from allied families. They were all waiting for me to lose control, just like I always did.
For the past five years, Dominic had picked a different woman to take my place at the family’s most private gatherings.
He said it was to teach me how to be a quiet, obedient wife. To the people at that table, it was also his annual public reminder of one thing: the wife from the Costa family was useful, but she would never share his power.
What he didn’t know was that the five-year agreement between my brother, Miles, and me had just expired.
If Dominic gave the wife’s seat to someone else a fifth time, I had to return to California—and never look back.
So I didn’t fight for the necklace.
I simply stepped out of the frame, set the twelve keys and two ledgers I had managed for the Moretti family for five years on the table, and sent my brother a message.
*You win.*
*Come take me home.*
He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 24 Even after everything ended, Dominic kept believing Evelyn would come back. She had loved him for ten years. Surely she couldn’t erase all of it over one winter night. He refused to sell the apartment they had once shared in Chicago and
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 23 A year later, my marriage was officially over. But when I went back to Chicago, it wasn’t to wait for a court to settle things for me. There was still one final internal witness hearing to conclude. In front of local captains
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 22 Recovery was slower than I expected. My right foot still hurt in the cold. If I heard a door lock at night, I would wake with a start. My parents never pushed me to forget. Miles found me a therapist but
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 21 When the private plane landed in Santa Barbara, both my parents were waiting. My mother didn’t ask about the divorce agreement first, and she didn’t ask whether the Moretti family would keep causing trouble. She just hugged me and said, “You’re home.”
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 20 Dominic snatched up the medical report and read it several times. “That’s impossible.” “Why is it impossible?” Sloane sneered. “Did you forget we were living together during Christmas week?” “I always used protection.” Sloane looked away. Her reaction was
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 19 A month later, Dominic finally agreed to meet at a neutral club. Miles went with me to Chicago. Most of the feeling had returned to my hands, but my toes were still numb. Before I entered the building, my mother wrapped my
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 18 After Dominic lost power, he turned all his anger on Sloane. “Didn’t you say you could contact those donors?” “Evelyn never gave me the real list.” “She handed you twelve keys, and you couldn’t even arrange one breakfast.” At that,
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 17 The day I was discharged from the hospital, the Moretti family lost its first casino hotel. It was the project Dominic had been most eager to expand after taking power. Back then, the captains had thought the risk was too high and
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 16 The next day, the lawyer sent the divorce agreement to Dominic’s office. At the same time, a neutral adviser delivered another document: the revocation of authority statement. The civil divorce would end the marriage. The internal statement required the Moretti family to
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 15 Dominic came to the hospital every day for a week. He stopped demanding to be let in. He just stood at the far end of the hallway and waited. Sometimes he brought flowers. Sometimes food I used to like. The guards
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