The Godfather’s Forsaken Rose Chapter 21
The cold rain soaked Dominic through, but it did nothing to extinguish the unwillingness and regret burning inside him.
He returned home in a daze and locked himself in his room for several days. He saw no one. He handled no family business. He only sat facing the gray sky beyond the window, smoking one cigarette after another until the expensive Persian rug at his feet was scattered with ash.
Isabella’s meaningless words echoed in his ears like the cruelest curse.
The way she had looked at him, indifferent as if he were a stranger, cut back and forth through his heart like a dull blade.
He could not accept it.
He could not accept that she had truly cut him out of her life.
He could not accept that another man now stood beside her.
His first attempt had failed so completely that it should have woken him up.
Instead, it only awakened something deeper in him: paranoia, possessiveness, and a hunger for control.
Dominic Morello had never failed to get what he wanted.
Before, he had been blind and deceived.
Now he had seen the truth.
So Isabella had to come back to him.
An almost deranged idea took root in his mind.
He had to create a situation where she had no choice but to face him.
He had to make her need him.
He called his chief deputy at once. His voice was rough from sleeplessness, smoke, and alcohol, but the command in it was absolute.
“Use every resource we have. Find out Isabella’s most important upcoming business deal. I don’t care how. I want to be involved.”
His deputy moved quickly.
Isabella’s team was negotiating a global ambassador contract with a century-old luxury jewelry house. The deal was in its final stage.
For Isabella’s position in international fashion, it would be a major leap.
A cruel light flashed through Dominic’s eyes.
That was it.
In the name of the Morello family, he immediately sent an investment proposal to the brand’s headquarters. The offer was absurdly generous, almost reckless.
There was only one condition.
Delay signing Miss Moretti as global ambassador.
The Morello family’s power, especially in the Asian market, was not something the brand could ignore.
Faced with such profit and pressure, the executives hesitated. The transatlantic video signing scheduled for the next day was postponed for “further evaluation.”
When the news reached my team, the room went tense.
My agent looked at me with a worried frown.
I was in comfortable clothes, rehearsing lines for an upcoming film in front of the mirror. When I heard the news, I only frowned slightly, then smiled with cold sarcasm.
“Of course. That’s his style.”
I set down the script.
“Does he think he can force me to bow?”
Adrian had been lounging on the sofa, playing a game on his phone. Hearing that, he set the phone aside, came to me, and put an arm around my shoulders.
His usual arrogance softened into certainty.
“Don’t worry. I’m here. Dominic’s reach isn’t that long.”
The crucial video conference was rescheduled under a delicate tension.
On the large screen in the brand’s conference room appeared my team, Adrian’s team, the brand executives, and Dominic, unexpected but not surprising.
Dominic sat in his luxurious family office, the New York skyline spread behind him through enormous windows. His suit was impeccable, and he tried to maintain his usual cold authority, but the bloodshot eyes and fatigue between his brows betrayed the unrest inside him.
At the start of the meeting, the brand CEO cautiously mentioned the “strategic cooperation possibilities” proposed by the Morello family, his words full of hesitation.
Dominic spoke at just the right moment, calm and condescending through the microphone.
“The Morello family is optimistic about your brand’s growth. Our cooperation could create mutual benefit. As for the ambassador choice, I believe it requires more careful consideration. The ambassador’s public image must align perfectly with the core values of the brand.”
He never named me directly.
He did not need to.
Every word pointed at me, implying that my image or qualifications were not enough.
The meeting room went cold.
Then Adrian’s lazy voice cut in, full of open mockery.
“Mr. Morello, long time no see. Is business in New York not enough to keep you busy? You have time now to interfere with European fashion endorsements?”