Back to the Day She Stole My Mafia Fiancé Chapter 04

Back to the Day She Stole My Mafia Fiancé Chapter 04

Nothing draws a crowd like the words “mental illness.”

The second I handed over that paperwork, the room exploded.

Every head in the room turned toward Luciana.

“Wait. Are you kidding me right now?”

“So Natalia wasn’t the other woman? It was Luciana the whole time? And she’s, what actually

delusional?”

“My neighbor’s kid has something like that. When he snaps, he goes after people with a knife. Seriously, stay away from her.”

“God, poor Natalia. She gets trashed just for being engaged, and her own family does this to her? I’d lose my mind.”

“Forget that. Did you see the Don and his wife? Striking her right here in the lobby? This family is

ruthless.”

“And Antonio, come on. The way he was holding Luciana? That’s not just comforting. There’s something going on between them. I’d bet money on it.”

“Honestly, this whole family needs help. Lock her up before she hurts someone.”

Under the weight of all those stares, Luciana’s composure was cracking. Mom and Dad weren’t doing much better.

Luciana pressed her face into Antonio’s chest, flushed and refusing to look at anyone.

Which only made the commentary louder.

Since Luciana was documented as unstable and had threatened to jump, the extraction team had full authority.

There was no dodging the psychiatric hold.

The orderlies loaded Luciana into a discreet transport van, half a dozen staff flanking her as she

thrashed.

A few people had already filmed the whole thing and posted it. By that evening, it had picked up

enough traction to qualify as a minor spectacle.

The foundation staff kept their heads down after that, though a few loyalists murmured their quiet support as I walked by.

“We saw nothing, Ms. Sterling.”

“If you need anything handled, just give the word.”

There were no casual invites for drinks; they knew better than to insert themselves into a Sterling-Bellini war.

After that day, Mom and Dad made good on every word. I was no longer their daughter.

They changed the lock on the front door. I couldn’t have gone home if I’d wanted to.

But none of that could break me.

I’d had my own apartment since college, and years of bonuses had built up a savings account that could carry me for a while.

Still, Luciana’s little performance left a mark.

I had been positioning myself to take over the family’s West Coast operations next month. But the scene Luciana caused had become a liability.

None of it was my fault, but the board immediately voted to table my appointment, favoring “stability.”

I walked out of the boardroom with my jaw tight and my head buzzing.

And because the universe apparently wasn’t done with me yet, a voice I did not want to hear cut through the noise.

“Natalia! Don’t you walk away from me!”

I spotted Antonio down the hall and turned the other way, but he grabbed my arm before I made it three steps. “Luciana had a panic attack and collapsed in that facility because of what you did. She’s been under sedation for days, and you haven’t even shown up once.”

He looked at me like I’d personally let him down for the last time. “We’ve known each other our whole lives, Natalia. I never thought you were capable of being this cruel. I guess I finally know who

you really are.”

I almost laughed.

Our whole lives. Right.

In my last life, I’d held onto that, the idea that we meant something to each other, right up until the

moment I stopped breathing.

I’d been so sure he would save me.

Instead, I bled out on the concrete while he kissed someone else.

I didn’t learn the truth until I was already dead. Antonio had been in love with Luciana for years.

Luciana had once joked that she’d never date a younger guy, so he buried it. Kept it locked inside

and never said a word.

Every confession, every promise, the proposal, none of it was for me. I was just the door that got him closer to her.

He wanted to be family. Close enough to protect her, close enough to worship her from inside the

family.

But what did I do wrong?

I was nothing but a stepping stone in their sick little love story.

“Drop the act, Antonio.”

I looked at him, the man I’d once loved more than anyone, and felt nothing but nausea rolling through my gut. “You think you actually fooled me?”

“Your study. Third drawer of the mahogany desk. The hidden compartment with all those stolen photos of her. You buried it deep, I’ll give you that.”

The color drained from his face. God, that felt good. “You should’ve been an actor, you know that? All those years of pretending, you were almost convincing.”

“You’ve been obsessed with Luciana this entire time, and you still had the nerve to drag me into it. You’re pathetic.”

“How… how do you know about that?”