Lorenzo’s POV
Cassandra’s shrill curses still echoed through the hall.
"That bitch! How dare she!"

But it was too late.
That recording, broadcast live by the reporters in the room, spread through the underworld like a virus.
The guests below—the same family heads who once bowed to me—now looked at me like I was a piece of rotting meat.
"He can't even protect his own woman. He frames his own wife?"
"The Romano family is finished."
"He broke the rules for a psycho. A man like that doesn't deserve the title of Don."

The whispers turned into open accusations.
The Consiglieres of the various families started making calls. I knew what they were doing. They were cutting all ties with the Romanos.
In just a few minutes, the empire I had built was crumbling.
And it was all my fault.

Cassandra was still losing her mind.
Her hair was a mess, her makeup smeared. She was grabbing a waiter who got too close, attacking him wildly.
"Get away! All of you, get away! I'm the Vitale heiress! I'm the Romano Donna!"
She was like a cornered animal, destroying everything in sight.
The crystal chandelier, the expensive wine, the giant poster celebrating our marriage.
"Lorenzo! Say something!" she shrieked at me, pointing at the screen. "Tell them it's fake! That you love me! That you did this willingly!"
Every camera turned to me.
I stood in the middle of the wreckage, looking at this woman who had tormented me for three years over a so-called "blood oath."
Suddenly, I felt sick to my stomach.
What had I done all this for? To throw Isabella into the fire?
For this lunatic?
For so-called family honor?
To hell with honor.
I lifted my head, my eyes sweeping over the greedy, mocking faces below. Finally, they landed on Cassandra.
"Cassandra."
My voice was quiet, but in the dead silence, it was perfectly clear.
"Was this your wish too?"
Cassandra froze, the broken glass in her hand falling to the floor.
"Wh... what?"
"Was this part of your father's blood oath?" I walked toward her, step by step, my eyes as cold as ice. "To ruin my name, to make the Romano family a laughingstock?"
"No... it wasn't..." she shook her head frantically, trying to grab my hand. "Lorenzo, we still have a chance... If we work together..."
"Get lost."
I jerked away, avoiding her touch like she was poison.
"As of now, the alliance between the Romano and Vitale families is void."
I said it to the whole room, to the entire underworld.
"And you, Cassandra Vitale, are no longer under my protection."
"Let your enemies come for you."
Without another glance at her, I turned and walked toward the exit.
Behind me, Cassandra's heart-wrenching screams followed. "Lorenzo! You can't leave me! You'll regret this!"
Regret?
I’ve been regretting for three years.
Every minute, every second.
I burst out of the hall like a deserter.
It had started to rain. The cold drops on my face brought me back to my senses, just a little.
Isabella.
Her name was the only thing in my head. A scream.
My hands shaking, I pulled out my phone and frantically dialed her number.
A cold, robotic voice answered. "The number you have dialed is not in service..."
Again.
"The number you have dialed..."
Damn it!
I kicked a stone pillar on the sidewalk. The sharp pain did nothing to ease the panic in my heart.
She turned her phone off.
She cut all contact.
"Marco!" I roared at my second-in-command, who had followed me out. "Find her! I want you to tear this city apart until you find her!"
Marco’s face was ashen. "Boss... her phone's last ping was two hours ago. At City Hall."
City Hall?
I stood frozen in the rain.
My phone vibrated violently. It was the old Don. Calls from other families.
I rejected them all, then smashed the phone on the ground. It shattered into pieces.
I didn't want to hear any of it.
I just wanted to find her.
I ran into the downpour, started the car, and slammed the pedal to the floor.
The black Lincoln tore through the streets like a rabid beast.
Isabella, where are you?
Come back and kill me. Stick a knife in my heart. I don't care.
Please, just don't disappear.