The Don’s Rejected Wife Chapter 08

The Don’s Rejected Wife Chapter 08

I had imagined this moment so many times.

If Luca had apologized after hurting me, maybe I would have forgiven him.

Now, his surrender meant nothing. And it meant nothing coming from the son who only remembered he missed me after I was gone.

I pried Marco’s small hands off my legs and pushed him back toward Luca.

“Your father has custody now. I’ll pay child support, but you can’t live with me.”

Marco’s eyes went wide.

“Mom? You don’t want me? I want to stay with you!”

I had once begged him to stay with me.

Back then, he had been a perfect copy of Luca—spoiled, demanding, used to getting everything he wanted.

“No! I want to stay with Bella! Mom, you’re not a baby. You can sleep by yourself!”

Now he regretted it.

But I didn’t want him anymore.

Luca finally spoke, his voice low.

“Stella, does it really have to come to this?”

His jaw tightened.

“Marco is still a child. He needs his mother. For his sake—”

“For his sake, I sacrificed everything!” I snapped. “No one cared how I felt. You never cared.”

Luca fell silent.

He took one step toward me.

“I know your mother is gone. I know that hit you hard.”

“But we’re family. We should go after Isabella together, not get divorced.”

His voice softened.

“Our son needs his mother. I need you as my Donna.”

Still selfish.

Still arrogant.

Isabella was a monster, but Luca had helped create the damage. He was unforgivable either.

I forced my emotions down and met his eyes.

“But I’m better off without you.”

No more tabloid scandals. No more wondering which mansion my husband was sleeping in tonight.

I could have my own job. My own space. My life would only get better from here.

At my words, Marco burst into tears.

“Mom, I want to stay here! I won’t go near that bad woman ever again!”

He sobbed harder.

“And Dad already sent her to prison. He got justice for Grandma.”

“Mom, please don’t leave me.”

For the first time, his crying only irritated me. I was tired.

“Legally, I’m not abandoning you. But you can’t come here again.”

I looked down at him.

“There’s no mansion here. No chef. Your father won’t be here either.”

As I said it, my eyes moved to Luca.

His brow tightened. My words had clearly cut him.

“Do you have to be this cruel?”

He drew in a breath.

“I can compromise. Come back to New York. Or we’ll live in this apartment. Your choice.”

“I’ll do anything to make it up to you. No more women. Never again—”

He didn’t get to finish.

Julian Vance’s car pulled up beside me.

“Stella…”

Luca recognized him at once, and his face darkened.

“The man you slept with that night… it was him?”

So that night had stayed with him after all.

Good.

I no longer owed him an explanation. I stayed as calm as I had been then.

“Yes. So what?”

I looked at him one last time.

“We’re even now. At least this way, we part clean.”

Under Luca’s stunned gaze, I got into Julian’s car.

“Let’s go to that little bistro you like,” he said. “I still know your order.”

“Okay.”

Through the rear window, I could feel their eyes following me until the car pulled away.

This was the best ending.

We had chosen separate roads now.

There would be no more crossings.

Only by cutting the past off completely could I finally move forward.