Chapter 6

Vivienne’s POV

I waited.

I dragged myself behind the ballroom doors and leaned against the wall while gunfire continued outside. Men shouted orders. Glass shattered. Somewhere in the distance, someone screamed.

No one came for me.

Blood seeped through my fingers and soaked my dress.

I waited for Alex.

I waited for anyone.

No one came.

By the time the attackers were finally driven back and the fighting ended, I was drifting in and out of consciousness.

Only then did someone remember I was still there.

Two Valcrest soldiers carried me to the estate's private medical wing. Dr. Rinaldi stitched the wound in my side and forced bitter medicine down my throat until the bleeding finally stopped.

Once he was satisfied that I would survive, I was sent back to the mansion.

The moment I stepped through the front doors, laughter greeted me.

I stopped.

Alex sat at the head of the dining table.

Bianca occupied the seat beside him.

Elias sat happily on Alex's lap while my mother-in-law piled food onto their plates and fussed over all three of them with obvious affection.

They looked like a family.

A perfect family.

It was almost impossible to believe that only hours earlier, they had left me bleeding on a ballroom floor.

Alex looked up.

The smile disappeared from his face.

He rose immediately.

"Isabella..."

For the first time that day, guilt crossed his features.

He took a step toward me.

"I'm sorry. I came back for you, but Bianca's condition suddenly worsened. I couldn't leave her."

I looked at him quietly.

"Of course."

My voice sounded empty.

"She was in terrible danger."

He frowned.

I didn't wait for another excuse.

I walked past them and climbed the stairs.

Inside the master suite, I crossed to the wardrobe and lifted out the cedar chest I had hidden at the back.

Everything that had once mattered to me was inside.

The diamond pendant Alex had given me after our wedding.

The pressed white lilies from our honeymoon.

Letters written in his own hand.

Photographs.

Cards.

Little souvenirs from places we had visited together.

Promises.

Lies.

I carried the chest downstairs and out into the courtyard.

A bronze fire pit burned near the fountain.

Without hesitation, I overturned the chest.

The contents spilled into the flames.

The fire consumed them greedily.

Photographs blackened and curled.

The handwritten letters caught fire one by one.

The white lilies shriveled into ash.

The picture from our wedding slowly disintegrated until nothing remained but charred fragments.

I watched in silence.

Strangely...

It didn't hurt.

For the first time in a very long time, I felt peaceful.

"What are you doing?"

Alex's furious voice echoed through the courtyard.

He ran toward me, grabbed a wool blanket from a nearby chair, and smothered the flames.

By the time the fire died, almost everything had been destroyed.

He stared at the scorched remains in disbelief.

Then he looked at me.

"Have you lost your mind?"

His voice trembled.

"Why would you do this?"

I met his gaze.

"I don't want them anymore."

He frowned.

"What are you talking about?"

I held his eyes.

"I'm ending our marriage, Alex."

For the briefest moment...

I saw fear.

Real fear.

Then he laughed.

The sound was forced.

"You can't."

He folded his arms.

"You don't have a family. You have no money of your own, no connections, and nowhere to go."

A mocking smile appeared on his face.

"You need me."

I said nothing.

I turned and walked back into the house.

Behind me, I heard him call my name.

I never looked back.

That night, I locked the bedroom door.

Alex remained outside for hours.

Sometimes he knocked softly.

Sometimes he apologized.

At one point, he even slid folded notes beneath the door.

It was something he used to do whenever we argued.

Little messages.

Little apologies.

Once upon a time, they would have melted my anger instantly.

Now I didn't even pick them up.

The woman who had loved Alex Valcrest had died with her son.

What remained inside me was colder than winter.

---

I opened my eyes at dawn with a feeling I hadn't experienced in years.

Hope.

By sunset, I would be gone.

Forever.

I opened the bedroom door.

Alex was waiting outside.

A single white lily rested in his hand.

My favorite flower.

"I'm sorry."

His voice was quiet.

He looked exactly as he had on the night I fell in love with him.

The same dark eyes.

The same crooked smile.

The same gentleness.

Once, one look from him had been enough to steal my breath.

Now...

I felt absolutely nothing.

"Forgive me, Isabella," he said softly. "I know I D'Angelo't treated you well lately."

I looked at the flower.

Then I looked at him.

"What do you want?"

Relief brightened his face.

"Spend today with me."

He handed me a garment bag.

"I had this dress made for you."

I accepted it without expression.

"Fine."

His eyes lit up.

"I want to take you somewhere special."

A nostalgic smile touched his lips.

"The place where we had our first date."

He looked almost happy as he walked away.

The moment he disappeared down the hallway, I closed the door.

I crossed to my suitcase.

Hidden beneath the false bottom lay a black satellite phone.

I turned it on.

It rang only once.

"Little star."

The familiar voice made my chest tighten.

A faint smile touched my lips.

"I'm ready, Lorenzo."

A low chuckle came through the line.

"Good. Because there won't be any turning back once we start."

"I have no intention of turning back."

Silence.

Then he spoke again.

"You sound different."

I looked around the room.

At the empty walls.

At the remnants of a life I no longer wanted.

"I am."

The line remained quiet.

Finally, he said softly, "I'll take care of everything."

The call ended.

I looked at the three wooden boxes sitting beside my bed.

Each contained something meant for Alex.

Today was our third wedding anniversary.

I doubted he remembered.

After changing into the dress he had chosen for me, I had barely finished fastening the last button when my bedroom door burst open.

Alex stormed inside.

Bianca and my mother-in-law followed close behind.

Before I could say a word—

His hand struck my face.

Pain exploded across my cheek.

I staggered backward.

Then my mother-in-law slapped me twice.

I fell onto the floor.

I looked up.

"What have I done?"

"Don't pretend."

Alex's voice thundered through the room.

His eyes blazed with fury.

"You sent those gunmen yesterday."

I stared at him.

"What?"

"You wanted to test me."

He took another step forward.

"You wanted to see whether I'd save you or Bianca."

Disbelief spread through me.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"Do you have any idea what could've happened to her?"

Bianca buried her face against his chest.

"I don't understand why you hate me so much," she sobbed. "If my death would make you feel better, then kill me. But please... don't hurt my children."

My mother-in-law looked as though she wanted to tear me apart.

"You vicious girl," she hissed. "You belong in prison."

The accusations continued.

One after another.

I remained where I had fallen.

There was no point defending myself.

They had never listened to me.

They never would.

Finally, Alex turned toward the door.

"I need to deal with the mess you've created."

He looked back at me.

"Stay here."

The command in his voice was absolute.

"When I come back, I'll decide what to do with you."

Then the three of them left together.

Once again...

I was alone.

I waited until I could no longer hear their footsteps.

Then I reached beneath the bed and retrieved the satellite phone.

It rang once.

"Little star?"

"I've changed my mind."

My voice was calm.

"Release everything."

Silence.

Then Lorenzo asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yes."

I closed my eyes.

"I want the entire underworld to know what Alex Valcrest did. Every politician he bribed, every judge he bought, every body he buried, every lie he told. I want his empire to collapse before I disappear."

A low laugh came through the line.

"As you wish, Princess."

His voice softened.

"My men are already waiting beyond the north gate."

I picked up my suitcase.

"I'll be there soon."

The call ended.

Outside the mansion gates, a black armored SUV waited with its engine running.

A man in a dark suit stood beside it.

The moment he saw me, he bowed.

"Welcome, ma'am."

I got into the vehicle without looking back.

As the gates of the Valcrest estate slowly receded behind us, I watched the mansion disappear among the trees.

A small smile touched my lips.

I was free.

And by the time Alex Valcrest realized what he had truly lost—

His empire would already be on fire.