Chapter 2

Elena Vitiello POV:

The private clinic smelled of lavender and antiseptic, a sterile mask over the rot beneath.

Dante had sent me here for "rest" after my outburst. It was less a medical necessity and more a power play. A reminder that my freedom was a privilege he granted, not a right I owned.

I sat in the high-backed leather chair, staring at the garden outside. I had stopped crying. Tears were a waste of precious hydration.

The door opened.

Sarah, Dante's paralegal, walked in. She was young, ambitious, and blissfully oblivious to the fact that she was working for the devil. She held a tablet against her chest like a shield.

"Mrs. Russo," she said, her voice practiced and soft. "Dante sent over some paperwork. He wants to ensure your treatment is fully covered and that he can manage the estate while you... recover."

I looked at the tablet. It was the trap he had threatened: Power of Attorney.

If I signed this, he would own me. He could commit me indefinitely. He could drug me into a stupor and keep me as a pretty ornament on a shelf.

But I was ready.

"Of course," I said, my voice trembling just enough to sell the act. "I just want to feel safe again, Sarah. I just want him to take care of everything."

I took the tablet. My hands shook with a feigned fragility. I scrolled through the document. It was exactly what I expected. A digital cage.

"I need a glass of water," I said, looking up at her with wide, wet eyes. "Please."

"Of course." Sarah turned to the side table to pour from the pitcher.

In that three-second window, my trembling ceased. I minimized the Power of Attorney document.

I opened the file I had uploaded to the cloud server days ago, cunningly disguised under a similar file name. It wasn't a care agreement.

It was a divorce decree, stipulating a complete transfer of assets to an offshore account in exchange for my silence, and an irrevocable dissolution of our marriage.

Sarah turned back. The screen showed a signature box.

"Is Dante signing this too?" I asked.

"He's on a secure line right now," she said. "He's waiting for your signature to authorize his digital key."

"Okay." I signed my name. "Tell him I love him. Tell him I'm sorry."

Sarah smiled, relieved. She tapped the screen, sending the authorization to Dante.

A moment later, the tablet pinged.

Dante Russo: Verified.

He had just signed his own destruction without reading a single word. He thought he was signing a committal form. He was too arrogant to believe I could outsmart him.

"Thank you, Sarah," I said. "I think I'm ready to go home now."

"Dante said you could return to the penthouse this afternoon if you signed," she confirmed.

I walked out of the clinic into the blinding sunlight. I went to the small garden patch where my mother used to volunteer. I dug my fingers into the dirt. It felt real. It felt like a silent vow.

When the driver dropped me off at the estate, I felt a strange calm. I took the elevator up. The doors slid open.

Laughter floated from the terrace.

I walked into the living room. The glass doors were thrown wide open. Dante was sitting by the pool, a drink in his hand. And lying on the chaise lounge next to him, wearing a white bikini, was Sofia Moretti.

She looked at me over her sunglasses.

"You're back early," Dante said, not bothering to get up. "I trust you're feeling better."

"Why is she here?" My voice was ice.

"My father is renovating my condo," Sofia said, stretching like a cat. "Dante offered the guest wing. He owes me, after all."

She stood up and walked over to me. She was wearing a sheer cover-up.

I recognized it immediately.

It was my mother's cashmere shawl. The one she had worn the night she died.

My vision blurred at the edges.

"That's not yours," I said.

"It was in the guest closet," Sofia shrugged, feigning innocence. "It had a stain on it anyway. Wine, I think."

She laughed. It was a light, tinkling sound. The sound of shattered glass.

Dante stood up then. "Elena, pour Sofia a drink. We have things to discuss."

"What?" I looked at him.

"You wanted to show you were a dutiful wife," Dante said, his eyes hard. "Show me. Pour the drink."

He was testing me. He was breaking me in front of her to prove his loyalty to the Capo, to prove his absolute control over his household.

I walked to the bar. My hands were steady. I poured the vodka. I walked over to Sofia and handed it to her.

"Thank you, sweetie," she cooed.

"You're staying in the guest wing?" I asked Dante.

"No," Dante said, taking a sip of his bourbon. "Sofia is in the guest wing. You will be moving to the staff quarters for now. Until I am sure your... episodes have stopped."

He was banishing me from my own bedroom. From my mother's house.

I looked at the water in the pool. It was blue and deep.

"Understood," I said.

I turned and walked away. I didn't go to the staff quarters.

I went to the library, to the hidden safe behind the books. I needed cash. I needed a gun.

And I needed to make sure that when I left this house, I burned it to the ground.