No Longer His Donna Chapter 02

No Longer His Donna Chapter 02

Xander spoke the words that would shatter my heart with casual ease, freeing one hand to lace his fingers with the woman beside him.

“From now on, I only want to be with Stephanie. I want us to be happy forever.”

“So sweet! It makes me want to have a baby with my own girlfriend!” someone cheered.

“But Don,” another voice chimed in, “have you thought about how you’ll explain this to Tina?”

Hearing my name, his expression hardened instantly. “I don’t intend to let her come back.”

He leaned down to comfort Stephanie, his voice softening again.

“Nick will handle everything. Don’t worry. You’re the only one by my side.”

Snowflakes drifted down from the sky, landing on the tip of my nose, their chill seeping straight into my heart.

On the day I left three years ago, I had clung to Xander, asking, “Xander, when I come back… you really will marry me, won’t you?”

He had ruffled my hair, his voice as gentle as water. “Of course I will. By then, you’ll have grown steady enough to be the perfect wife.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll wait for you. You’re the only one by my side.”

But now I was steady. And he was with another woman.

Why?

Why did you lie to me?

My chest felt tight and painful. Tears streamed down my face uncontrollably.

In the war zone, treating the wounded under gunfire, the only thought that kept me going was: I have to survive. I have to survive to marry Xander.

Even when I was caught in an explosion, injured, alone, bleeding, freezing, facing death countless times, I held on.

I had only one thought then, Xander was waiting for me. I had to get back to him.

So I applied to return a year early, and today I finally made it back. I had wanted to surprise him.

Instead, he surprised me first.

“Did you hear? Xander bought a yacht. He’s going to marry Stephanie on it,” someone nearby gossiped as they walked past. I quickly hid behind a tree.

“Oh my god, that’s so enviable. But what about Tina? Didn’t she love him more than anymore?”

“You don’t know? Three years ago, he tricked her into going abroad with Doctors Without Borders. Who knows if she’s even alive now?”

“Xander just wanted to be with Stephanie, and was afraid Tina would make a scene. That’s why he did it.”

“So the moment she left the country, Xander got together with Stephanie right away.”

Their words rang in my ears with crystal clarity.

So Xander had planned all this three years ago. And I, like a fool, believed him.

Conditions in the war zone were harsh, yet I never felt the hardship, for I believed enduring it would lead me back to him, to our marriage.

The group of women walked past me to congratulate Xander.

Suddenly, one of them teased, “Don Xander, Tina cared for you for so many years. Can you really bear to leave her doing such difficult medical work abroad?”

Xander didn’t even lift his eyes. His gaze remained fixed on his son.

“She’s the one who cared for me. The feeling was never mutual.”

“If it weren’t for my father adopted her and was fond of her, I would have kicked her out of our territory long ago.

You all know she’s not from a Mafia family. She was never fit to be Donna. All these years, she’s just clung to me.”

I was adopted by the Luciano family at sixteen.

Xander was already twenty-three then, a university graduate and the family’s standout heir.

He came from a good family, was handsome, and girls always swarmed around him.

Every time, I would get jealous and say, “Xander, can’t you stay away from other girls?”

Back then, Xander would just laugh and pinch my cheek.

“Tina, whatever you say.”