Or at least, I told myself I felt nothing.
As far as I was concerned, his hatred for me was now perfectly mutual.
And yet... the truth was far more painful.
I had loved Vincenzo since the day we met as children in that hidden cave.
That love had never died, not even after he married me so abruptly, not even when I tried desperately to kill it.
No matter how hard I fought, the feeling refused to be quenched.
That was why every harsh word and every cruel action had cut so deeply.
But he had finally pushed me past my limit.
He claimed he punished me for what my father did to him.
As if that could ever justify the pain he put me through.
Now, hours later, I lay curled against his chest like a woman who still trusted him, my body betraying me even as he carried me out of the warehouse.
His arms were strong and careful around me, but I refused to let that soften the ice in my heart.
His breath hitched.
My fingers curled slightly into the rough fabric of his shirt, grounding myself against the storm of conflicting emotions crashing inside me.
He exhaled shakily, the sound raw and unsteady.
None of it moved me.
All I wanted was the divorce papers... and the chance to walk away from him forever.
“Elena,” he said, his voice low and rough, as if the words were being dragged out of him. “Stay. Please.”
He swallowed hard, the muscle in his jaw flexing.
When he spoke again, the firmness had returned, but this time it was laced with something raw.
“I will treat you better. I swear it. If you stay, I’ll give you everything—my name, my empire, my life. All of it.”
His grip on me tightened, almost possessive, even as his tone fractured.
“I trusted the wrong people. Ciro. Violet. My own fucking pride. I let them poison everything... I let them convince me you were the enemy when the truth was right in front of me the whole time.”
He exhaled shakily.
“I’m begging you, Elena. Don’t leave me. Let me prove I’m not the monster I’ve become. Give me one chance—just one—to show you the man I should have been.”
The warehouse seemed to hold its breath around us.
I let the silence stretch between us, thick and heavy.
Then I tested him, pushing just enough to see the truth.
I curled deeper into his arms, my voice deceptively soft.
“If you really want me to stay... if you want me to believe you can be a better man, then start by bringing me Violet’s head.”
