No Longer His Donna Chapter 03

No Longer His Donna Chapter 03

Back then, I mistook that for love.

So I kept drawing close to him, learning his interests, trying to mold myself into the girl he would like.

When I turned eighteen, I wore heavy makeup for the first time, mascara, a sexy dress, and high heels.

At a banquet, just because a wealthy young man spoke to me briefly, Xander dragged me into the restroom and kissed me forcefully.

His eyes were pitch black, filled with raw desire. He pressed his forehead to mine and said, “You are mine.”

In the beginning, it was him who gave me hope, who acted in every way as if he adored me in every way.

And now he claimed I had been the one clinging to him all along.

I left the garden, heartbroken. By the time I reached the front gate, I could no longer hold back my sobs.

With trembling hands, I took out my phone and opened the latest notification. It was a message from Xander,

[Tina bear, happy birthday.]

When I received that message, I was resuscitating a pregnant woman. I was covered in blood, hadn’t slept in a day and a night, but seeing his words filled me with renewed strength.

Wiping my tears, I tapped the voice call button and dialed his number.

“T? What’s wrong?” Xander’s voice came through the phone, gentle as ever.

He must have found somewhere quiet to answer, because it had rung for a long time before he picked up.

I tried to speak, but my mind was flooded with the image of him holding that baby, standing with another woman.

“Tina bear?” he prompted again.

He had always called me ‘Tina bear.’ I used to love that nickname. Now, it suddenly made me feel sick.

“Xander, I’m back in New York.”

If he listened carefully, he might have heard the slight tremor in my voice. But Xander didn’t notice anything amiss. He paused for two seconds, then said, “Why are you back?”

“Where are you? I’ll come pick you up.”

Actually, the moment I saw that scene in the garden, my heart had already shattered into pieces. But now, here he was, acting tender once more.

“I’m at the door,” I replied softly.

This row house had been a gift from Xander for my eighteenth birthday.

He had told me then, “Tina, no matter who you end up with, this house is yours.”

“The woman I care for must have a foundation of her own.”

But now he and another woman were living there. They had even had a child together.

By the time Xander came out, I had composed myself.

He wore a scarf, stepping slowly through the snow towards me, his eyes filled with seeming concern.

When he drew near, he pulled me into a tight embrace, his warm breath ghosting my ear. “Tina, it’s been three years. You’ve lost weight.”

Along with his warmth came a scent, a sweet, cloying peach fragrance that invaded my senses.

His smell had changed. He used to smell a faintly of mint.

Disgusted by his touch, I shoved him away hard. His pupils constricted briefly in surprise, then he laughed.

“Tina, you’ve grown up, haven’t you? Learned about boundaries between men and women? But I’m your future husband. Don’t be distant with me, okay?”

He once was a light in my life.

Why?

Because when I was first adopted by the Luciano family, I was painfully shy, bullied often at school. Once after school, I was cornered in an alley and beaten.

Xander suddenly appeared. He pulled up in a Maybach, cornered those thugs against the wall, got out, and pulled me behind him.

I will never forget him holding a gun, speaking to them in a voice colder than ice,

“Tina is my sister, Xander Luciano’s sister. From now on, anyone who dares lay a finger on her answers to me. I’ll send them to meet their maker.”