The Heiress You Threw Away Chapter 07

The Heiress You Threw Away Chapter 07

The airport was packed the day I flew back.

I pushed my luggage cart toward the exit. Then I looked up. Luca and Dante. They stood apart from the crowd, like they’d been waiting a long time.

Luca had lost so much weight. The man who used to be all sharp edges and arrogance now just

looked exhausted.

Dante didn’t look much better. He saw me. His lips parted. But he didn’t dare step forward.

I stopped walking.

Elias stood beside me. He asked quietly, “Need me to stay?”

I said, “No.”

He nodded. He pushed the luggage cart and stepped aside.

Luca finally walked over. “Elena.” His voice was so soft. Like he was afraid of scaring me.

I looked at him calmly. “What’s up?”

His eyes reddened instantly. Then he held out a box. “I had someone restore the pendant. All the fragments are in here.”

I didn’t take it.

His hand froze in midair. “I know it can never be the same. I just—”

“Just what?” I cut him off. “Just wanted to make yourself feel a little better?”

The color drained from Luca’s face.

I looked at the box. “Luca, the thing my mother left me-the moment you destroyed it, it was gone

forever.”

His hand slowly dropped.

Dante stepped forward. “Elena, I-”

I turned to him. He couldn’t get another word out.

I said it for him. “You want to say you regret it? That you didn’t mean to hurt me that badly? That

you actually liked me later on?”

Dante’s eyes went red. “Yes. I know it all sounds like a joke now. But I really did-

“Dante.” My voice was even. “When you filmed those videos, did you ever stop to think-if those

got out, how would I survive it?”

His face went chalk-white.

I kept going. “You say you liked me. But your version of liking me was pushing me into the abyss first. Then standing on the shore and saying you wanted to save me. I don’t need it.”

His lips trembled. “I’d spend my whole life making it up to you.”

I shook my head. “I don’t want to waste my whole life on your atonement.”

When I said that, the last flicker of light in Dante’s eyes died.

Luca’s voice was hoarse. “What about me? Elena, I’m your brother.”

I looked at him. The absurdity of it nearly made me laugh. “Now you remember you’re my

brother?”

“Where were you when I was kneeling in the snow? Where were you when I was locked in the cellar? Where were you when I begged you not to touch my mother’s things?”

Luca shook his head, eyes red. “I know I was wrong. I’m not asking you to forgive me. But could you –could you not cut me out completely?”

I was silent for a long time.

The airport announcements rang out overhead. Passengers streamed past us.

Finally, I spoke. “Luca, the moment you made me kneel for the first time-I stopped having a

brother.”

He went completely rigid.

I turned and walked away.

Dante moved to follow.

But Elias stepped forward and blocked his path. He didn’t say a word. He just looked at him coldly.

Dante stopped. He knew he had no right to come any closer.

The day of the exhibition opening, I took the stage as the representative of the restoration team. The spotlight fell on me.

I saw a full audience. I also saw Luca and Dante in the very back row. They were watching me. Their eyes held regret. Pain. A belated sense of what they’d lost.

I didn’t need any of it anymore.

I stood on that stage and spoke calmly. “Restoration isn’t about pretending the damage never happened. It’s about acknowledging the cracks exist, and still giving it new life.”

Applause filled the room. I bowed my head slightly.

In that moment, I thought of my mother.

If she could see me now, she’d be so happy. Her daughter hadn’t been destroyed by the D’Amato Family. She hadn’t been killed by all those rumors.

I’d made it out.