Chapter 2

Because of that fall, my legs temporarily gave out.

I could only sit in a wheelchair, letting Dante push me.

Just as we left the heavy iron gates of the Vittorio estate, he suddenly remembered some important documents he’d left in the study.

“Stay here for a few minutes, my love, I’ll be right back.”

He kissed my forehead and turned away without hesitation.

Before I could even call him back, the “flies” hidden in the bushes and black cars swarmed out instantly, flashing lights exploding around me.

Reporters and information brokers shoved their microphones right in my face:

“Mrs. Vittorio! When you used your family marriage to steal Mr. Dante and break up his true love with Miss Valentina, did you ever think this would be your karma?”

“Ma’am, everyone on the East Coast saw what happened in that livestream, but you don’t look that affected, did you actually enjoy it?”

“After being used by so many men, do you feel ashamed lying next to Mr. Dante? When he touches you, do you think about those men?”

Every question was poisoned, ripping open wounds that had barely begun to heal.

I instinctively raised my arm to cover my face, but someone yanked it down, a cold lens shoved inches from my collapsing expression.

The flashes blinded me, dizziness and ringing filled my head.

Their twisted faces blurred together in front of me.

“Get away! All of you—get the hell away!!!”

I screamed like a madwoman, my body tipping forward as I fell out of the wheelchair, gasping on the ground like a dying animal.

Pathetic. Ugly. Completely broken.

The noise paused for a second.

Then the shutters went wild, faster, more excited, mixed with laughter and whispers.

When Dante came running back, his tie crooked, his breathing rushed, it looked like he had sprinted all the way.

Like a furious beast, he shoved people aside and blocked the cameras with his body, his voice low and lethal:

“Who touched my wife just now? There’ll be another body in a concrete coffin at the bottom of the Hudson tonight.”

The way he protected me earned gasps of admiration from the crowd.

But only I knew—every ounce of my suffering came from the man holding me right now.

One look from him, and his men forced the reporters back.

Perfect timing, just after my worst moment had been captured forever.

He carefully lifted me back into the wheelchair, gentle like I was something fragile, and when I didn’t speak, he assumed I was breaking down again.

His gray-blue eyes were filled with concern.

“Alicia, look at me, don’t be afraid, I’m here, no one can hurt you anymore.”

“No matter what happened, you are my wife, the only woman in my life, I don’t care, I choose you.”

An Oscar-winning performance.

If I hadn’t heard the truth that night, I would have drowned in this fake love all over again.

I slowly pulled my hand away from his, my voice hoarse and broken:

“Take me to the hospital. I don’t want to end up crippled.”

Only then did he finally take me there.

At the private medical center owned by the Vittorio family, the air was cold and sterile.

After a full checkup, before the doctor could even finish, Dante spoke first:

“How is my wife? I can handle the worst.”

“Don, she’s actually improving, with time, there’s a high chance of recovery.”

The perfect grief on Dante’s face froze.

This wasn’t what he wanted.

He needed me to become completely insane, unable to take care of myself.

Otherwise, how could he swallow my family’s assets and make Valentina his Mafia Queen?

“My love,” I looked at him, “you don’t want me to get better, do you?”

He snapped out of it, his expression twitching slightly before forcing a smile:

“Of course I do… I’m just… happy.”

His acting was flawless.

If I hadn’t seen the message on his phone beside the bed:

“Release all today’s footage as fast as possible. I want every street rat talking about Mrs. Vittorio losing her mind by tomorrow.”

Dante…

Are you really that desperate to drive me insane?