The Day My Don Got Sick, I Took His Empire Chapter 01

The Day My Don Got Sick, I Took His Empire Chapter 01

The eighth time I found Lena in Dante Bellandi’s private suite, I didn’t slam the door or scream.
I just picked up the coat from the chair and handed it to her.
“Use the back gate.”
Lena glanced up at me cautiously, grabbed the coat, and practically fled the room.
Dante stood by the armchair, fixing his cuffs. He gave me a lazy smile.
“It’s her first time at the Bellandi estate. She doesn’t know the rules yet. Don’t scare her.”
He picked up his glass. The dim light blurred his sharp features.
“Lena’s not like you. She’s timid. I don’t want her to get hurt.”
I finally looked up.
This man was the head of the Bellandi family, the most ruthless power broker in Chicago’s old-family circle.
He was also my husband.
And I, Vivienne Bellandi, was the lawful wife he had publicly recognized.
He just never took my title seriously.
“It’s her birthday tonight,” Dante said. “I have to stay with her. I won’t be back.”
“Okay.”
He raised an eyebrow, surprised. “No divorce drama today? You finally figured it out?”
I walked to the window and pushed it open.
The room felt suffocating. I didn’t want to stay there for another second.
“Yeah,” I said. “I figured it out.”
Dante chuckled and got dressed.
“It’s about time. A family marriage like ours always ends the same. We each go our separate ways. You keep your place, and I’ll give you a decent life. Just stop making scenes that embarrass everyone.”
I turned and watched him button his shirt.
Four years married. He was still striking, careless, dangerous.
All he had to do was smile, and women thought they would be the exception.
Lena thought so too.
She thought she had won.
Dante thought he had won too.
But what they didn’t know was that Lena carried a secret powerful enough to cost him everything.
“You’re really not coming home tonight?” I asked.
Dante strapped on his watch. “Why? Is today some kind of special occasion?”
I shook my head. “Just asking.”
He didn’t ask any more questions.
At the door, he stopped.
“Have someone restock the master suite.”
He said it so naturally. Like I wasn’t his wife, just the housekeeper keeping up appearances at the Bellandi estate.
“Okay,” I said calmly.
The door closed.
I stood by the window and watched his taillights flash down the driveway, then disappear beyond the iron gate.
I took out my phone and dialed.
“He’s gone. You can come in now.”
Five minutes later, three people from my private housekeeping team entered the master suite.
They worked silently and efficiently, packing the bedding, clothes, and other items into sealed bags before restoring every corner of the room. The lead woman walked up to me.
“Madam, it’s all handled.”
“Do it again,” I said. “Thoroughly.”
“Got it.”
I stepped out of the room and closed the door.
Our wedding photo hung at the end of the hallway.
In the photo, I wore a white dress, smiling shyly but brightly. Dante had his arm around my waist, looking down at me with an expression so tender it almost seemed as if he truly loved me.
Back then, I thought I had married for love.
I also thought I would be the only woman in the Bellandi family who earned real respect.
Now one of his lovers had drawn a bright red mark on that photo with lipstick.
Over the years, his women came through my life one after another.
They provoked me. Mocked me. Took pieces of my life I could never get back.
I had already lost too much to his choices.
I looked at the photo calmly, then turned and walked downstairs.
A cake box sat on the coffee table in the living room.
The birthday cake I had bought for myself.
Also our fourth wedding anniversary cake.
He remembered Lena’s birthday.
He forgot mine.
I lit the candle. The flame flickered in the dark living room.
Truth was, I had already been ready to file for divorce and end this marriage for good.
But I changed my mind.
Dante had brought the perfect secret right into my home.
So why should I rush to leave?
Divorce would be too easy for him.
I wanted his inheritance.
His shares.
His businesses.
His properties.
And the whole Bellandi legacy.