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 14 On my fourth day in the hospital, I was finally able to get out of bed for short periods. The doctor said two toes on my right foot might never fully regain feeling. My fingers were recovering better, but they would still ache
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 13 By the time Dominic got back to Chicago, the captains had already been waiting for two hours. Three withdrawal notices from their lenders had just been placed in front of them. An older captain asked him outright, “Why did the Costa family
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 12 In the end, Dominic went to the hospital first. But Costa guards stood outside my room. “Evelyn won’t see you.” “I’m her husband.” “She has retained counsel to prepare divorce papers. She is also requesting a neutral witness hearing to
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 11 After the neutral witnesses left, the Christmas breakfast at the old house descended into chaos. Margaret couldn’t find her medication, and the kitchen didn’t know what she could eat. Dominic’s father appeared unexpectedly with a new girlfriend, only to find his room was
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 10 The Costa advisers demanded that Dominic return my documents, my phone, and my premarital property. Sloane stood on the staircase, wearing my robe. The pearl necklace was still around her throat. The moment she saw Miles, she took an involuntary step
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 09 Miles had reached Lake Geneva at one in the morning. After I sent my message and stopped responding, he went straight to a private airfield. By the time he landed in Chicago, he saw that my phone’s location was still at the old
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 08 The temperature kept dropping. I was afraid to sleep, so I kept trying to move my fingers and toes. But by the second half of the night, my body was slowly ceasing to obey me. When I heard cars outside the
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 07 Dominic opened the side door of the old house and shoved me outside. My suitcase and handbag were left inside. It had been snowing for hours. The steps were buried under a thick layer of white. I was wearing only a
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 06 Dominic pushed open the bedroom door at midnight. He had been drinking, but his eyes were clear. The suitcase was already closed. I was taking my passport, audit license, and private papers out of the safe. “You’re really leaving?” “Yes.”
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He Replaced His Wife And Lost His Mafia Empire Chapter 05 Margaret sent a maid up with a jewelry box. Inside was the hostess’s signet ring of the Moretti family. Dominic had placed it on my finger at our wedding and said that from then on, the family estate, the banquets, the private
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