The Don’s Favorite Lover Vanished

---- Chapter 20 Chiara's POV Three months later. Florence. My art gallery was about to open. Everything was falling into place. Alessandro's gentle affection was like a warm sun, illuminating a world that had once been nothing but shadow. I thought I had finally left the past behind. Until my assistant, Lucia, handed me a package from Sicily. No return address. It was heavy. Inside was an ancient box made of ebony. Carved on the lid was the original Russo family crest. The older, fiercer phoenix. The one from before I redesigned it. My breath caught. I opened the box.

Inside lay an old key and a faded, ---- parchment contract. It was the deed to the original Russo family estate in Sicily. The family's roots. The key was the only one that could open the vaults beneath the old manor. This wasn't just land. It was the soul of the Russo family. There was also a letter. Elena's elegant, familiar handwriting. "My dearest Chiara," "When you read this, you may still hate us. Ihave no right to ask for your forgiveness. What Vincenzo did, not even God would forgive." "This is the root of the Russo family. Our ancestors brought it to the New World over a century ago.

It represents our beginning, and it has witnessed all our sins and glories." "Now, I am giving it to you." "T am not trying to atone for anything. I know nothing can make up for the pain you have suffered. I only want ---- you to know that in my heart, you will always be a part of this family. The best daughter, the daughter we failed so completely." "Take it, Chiara. Think of it as a mother's last, powerless blessing.

Or, think of it as a chain for the son I no longer recognize, before he walks off a cliff." "What you do with it is up to you." "With all my love, Elena" My fingers trembled as I held the letter. For the first time since my revenge began, I felt a flicker of doubt. There wasn't a hint of a transaction in Elena's words. Only the sincere anguish of a mother. She was even suggesting I could use this against Vincenzo. "Miss Bella?" Lucia's voice came from the doorway. "Are you alright?" "Pm fine." I placed the deed and key back in the box, my ---- voice a bit hoarse.

"Please prepare my finest stationery and ink." That evening, I wrote my reply. "Dear Signora Elena," "Thank you for your gift. But I cannot accept it." "You have always been an elder I respect. That will not change, not in the past, nor in the future. You have nothing to be ashamed of. You are not the sinner." "T am doing well in Florence. Please, do not worry. I have my work, my life. 1 am learning how to be myself again." "As for the Russo family and all it holds, I no longer have need of it." I paused my pen, looked out at the moonlight, and then wrote the final line.

"Because I am no longer a branch on anyone's family tree. l am planting my own roots." The next day, I mailed the original package back to Sicily. But before I did, I spent the entire night using my most ---- advanced forgery skills to create a perfect replica of the deed-down to the aged feel of the parchment and the chemical composition of the ink. "Miss, why are you copying it?" Lucia asked, confused. I looked at the flawless replica, a cold smile touching my lips. "Elena is thinking too small. I don't need a chain." I paused, the glint in my eyes turning lethal. "T need a leash.

And I'm going to use it to drag him to hell and back."