The Day My Don Got Sick, I Took His Empire Chapter 03

The Day My Don Got Sick, I Took His Empire Chapter 03

The next morning, I left the Bellandi estate.
As the car rolled through the iron gate, I caught the main house where I had lived for four years in the rearview mirror.
Morning mist still hung low. Gray light wrapped around the garden. Red roses bloomed everywhere.
Dante had those roses airlifted from a French estate, all because I had casually mentioned before the wedding that I liked red roses.
Back then, he wasn’t yet the man who made Chicago’s old families lower their heads.
He personally reviewed the gardener’s layout four times.
He even checked how the flowers would look along the path from the gate to the house.
I teased him. “Since when do you care about gardening?”
He pulled me under the rose trellis and kissed me.
“Because this is our home, Vivienne.”
Our home.
Now his women had trampled through it one by one.
I was the lawful wife, and the only one left still keeping up appearances.
I looked away.
“Let’s go.”
The driver didn’t ask questions.
He just drove toward the outskirts.
I didn’t go to my mother’s.
I went to a private residence I had arranged myself.
It wasn’t part of the Bellandi system. Every staff member had signed an NDA. Dante’s people wouldn’t find it.
I didn’t want them to.
My private consultant waited downstairs.
After the review, she put the report in front of me.
“Everything is clear on your side for now. Keep following the plan. For the next month, keep your distance from Dante’s circle.”
“Got it.”
She paused. “As for Dante Bellandi…”
“Keep watching,” I finished for her. “Let me know as soon as you have any results.”
The consultant nodded.
I moved into the smallest building at the back of the residence.
My days were simple.
Calls. Rest. Reading. Walking.
Like patiently waiting for a timer to run out.
On the seventh night, Dante called me for the first time.
The background was loud.
Glasses clinking. Men laughing. Club music.
“Vivienne, where are you?”
“At my mother’s.”
“Why haven’t you replied for so long? When are you coming back?”
“She still needs me, so I’ll stay a few more days.”
Dante let out a breath. His voice sounded a little hoarse.
“I haven’t felt well lately. Too much business stress. You should come back soon. Someone has to run the main house.”
He paused, then added casually, “Lena has settled down. She doesn’t know anyone in the city, so I had her move into the estate.”
“Okay.”
He seemed pleased with my obedience.
“Good girl. Don’t worry about it. She’s not herself right now.”
Of course I didn’t worry.
Because that was exactly the place I had chosen for them.
I hung up and put my phone on the table.
Four days later, at six in the morning, the family secretary, Marco, called.
“Madam, Mr. Bellandi is in trouble.”
“Something happened overnight. He was taken to the Bellandi private wing this morning. The specialist wants a private evaluation. They need a family member to come in.”
“Which wing?”
Marco gave the address.
The same place Lena had stayed at.
I wasn’t surprised.
“I’ll be there.”
I sat on the edge of the bed and looked out at the lawn.
Sunshine.
Things were finally moving.
The consultant walked in, saw I had changed, and immediately frowned.
“You’re going out?”
“To see my husband.”
She paused.
“Please be careful.”
I nodded.
“Don’t worry.”
I valued my life more than anyone.