Chapter 5: The Beginning of the End

Elena Vitiello POV

The next morning, Dante was gone before sunrise.

His side of the bed was cold.

The faint scent of his cologne lingered on the pillow beside me, but the man himself had vanished back into the world that always came before me.

For a long moment, I lay there staring at the ceiling.

Three years.

Three years of waking up beside him.

Three years of pretending the scraps he gave me were enough.

Three years of convincing myself that loyalty would eventually become love.

It never did.

I pushed the blankets aside and got out of bed.

The estate was already alive.

Staff moved quietly through the hallways.

Security rotated shifts.

Phones rang.

Doors opened and closed.

The Moretti empire never slept.

Neither did the cage.

I dressed in a cream-colored blouse and black trousers before heading downstairs.

Maria, the head housekeeper, smiled when she saw me.

"Good morning, Mrs. Moretti."

"Good morning, Maria."

"The Underboss left instructions."

Of course he did.

"What instructions?"

"You are expected at lunch with Donna Moretti at noon."

His mother.

Wonderful.

"Anything else?"

"Fresh flowers arrived for your suite."

That made me pause.

"Flowers?"

"Yes."

Maria pointed toward the dining room.

I walked inside.

A massive arrangement of white roses sat in the center of the table.

Beautiful.

Expensive.

Completely wrong.

I hated white roses.

Sofia loved them.

The attached card confirmed exactly what I already knew.

Thinking of you.

- Dante

No apology.

No mention of my birthday.

No acknowledgment of the yacht.

Just flowers intended for another woman.

I laughed.

The sound startled even me.

Then I ripped the card in half.

By noon, I was sitting across from Donna Moretti.

Dante's mother was one of the few people in this family who genuinely frightened me.

Not because she was cruel.

Because she was observant.

Nothing escaped her.

"You look tired," she said, sipping espresso.

"I slept poorly."

"Marriage problems?"

The question nearly made me choke on my tea.

"No."

"Liar."

I blinked.

She smirked.

"You're a terrible liar, Elena."

That was ironic considering the one-way flight hidden inside my inbox.

"Dante is under pressure," I said carefully.

"Dante is an idiot."

I almost dropped my cup.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

Donna Moretti leaned back in her chair.

"That boy inherited his father's intelligence and his grandfather's emotional blindness. A dangerous combination."

I looked down at my tea.

"He cares for you."

"No."

"Yes."

"He cares about Sofia."

The silence stretched.

Donna studied me carefully.

"And if that's true?"

The answer came easier than I expected.

"Then I deserve better."

Something shifted in her expression.

Approval.

Respect.

Maybe both.

"Good," she said quietly.

"Good?"

"A woman should know her worth."

For a second, I wondered if she somehow knew.

If she could see the plane ticket hidden beneath my calm exterior.

But she simply took another sip of espresso.

"Do not waste your life waiting for someone to notice your value."

Her words followed me long after lunch ended.

That evening, I received another call.

Isabella.

"Tell me you have good news," I said.

"The apartment is ready."

Relief flooded through me.

"Utilities?"

"Connected."

"Furniture?"

"Delivered."

"Security?"

"Handled."

"And nobody traced the purchase?"

"Relax."

Isabella laughed softly.

"I know what I'm doing."

"Good."

"How much longer?"

I looked out the penthouse window.

The city glittered beneath the darkness.

Beautiful.

Cold.

Temporary.

"Ten days," I whispered.

"Can you last ten more days?"

I thought about the flowers.

The yacht.

The birthday cake.

The letter.

The perfume.

"Yes," I said.

"I can survive ten more days."

What I didn't know was that Dante Moretti had already started noticing things.

Small things.

Tiny changes.

The way I stopped waiting up for him.

The way I no longer asked where he had been.

The way I no longer looked disappointed when he chose Sofia.

For years he had taken my devotion for granted.

Now it was disappearing.

And somewhere deep inside the monster known as The Reaper, something restless had begun to wake up.