The Mafia’s Stand-In Bride Chapter 06

The Mafia’s Stand-In Bride Chapter 06

After I had the abortion, I recovered in the hospital for a few days.

Once I felt a little stronger physically, I went to the new house Lorenzo and I shared, and took every single thing that belonged to me.

I rented a small apartment in Midtown Manhattan.

I went to work like normal during the day, and curled up alone in my rental at night, slowly pulling myself together.

For a full two weeks, Lorenzo never contacted me again.

And I was slowly letting go.

I started integrating with my coworkers little by little, trying to put some light back into my

I also started prepping for the hard-won promotion I’d gotten.

At first, Lorenzo didn’t want me to work.

life.

He figured with his status and money now, there was no reason for me to go out and work at all.

But I refused.

I refused to just be a parasite living off someone else.

He always looked down on my meager salary, said one of his deals was worth tens of millions, he didn’t get why I’d waste my time for such pocket change.

But I still loved it anyway.

Looking back now, if I hadn’t stuck to my guns back then, I’d probably be worrying about putting food on the table after leaving Lorenzo.

After he got back from his honeymoon, Lorenzo finally reached out.

He must have figured out what I’d done.

I’d taken all my stuff, and blocked every single one of his contacts.

He kept calling from different numbers, over and over.

But I hung up the second I heard his voice, every time.

The lawyer I hired was almost done drafting the divorce agreement.

Once we signed it and finalized the divorce, he and I wouldn’t have anything left to do with each

other.

Of course, I also started collecting evidence of Lorenzo and Maya’s affair.

Everything was moving in the right direction.

Until the day I got home from work, and found a few uninvited guests in my new rental.

Lorenzo, his mother Layla Vitale, and Maya.

The second I saw Layla, my footsteps faltered.

All kinds of bad old memories came flooding back.

Lorenzo and I grew up as neighbors.

When we were kids, Layla was nice to me.

She always smiled when she saw me, invited me over for dinner, even joked that I’d be Lorenzo’s

wife someday.

Later, when Lorenzo and I started dating, she supported us too.

But once Lorenzo climbed higher and higher in the family, her attitude toward me got worse and

worse.

She went out of her way to give me a hard time, tried to force Lorenzo to break up with me.

She’d pour boiling hot water all over my head when I handed her a cup.

She’d introduce Lorenzo to daughters from other rich families right in front of me, even compare me to those socialites and cut me down to nothing.

She’d even threaten to kill herself to force Lorenzo to break

up

with me.

Finally, after Layla another failed suicide attempt, Lorenzo held my hand and knelt in front of her hospital bed.

“I know you want me to marry a woman from a better family, but I’ve told you straight up. No matter what you say or do, I will never let go of Lily’s hand.

“If you really can’t accept this, and you want to die, I’ll die with you. I’d rather die than marry anyone else, no exceptions.”

Back then, I knelt next to Lorenzo, and I was so moved listening to those words.

I really thought I was the luckiest woman alive.

To have a man who didn’t care about anything else, who only had eyes for me.

That was when I made up my mind.

I had to be his wife, no matter what it cost me.

For him, I tried every way to win Layla over.

When her insults and cruelty got worse and worse, I bit my tongue and swallowed it all.

But today.

I chose to let go.

That meant nothing and no one could tie me down anymore.