The Donna Who Bought Out Family and Love for $100 Million Chapter 02

The Donna Who Bought Out Family and Love for $100 Million Chapter 02

Once everything was arranged, I returned to the Vescari estate to pack my things.

The staff looked uneasy when they saw me, as though they wanted to say something but stopped themselves.

I frowned and walked into the living room. Then I understood why.

My belongings had been dumped all over the floor. Nerina was descending the stairs in a snow-white wedding gown.

I stared at her without blinking.

How could I have been so blind? She had the same eyes as the woman responsible for my mother’s death.

They truly were cut from the same cloth. Both of them took pleasure in tearing apart other women’s families.

That was why I was so determined to leave. I could never stay with a man who had fallen in love with Nerina.

She lifted her skirt, a smug smile curving her lips.

“Evelina, isn’t this the wedding gown Cassian designed for you himself?”

“But Cassian already promised it to me.”

She gathered the skirt and spun in a circle. Beneath the crystal chandelier, the white gown looked almost dreamlike.

“So? How do I look in your dress? Doesn’t it suit me?”

Nerina looked radiant with triumph. She watched me closely, waiting for me to fall apart, as though nothing could have made her happier.

But I no longer wanted Cassian. Why would I care about a meaningless dress?

I smiled calmly.

“Nerina, has no one ever told you that taking someone else’s property comes at a price?”

“The divorce settlement awarded this gown to me. It’s worth three million dollars, so I expect the money in my account soon.”

“Why should I pay you?” Nerina’s expression changed instantly. “You kept Cassian from me and stole my family for years. How dare you ask me for money?”

She raised her hand and lunged at me.

I merely stepped aside. Nerina caught her foot in the gown and crashed to the floor.

Papa and Alaric came racing down the stairs.

“Evelina, are you bullying Nerina again?”

Before I could say a word, Papa’s palm struck my face.

Pain exploded across my cheek.

I lifted my head and glared at him.

“Evelina, I know you hate me and will never truly accept Nerina,” he snapped. “But she just had a baby and is still recovering. How could you attack her?”

“Papa, don’t be angry with Evelina. It was my fault,” Nerina said tearfully. “Evelina said the gown was worth three million dollars and that I had no right to wear it unless I paid her. But I don’t have that kind of money.”

Papa flew into a rage.

“Pay that bitch? Not a chance! I should’ve known. She’s just like her mother. They’re both money-grubbing whores!”

Pain tore through my chest. I pressed a hand to my burning cheek and stared at him.

He had less right than anyone to insult my mother. Without the Marenno Family’s backing, he would never have inherited control of the Caradonna Family.

“Papa, stop.”

Alaric stepped between us as Papa started toward me.

“What happens if you push her too far and she causes a scene at Nerina’s wedding?”

“If money is all she cares about, just pay her. Consider it a handout to a beggar.”

He pulled out a black card and threw it at my feet, his voice thick with disgust.

“The account linked to that card has a little over three million dollars in it. Is that enough? Take it and get the hell out.”

I looked at him in silence.

“Alaric, how can you do this to Mom? Have you forgotten—”

“Enough!” Alaric cut me off. “Whatever else has happened, Nerina is innocent. If Mom knew you were treating an innocent woman this way, she would be disappointed in you too.”

I had nothing left to say.

The last ember of attachment I still felt for them finally went out.

I slowly bent down, picked up the black card, and smiled as though none of it mattered.

“Since Don Caradonna is willing to pay my price, you can have all of it.”

I looked at Alaric with open contempt.

“Since you’ve already chosen a new sister and a new mother, the sister you cast aside won’t be in your way anymore.”

“From this moment on, I want nothing to do with any of you or the Caradonna Family.”

I pulled my identification documents from the luggage scattered across the floor and turned to leave.

“Wait.”

Nerina’s expression turned cold.

“You said you sold me everything for three million dollars. Doesn’t that mean there’s one more thing you need to leave behind?”

I had no idea what she meant.

She gave me a mocking smile.

“You and Cassian are divorced. Don’t you think it’s inappropriate for you to keep wearing the Madre’s ring?”

I looked down at the gold band on my middle finger and finally understood.

It was one of the matching rings Cassian had made with his own hands. The band was engraved with E&C.

He had once told me that gold was one of the least reactive metals in the world. Our love, he said, was just as unchanging.

But we had both forgotten that gold was also soft. Even the slightest pressure could warp it beyond recognition.

After ten years with Cassian, the ring had been on my finger so long that it would not come off.

I picked up the scissors on the table and began cutting through the band.

The instant the gold snapped, a furious voice rang out from the doorway.

“Evelina, what are you doing?”