He Chose My Copy I Became The Law Chapter 01
After our son died only three days after his birth, I abandoned every habit that made Adrian frown.
I stopped asking where he went.
Even when he returned near dawn, I slept soundly.
I stopped checking his phone.
I stopped asking which woman had left perfume on his clothes.
Then a stray bullet grazed my wrist during a street shootout.
At the hospital, the doctor asked me to contact my next of kin.
“I don’t have any family,” I replied.
One of the nurses recognized me.
“You’re Mrs. Romano, aren’t you?”
“Capo Adrian’s motorcade is parked downstairs. Should I let him know you’re here?”
I lowered my eyes.
“Don’t bother him.”
Half an hour later, Adrian pushed open the door anyway.
He wore an immaculate three-piece suit.
His voice dropped when he noticed the bandage around my wrist.
“You’re hurt.”
“Why didn’t you call me?”
I looked down at the white gauze.
“It’s only a scratch.”
“The Capo has more important matters to handle.”
My indifference seemed to anger him more than any accusation ever had.
He opened his mouth to speak.
Then the muted voices of his men drifted in from the hallway.
“Did you hear about Sofia?”
“The Capo has it bad for her.”
“She twisted her ankle at the casino, and he sent three armored SUVs to shut down the entire block.”
“He carried her out himself.”
“Her heels never even touched the pavement.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
He glanced at me cautiously.
He was waiting for me to lose control.
To demand an explanation.
To scream the way I used to whenever another woman appeared between us.
But I remained silent.
I simply leaned against the hospital bed without moving.
Adrian thought I had finally learned to stop causing trouble.
He had no idea my divorce was already underway.
In ten days, I would leave Ravenport and disappear from his life forever.
…
Only after we were inside his car did he offer a muted explanation. “Ignore those bastards and their gossip. Sofia dances at my club. She ran into trouble, and as Capo, I handled it for her. Nothing more than business.”
I gave a faint hum and rested against the window, saying nothing else.
Adrian’s anger abruptly ignited. “You don’t believe me? You’re still shutting me out, aren’t you?”
“Valentina… I’ve come home to you every night for six months. What else do you expect from me?”
Watching the streetlights smear across the glass, I answered without emotion, “I believe you.”
“I didn’t think the injury was serious, and I didn’t want to distract you. Let’s return to the estate.”
Every word was flawless and utterly lifeless, as though I were playing back a recorded response.
Adrian drove his fist into the steering wheel.
The horn’s harsh blast split the night and startled several dancers emerging from the club’s rear entrance across the road.
One woman lifted her head and looked toward us.
As soon as the streetlight illuminated her face, the atmosphere in the car turned rigid.
“Sofia… why is she here?” Adrian glanced at me on instinct. In the past, every unexpected encounter with that woman would have sent me into a frenzy.
This time, I spared her one passing look and turned away as if no one were there.
Adrian’s hands went taut around the wheel, though his gaze shifted back to her.
She stood in the bitter midnight wind wearing only a cheap sequined slip dress, arms wrapped around her body and nose flushed from the cold.
His hand had already settled on the door handle, and the naked concern in his expression was unmistakable.
Understanding my role, I opened my door to make his choice easier. “If you need to handle business on someone else’s turf, I can take a cab home.”
Before my words had fully landed, I shut the door hard and headed directly for the crosswalk.
Adrian ran after me and caught my wrist. “I stopped sleeping with her ages ago. I didn’t know she’d be standing out here freezing, either. Can you quit imagining the worst?”
I met his eyes and nodded obediently. “I believe you. Surviving out here isn’t easy for a young woman. Even if she’s merely your employee, of course you should protect her. It doesn’t bother me.”
Adrian searched my face but found no hint of bitterness.
To him, something was deeply wrong.
The woman I used to be had bound her whole existence to his. If I discovered even half a curly hair on the cuff of his suit, I would question him until sunrise.
At last, I had become everything he had asked for: quiet, poised, and perfectly rational.
Still, pressure crowded his chest, heavy and airless as a waterlogged sponge.
I slipped my wrist from his grasp and walked away.
At the street corner, I paused and glanced behind me.
Beside the car, Adrian had removed his jacket and laid it around Sofia’s shoulders.
He cradled her face, lowered his head, and kissed her with unmistakable hunger.
It didn’t surprise me at all. If anything, I should have expected it.
I certainly would not repeat what I had done when I first caught him cheating—charge at him like a madwoman and scream, “Adrian Romano! Do you have a conscience? I’ve stood beside you since I was seventeen, from nights sleeping in auto shops to life in a mansion, and now you say you’ve fallen for someone else?”
That time, he had wiped away the blood from the nose I’d given him and laughed coldly.
“Conscience? If you had any, would you have crawled into my bed at seventeen? Even your parents didn’t want you. I dragged you out of that orphanage and fed you for more than ten years. You ought to be kneeling at my feet in gratitude!”
His words had cut like a blade, carving through the decade we had spent struggling together on the streets until only blood and resentment remained.
The vibration of my phone pulled me free of the memory.
“Miss Valentina, your parents’ sealed trust and ownership papers have been cleared. When can you come to the Porto Aurelia estate to finalize the transfer?”
I tugged my sleeve over the faded scar across my wrist. “In ten days. My expedited divorce will be complete by then.”
The caller hesitated. “You and Mr. Adrian have endured a great deal together. Claiming your parents’ inheritance does not mean you must cut every tie to Ravenport.”
My gaze traveled over the glowing signs above the underground clubs along the street. Barely above a whisper, I said, “I don’t love him anymore. I only want to leave this city and never turn back.”