Chapter 3: Three Days to Vanish

The next morning, I woke before Lucian.

For seven years, I had been accustomed to listening for his breathing before opening my eyes.

Today, I didn't even turn toward him.

I quietly got out of bed and walked into the bathroom.

I stared at my reflection.

The woman in the mirror still looked like Lucian Marino's Donna.

Elegant.

Composed.

Untouchable.

No one would ever guess that her marriage was already dead.

I touched my stomach gently.

"Just three more days," I whispered.

"Then we start over."

After breakfast, I went through everything I needed to leave behind.

My bank accounts.

My private investments.

My medical credentials.

The property my parents had left me.

The documents connected to the Marino family.

I had spent years making myself indispensable to Lucian.

Now I had to make myself impossible to find.

My professor had already begun preparing my new identity.

Under the international research program, my work would be classified under the highest security level.

My public medical history would disappear.

My academic records would be sealed.

Even my photographs could be removed from public databases.

It was terrifying.

And strangely liberating.

For the first time in seven years, I was making a decision entirely for myself.

Late that morning, Lucian entered my study.

"What are you doing?"

I closed the laptop immediately.

"Sorting some medical documents."

"You're going back to medicine?"

"Maybe."

He stepped closer.

"You told me you gave up medicine because you wanted to stay with the family."

I looked at him.

"I did."

"Do you regret it?"

The question almost made me laugh.

"Would you like the honest answer?"

Lucian's expression changed slightly.

"Yes."

"Then yes."

He stared at me.

"Why are you suddenly talking like this?"

"I'm tired."

"Of what?"

"Of giving pieces of myself away and pretending they don't matter."

He didn't answer.

Instead, he walked behind me and placed both hands on my shoulders.

"You don't have to worry anymore."

"You're my wife."

"I'll take care of everything."

I looked at his hands.

The same hands that had held me through countless nights.

The same hands that had caressed me while he secretly desired another woman.

"You've always taken care of me," I whispered.

"That's why this is so disappointing."

He frowned.

"What do you mean?"

I turned toward him.

"Nothing."

His gaze narrowed.

"You keep saying that."

"Maybe because you're asking questions you don't really want the answers to."

He remained silent.

Then his phone rang.

He glanced at the screen.

Sophia.

My eyes dropped immediately.

He declined the call.

A second later, it rang again.

He walked away before answering.

"Sophia."

His voice was low.

I didn't hear the rest.

I didn't need to.

The fact that he had walked away from me to speak to her told me enough.

I turned back to the laptop.

The decision had become easier.

That afternoon, I went to the private vault beneath the estate.

It contained documents belonging to the Marino family.

I had access because I was the Donna.

I didn't take anything that belonged to Lucian.

Only what was mine.

My parents' letters.

My inheritance documents.

My mother's wedding ring.

A small medical journal I had written during university.

And one photograph of my family before the blood feud took them away.

I held the photograph against my chest.

My parents had died five years ago.

Lucian had been the only family I had left.

That was why I had forgiven him so many times.

That was why I had accepted the darkness of his world.

I had convinced myself that loving him meant accepting everything.

I finally understood how wrong I had been.

Love should never require you to disappear inside another person.

As I walked back upstairs, Marco stopped me.

"Donna."

I looked at him.

"Yes?"

"The Don wants everyone at the private dinner tonight."

"I'll be there."

Marco hesitated.

"Are you alright?"

I smiled.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You seem different."

"Maybe I'm finally sleeping properly."

He laughed awkwardly.

"You always know how to make people feel stupid."

I smiled again.

But inside, I was counting the hours.

Thirty-eight.

Thirty-seven.

Thirty-six.

That evening, the entire inner circle gathered at the estate.

Lucian sat at the head of the table.

Sophia was seated several places away.

She looked beautiful.

Elegant.

Perfect.

The same woman who had become the secret in my husband's life.

Lucian reached for my hand beneath the table.

I let him.

The men around us watched with respect.

They still believed we were inseparable.

One of them raised his glass.

"To the Don and Donna."

Everyone cheered.

I raised my glass too.

"To the Don and Donna."

Lucian looked at me with pride.

He had no idea he was toasting the end of his own marriage.

During dinner, one of the men asked about my health.

"Donna, you're not drinking tonight."

"Medical advice."

Lucian immediately stepped in.

"She's pregnant."

The entire table fell silent.

I looked at him.

"You told them?"

He smiled.

"They're family."

The men immediately stood and congratulated us.

Marco laughed.

"The Marino family finally has an heir."

Sophia's hand tightened around her glass.

I watched her carefully.

Her face remained composed.

But her eyes had changed.

She wasn't happy.

She was afraid.

That night, after everyone left, Sophia found me alone in the hallway.

"You didn't have to tell Lucian about the baby."

I looked at her.

"I didn't."

"He did."

She lowered her voice.

"Are you planning to keep him?"

I smiled faintly.

"Why wouldn't I?"

"Because you know what this will do to Lucian."

"What will it do?"

"He'll never leave you."

"And that bothers you?"

Sophia's expression hardened.

"You think you've won because you're pregnant."

"I don't think I've won anything."

"Then what are you doing?"

I stepped closer.

"Leaving."

Sophia's face froze.

"What?"

"You heard me."

"I'm leaving Lucian."

"For good."

She stared at me in disbelief.

"You wouldn't."

"Why not?"

"Because you're obsessed with him."

"Was."

"There is a difference."

Sophia's breathing became uneven.

"Where will you go?"

"Somewhere you can't find me."

"Lucian won't allow it."

"He doesn't get to decide anymore."

Her eyes narrowed.

"You're bluffing."

I smiled.

"In three days, you'll find out."

I walked away before she could answer.

Behind me, I heard her phone ring.

She answered immediately.

"Lucian..."

I didn't listen to the rest.

I didn't need to.

For the first time, I felt no jealousy.

No fear.

Only certainty.

Tomorrow would be my final full day in this mansion.

And by the end of the third day...

The Donna would be gone.