The Don Let My Son Fall to Save His Mistress

Chapter 6

Once, I would have jumped up. Once, I'd have made him his soup with a broken arm and never thought twice.

Now I just turned away. Cold and distant.

Lorenzo looked like he couldn't breathe. I could hear it in his voice. "Elena. Why are you so cold? You were never like this."

I didn't turn to face him. "Never? You always said I was too much. Now I'm not in your way. What's the problem?"

He had no answer for that.

Once, I went everywhere he went. Asked about everything. Cared about everything. He told me to knock it off. Called me an embarrassment. Screamed at me for being jealous of his "sister."

Now I was exactly what he'd asked for. Quiet, distant and out of reach.

And it was tearing him apart.

"Elena, I know you're hurting over Marcello." He let out a breath. "But I'll make it right. We've got a long road ahead. I've got all the time in the world to win you back."

He leaned down and kissed my forehead. Then he left.

What he didn't know was that the second he walked out, two texts came in.

The first: Divorce decree is ready. Please collect it within three days.

The second: Project Heaven's Ladder launches tomorrow. Send your location and we'll come for you.

I looked at my phone. And then I smiled. A real one.

I was almost free.

But there was one thing first.

I got out of bed and made my way on my crutches to Sofia's room.

It was late. Lorenzo wasn't there. Good.

Sofia saw me and dropped the act. Her lip curled.

"Elena. What are you doing here? Looking for my brother? You poor thing. He never comes to see you. Me, though? He sits by my bed all night.

"One little scrape on my knee and he's beside himself. He cooked dinner for me tonight. Has he ever once cooked for you?"

I didn't care. I had no interest in her petty little games.

"Sofia." My voice dropped. "I need the truth. That day at the cliffs. Did Marcello fall? Or did you push him?"

Sofia laughed, loud and ugly.

"Elena. You sure you can take the truth? I'm warning you. It'll break you."

"I can take it." My teeth were clenched.

Sofia's smile spread. "Fine. Here it is. Lorenzo was there that day."

"A rival crew hit us. Bullets everywhere. Marcello and I both dodged, and we both went off the cliff. Lorenzo reached out. He grabbed me. And he let your son drop."

The words went through my chest like a round.

I stopped breathing.

The room dissolved around me. The clinic walls fell away, and I was back on that cliff. I could see Marcello's face. His small hands reaching out. His voice calling for me.

Mama.

The scream tore through a memory I never had. I was never there. I never heard it. But I could hear it now, clear as glass. The last sound he made before the rocks took him.

My hands started to shake. My chest caved in. My eyes burned.

Lorenzo had been there. The whole time.

Sofia was still talking. Her voice sounded far away now. Muffled.

"Here's the best part. Lorenzo knows I can fight. He knows I can catch myself. And he still chose me."

"In his heart, you and your son were never worth anything. It's always going to be me."

The tears came. Hot and fast.

I wiped them away with the back of my hand. They were the last ones I would ever cry over him.

I straightened up and looked Sofia in the eye.

"Thank you," I said. "For telling me the truth."

Her smile slipped. She'd been waiting for more tears. More begging. For me to fall apart.

I gave her none of it.

I turned and made my way out of her room. My steps were slow. My leg screamed with every shuffle. But nothing about me was going to break.

Lorenzo. There's no future for us. No tomorrow. Whatever we were is dead and buried, and from here on out we are nothing to each other. Ever.

I went to city hall and waited all night. At dawn, I had the divorce papers.

I kept my copy. I sent his to the De Luca estate.

Then I waited outside. A military jeep pulled up.

I climbed in, took out my phone, and uploaded the recording of my conversation with Sofia.

Marcello's death would read as an accident. The law couldn't touch them.

But the internet could. Public opinion could.

It was the last thing I could do for my son.

Then I threw my phone out the window.

The jeep roared off into the desert.

I was free.