My Mafia Ex-Boyfriend Went Crazy After Learning of My Death Chapter 04

My Mafia Ex-Boyfriend Went Crazy After Learning of My Death Chapter 04: The Diary (Part One)

The whole place went silent.

Even the dogs seemed stunned by her shout. They stopped barking.

Dante stood on the steps like someone had nailed him to the ground.

“What did you say?”

Lena’s tears finally fell. She lifted Luca onto her shoulder, her voice shaking but clear.

“Nora died of stomach cancer. Three years ago. August 9th — the day you left America. She knew she wasn’t going to live much longer, so she broke up with you. That thug she was with, he was from the Lucchese family. They threatened her — either she left you, or they’d kill you. She betrayed you to protect you.”

Dante’s lips trembled.

“Where is she?” His voice sounded like it was being squeezed out of his throat.

“She’s dead. Buried in a cemetery in New Jersey. Her last words were your name.”

Dante walked down the steps, one by one, like he was stepping on broken glass.

He stopped in front of Lena and looked down at Luca.

Luca peered out from Lena’s shoulder, his little face still wet with tears, staring at this tall stranger with curiosity.

“Mommy says Aunt Nora’s heart is inside me.” Luca patted his own chest.

Dante reached out. His hand shook. He pressed it gently against Luca’s chest.

He felt a heartbeat.

Nora’s heartbeat.

His tears fell into Luca’s hair.

Lena handed Dante Nora’s diary.

It was an ordinary notebook with a brown paper cover. The edges were worn. Some pages were stained with water — maybe from chemo, maybe from tears.

Dante locked himself in his study and opened the first page.

He read all night.

I floated behind him, watching him go through it page by page.

The diary started a month before the breakup.

January 15, 2022

The doctor says my cancer has spread. With chemo, maybe a year. Maybe six months. I asked how much it would cost. He said at least fifty thousand dollars, after insurance.

Fifty thousand. Dante and I have three thousand in savings.

I can’t tell him. He’s about to leave for Italy. The Visconti family needs a leader, and that leader has to be Dante. If he stays to take care of me, he’ll lose everything.

I’d rather lose myself than let him lose his future.

January 28, 2022

Today a man stopped me on the street. He said he was from the Lucchese family. He asked if I was Dante’s girlfriend. I was terrified, but he said he wasn’t there to cause trouble — he was there to “help.”

He said if I left Dante, they’d stop going after the Visconti family. Dante could go to Italy safely.

The catch is I have to pretend to cheat on him. Make Dante hate me.

I agreed.

God, please don’t forgive me.

February 3, 2022

I got that thug to play along. Dante showed up and saw us with our arms linked. I told him I’d fallen for someone else. He got on his knees and begged. I called him a broke loser, a piece of garbage, not good enough for me.

He cried.

I cried too, but he didn’t see it. By the time I turned around, tears were streaming down my face.

I’m the worst bitch in the world. But he’ll live.

That’s enough.

Dante’s fingers stopped on that page. His knuckles turned white.

He pressed the notebook to his chest like he was holding a baby.

“Nora,” he whispered, his voice broken. “How could you be so stupid.”

I floated beside him and reached out, pretending to wrap my arms around his shoulders.

“Because I love you, so it’s not stupid,” I said.

He couldn’t hear me, of course.

But he put the notebook over his heart and closed his eyes.